Now this is a hangover....
I don't drink very often anymore...maybe go out once or twice a month and usually take it pretty easy. About a week ago I went out to a local
club to take in some live music and ended up drinking quite a bit more than usual. I woke up in the morning quite prepared to pay the price
for my stupidity. After battling a pretty severe headache and nausea I finally got a little food and water in me. Usually that triggers the end of my
hangover and this time didn't seem to be any different...at least for the next 3 hours while I lounged around atlernately napping and watching TV.
I woke from last "nap" feeling awful. I felt intensely nauseated and a little dizzy. I also noticed my heart felt "fluttery". At first I didn't think much of
it as the feeling was fleeting. As my renewed "hangover" progressed the duration of the fluttery sensation increased. I became increasingly
concerned as I'd never had this sensation before...at least not for this long. I continued to feel worse and worse and when I started to feel a
tingling sensation in my face and fingers I finally called my Mother-in-law (she lives on my side of town) to request a ride to the doctor.
About half way to the hospital I started taking a turn for the worse. I was struggling to breath and arms and legs felt like lumps of lead. My face
was completely numb. By the time I got to the emergency room I was having trouble moving around and was slurring my words from the
numbness in my face. I thought I was having a stroke or something.
When I got to the hospital my heart was at 140+ BPM and beating irregularily. After the usual questions I was hooked up to an IV to re-hydrate
me and given meds to slow my heart. A blood test was also ordered. I was informed that I wasn't likely having or had a heart attack and that
some of my symptoms were brought on by me hyperventilating. However, my bloodtest came back and indicated that part of my heart may
have been deprived of oxygen. As this is an indicator of a heart attack the Dr. ordered a Angiogram and indicated that I would need to
stay overnight for observation regardless of whether or not the angiogram revealed any problems. My heartbeat was still irregular (the
upper cham bers were in fibulation) and would need to be dealt with if a normal rythm wasn't established by morning.
To make an already long story a bit shorter...The angiogram ended up revealing nothing other than that my pipes are clean and I did
NOT have a heart attack (there is a 15% error factor with the blood test). By morning my heartbeat had regained a normal rythm on
its' own and I was released. The Drs. were not exactly sure what triggered the fibulation, whether it was the dehydration or that I possibly
had some kind of flu that was masked by the hangover. In any case this is by far my most memorable "morning after" I've ever had and
has proven conclusively that I'm too old for that $hit!
