heart condition

[Evita]

Don't know if anyone can help with this, but maybe writing it down will help me anyway.

I've just been diagnosed with having an abnormal heart rhythm which may or may not link to some serious underlying cause. However, I've been feeling pretty lousy with it: depressed, lethargic, dizzy, breathless, etc. And what I'm really worried about is how I'm going to cope with looking after my 15 month old with this going on. I get in a real fret at the thought of my passing out suddenly when she's in the bath or when she's in her cot in the daytime. My partner often has to go away so I'm here alone and we have no close friends or family around who would even know anything had happened to me.

Is there any kind of social service I could call on to help me in this kind of situation?

I had a little episode last weekend where I felt my heartbeat was all over the place and the I realised that I had drunk coffee and coke that day. I have previously noticed that I am very sensitive to caffeine - I know it's easy to drink coffee to perk yourself up but it may be having the opposite effect, if your heart is beating quicker it makes your breathing quicker and you feel more breathless. Just an idea.
Also when you had your child, was nothing picked up at routine appointments?

I have decaf tea and that is it since starting the investigations last October. Don't do coffee at all. No problems at all during pregnancy other than the tachycardia, which we already knew about. My irregular heart beat was only noted by the consultant in December last year and I am waiting to see him again in March.

caffeine definitely makes it worse but sometimes i am so tired i risk it and it does sometimes cause jittery feelings.I have been told by my doctor that cold weather makes it worse and so i try to cover my mouth with a scarf if it is v cold and also windy

I gave up caffeine when pregnant and never got back into it really. My major trigger I know is tiredness.

It's very hard. Today I feel like curling into a ball too!! I'd like to lie in bed with a novel. Not really possible with a 16 month old... Wish we could afford some childcare sometimes. Just once a week even would make all the difference.

Oops, was re-reading some of this thread and noticed my terrible spelling of Arrhythmia (two different version at least!). Sorry!

butterfly (imagine an 'embarrassed' smiley)

It's a weird word, butterflymum!