Asthma Attack or Heart Attack?
A few weeks ago I had one of those days that make you wish you never got out of bed. It started at 11 AM with a very tight chest and SOB. I proceeded to take 6 puffs of Albuterol every 20 minutes x 3. With partial relief at 1 PM I took 40 mg of prednisone. At 4 PM took levalbuterol neb and at 6:30 PM Duoneb. By the time my husband came home I was still dealing with an active asthma attack so we headed to the ER.
"Your blood pressure is high and your heart rate is high. Let's do an EKG" as I tell them I am having an asthma attack. After an EKG and other tests to rule out a heart condition, a CBC, metabolic profile, an X-ray, oxygen, and more Duoneb it was decided I was having an asthma attack. My glucose was 270! My HR 125 and B/P 166/90, Sat 95%.
Two weeks later my doctor retested all the above and all was back to normal. An asthma attack can wreak havoc on your body. I am glad those tests were run. Now I can see why I felt so bad. My body was reacting to lack of oxygen and it was not in my head!!
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