Quote from: zombiesarepeaceful on June 17, 2010, 03:41:38 PM
Could this be caused by T?
Post Merge: June 17, 2010, 03:54:08 PM
"In some cases, prevention of atrial enlargement can be accomplished by treating the underlying cause, such as blood volume or pressure. In the case of excess blood volume, blood thinners are prescribed which can stop the atrial enlargement while in the case of high blood pressure/hypertension weight loss, exercise, and blood pressure medication can help."
Blood volume...I know T increases blood volume...so could this be what's causing my problems?
If you've only been on it for a month though, it's most likely not going to cause atrial enlargement in that short a time; that develops over a long time, perhaps years.
Would they be able to prescribe a beta-blocker to lower your heart rate?
The enlarged atria might be caused by the sinus tach; the heart is just a muscle so by beating so fast for all those years, it likely has increased in size.
I don't think the irregular heart should be any real concern as long as you're not experiencing any symptoms (like pain or dizziness or things like that). As long as they didn't find any other dysrrhymia beyond the sinus tachycardia, it shouldn't be anything of significant concern.
The adderall can possibly cause heart disease (though mainly high blood pressure), but since you're using it under a doctor's guidance, it should be alright—especially since it's mainly the abuse of the amphetamines that causes this.
I think you should be alright though, especially since you're young. I know I've had a fast heart beat for most my life—not sure if it's been over 100 all the time, but it's definitely been in the 90's. Once I started exercising regularly, it has decreased quite a bit; I think now its in the 70's. But I drink like tons of coffee still—there's no way I'd be able to give that up 'cause then I'd be so tired all the time (not to mention the caffeine headaches; which, I know will go away with time, but still).
Another thing too is that I when I was on my rotation at a local emergency hospital room, I'd have to look at lots of patient's EKG's and like so many of them would have "atrial enlargement". I don't know if that matters, but it could just be common for it to develop, I don't know. Anyway, the more serious problem though is if you have ventricular enlargement—specifically left ventricular enlargement. That's when you can start having some serious heart problems like congestive heart failure, heart attack, things like that.
I would just keep up with regular doctor visits, perhaps check with them about that beta-blocker, see if that could be alright for you to take. It's pretty cheap and normally doesn't have too many negative side effects. Though I'd worry about it making me too tired. But it still might be worth an inquiry and perhaps you can try it out for a few weeks. Okay, I hope you start feeling better or at least not so worried! :)
