The Other Night I Had A Strange Episode. I Was

Posted on Wed, 4 Dec 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 4 Dec 2019 Answered on

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Question : The other night I had a strange episode. I was sound asleep shortly after 10 pm but at 1100 I was awakened with a sharp pain in my back, all over, and a restriction in my chest like someone had tied a strap around me. I wasn't nauseated nor sweating nor dizzy. My BP was 199 over 109 at first and stayed high. I mulled over the situation, took a couple baby aspirin and for an hour wondered what was going on. Finally my BP came down a little, 155/85 but when I listened to my heart with a stethoscope it sounded to me very erratic. So I went to a new combination Urgent Care/ER about midnite in a snow storm. They checked me out more than thoroughly and could find nothing wrong. The only anomaly that I could think of that we ate some turkey strips for dinner that had been left out of the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. They smelled OK and tasted OK so we thought they were safe. SO my question is, could something I ate cause my supposed problem? There is nothing else in my life that previous day that was different from 1000 other days. I haven't had an recurrent episode. XXXXXXX Demint

Follow up: Dr. Bhanu Partap (0 minute later)

The other night I had a strange episode. I was sound asleep shortly after 10 pm but at 1100 I was awakened with a sharp pain in my back, all over, and a restriction in my chest like someone had tied a strap around me. I wasn't nauseated nor sweating nor dizzy. My BP was 199 over 109 at first and stayed high. I mulled over the situation, took a couple baby aspirin and for an hour wondered what was going on. Finally my BP came down a little, 155/85 but when I listened to my heart with a stethoscope it sounded to me very erratic. So I went to a new combination Urgent Care/ER about midnite in a snow storm. They checked me out more than thoroughly and could find nothing wrong. The only anomaly that I could think of that we ate some turkey strips for dinner that had been left out of the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. They smelled OK and tasted OK so we thought they were safe. SO my question is, could something I ate cause my supposed problem? There is nothing else in my life that previous day that was different from 1000 other days. I haven't had an recurrent episode. XXXXXXX Demint

Answered by Dr. Bhanu Partap (11 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Needs evaluation

Detailed Answer:
Hello XXXXXXX

After going through the medical details provided by you I can understand your concern for your health and well-being and I would like to tell you that as per the symptoms explained by you the first impression definitely point towards underlying cardiac etiology.

Few tests I would like to suggest
1. HOLTER monitoring (24 hrs ambulatory bp recording)
2. Echocardiogram
3. Complete blood count
4. KFT with serum electrolytes
5. Thyroid function test

Taling into consideration your age group it’s important to get these tests done for proper evaluation and understanding and to avoid any potential scenarios.

Also as you are hypertensive I would like to suggest you to monitor your bp daily for a week and then adjust the dose of the antihypertensives accordingly.

Avoid eating late for dinner Avoid extra salt and oily stuff in diet. Increase the consumption of fibre and protein content in your diet.

Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Answered by Dr. Bhanu Partap (0 minute later)

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Bhanu Partap (26 hours later)

Thanks for your prompt reply. I should have mentioned some of the tests run on me at the ER, Troponin, bun-24, creatine-0.9,, CT angiogram, thyroid is unremarkable, Chest X-ray >no evidence of acute mural thrombosis aneurysmal dilation, liver- lobulated contours but no acute abnormality, the heart is normal in size, no pericardial effusion, and configuration, POCT BMP iStat. Much of this I don't understand but it seems to be a good report card except for the liver. SO in view of the above are you ruling out any problem with what I ate that evening? Could that have caused my symptoms? My thyroid is slightly hypo but my PC Dr is monitoring that. I am to see a Geriatric Dr next week so I will ask about recommended tests XXXXXXX

Follow up: Dr. Bhanu Partap (0 minute later)

Answered by Dr. Bhanu Partap (49 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Hello again

Detailed Answer:
If all these tests came out to be normal then probably it happened due to the food which you had in dinner. It might have caused acidity thereby producing those symptoms.

Just try eating freshly prepared meals.

Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Answered by Dr. Bhanu Partap (0 minute later)

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad