(ie, a cozy Florida summer Sunday!)
Thank you for the well wishes + understanding yesterday. I am feeling (mentally + physically) better today, thankfully. My next step is to get the device interrogated, and it sounds like in most cases it’s pretty clear one way or the other whether the shock was “appropriate” (ie, associated with VT/arrhythmia) or “inappropriate” (ie, triggered by motion or artifact, essentially machine malfunction).
If it was inappropriate –> great news, because generally this means the device can be reconfigured so that it doesn’t recur.
If it was appropriate –> okay, not ideal, but still not like, the worst thing ever. It might mean that I need to adjust meds ot just be more careful about sustaining higher heart rates during strength training. I am not going to assume this means “no heavy lifting ever again”. I mean I guess that’s a possibility, but it seems like a bit of a leap for a one-off event. (If my Hopkins team were to tell me that, I would absolutely listen to whatever they say, but I just don’t think it’s super likely).
It’s definitely true that I had gotten fairly comfortable with working hard during strength training, and had only recently gotten to the point where I didn’t pay much attention to heart rates. I thought this was a good thing — it was certainly good from a mental standpoint. But it might not be my future reality. That said, I’m not going to be mad at myself because it is not like I had some parameters that I was ignoring.
It just came as such a SHOCK – pun intended. I always thought that if it went off I’d be in the throes of panic, feeling the rapid beats and bracing myself beforehand. But it sounds like that is generally not how it goes.
I will find out more hopefully tomorrow. But today has been a good day, and I just woke up feeling calmer, with a better outlook. We actually had a really fun dinner out last night with the kids — we ate delicious Italian at a big table for 13 (A’s good friends and their families).
AND NOW I am sitting on the couch about to dig into my next summer read, and it’s thundering, and I have zero plans to leave the house again until tomorrow.
Oh, and I just finished this and really liked it!
It wasn’t earth shattering but it was a solid summer read. Definitely had page-turning aspects!!
About to start this one:
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I hope you get some answers soon. The shock sounded so painful so I hope you don’t experience it again! I hope you can figure out what boundaries you need to stay within to avoid that happening again. But thank goodness for this amazing technology. You’ve been on my mind so much since I read your post yesterday morning!! ❤️
I’m glad you are feeling better today, physically and mentally. Hoping it was an inappropriate device function, and it sounds like you are holding this event in greater perspective.
+ 1 for hoping that it was just a device malfunction. At least now you know what it feels like to be shocked (for better or for worse, I suppose).
I think about you often when I’m doing lower body workouts- I feel like my heart rate is pretty high. Of course it’s temporary, and then I rest between sets, so not like running. Could the device have picked up on the fact that your heart rate was (temporarily) higher than it “thought” it should be? Obviously I have no idea how these things work, and will just wait- like you- to hear the correct answer.
Reading on the couch during a thunderstorm sounds like a wonderful activity!!!
well, it’s set at 210-240. My heart should never ‘naturally’ get that high no matter what! (160s during legs, sure . . but that should not trigger it). BUT sometimes I think it can get ‘interference’ and misread. Anyway that is what I’m hoping for . . .
Would love to hear what you think of Dream State–I may add it to my TBR. We just got back from an awesome week in the Black Hills of South Dakota which have some very similar vibes to Montana so if the book is worth reading I would love to be transported back to that part of the country in my mind 🙂
I am glad you are feeling better!! Sending good vibes.
I am really curious what triggered the shock. I mean, if you say it was set to 210-240, yeah, that is pretty high and you should naturally not get that high, so it might sound like a “malfunction”? Otherwise, how would med adjustments prevent something like this happening again? I mean, you do have this device for “an emergency”, I figure, but do I understand it right that it ideally should not be triggered at all?
No- I don’t know yet if it was an error or I was in ventricular tachycardia. Previously I had ventricular tachycardia with a rate of 260, so it’s possible it happened again while I was working out. Then the shock would be appropriate. Or, it’s possible it was an error. The device records the ekg tracing so I should find out hopefully today.
but yes – goal is basically not to be shocked for the most part!
Fingers crossed for more clarity soon!