...or rather, you play doctor and tell me what's wrong with me, okay?

alright, first off, i've had a heart murmer since i was born. it's not a very large one and it was supposed to close up on it's own but it never did, and i'm now 22. also, from a very young age i've had frequent nose bleeds (i'd say like once or twice a month) up until a few years ago when i'd only have them once in a great, great while. apparently i have weak blood vessals in my right nostril or something cause that's only place it would ever bleed from and my doctor wasn't too concerned about it.
alright, well everything was going pretty well up until around last october. i was a pack a day smoker and when i would smoke one or two cigs in succession my heart would race and i'd feel really weak. sometimes i would even see "stars" and have to sit down for awhile. also my nose would start to bleed sometimes and my blood would be extremely thin. it freaked me out pretty bad and with that i quit smoking cold turkey, thinking it'd cure itself.
i got better for awhile, but i took up some heavy drinking. (not sure if this has much to do with it or not) when i say heavy, i mean like a six pack of miller high life nearly every night plus whatever hard liquor i had bought from the store that week. (i had turned 21 the previous february and had begun buying different brands and different types of liquor and experimenting)
sometimes on the mornings after one of my binges i'd have a racing heart and a general malaise for a little bit but that went away with some food.
well, recently (i quit drinking about...a few weeks ago) i'd started having nose bleeds again. and my blood was...thin. i mean like watery thin. same thing when i'd shave. it didnt matter if i was drinking or not it would be very thin. (alcohol is a blood thinner isn't it? i'm pretty sure nicotine is too). and as i'm sitting here right now my heart rate isn't normal. it isn't fast, but it isn't normal either. if i get up and walk around for a little bit, play with the dogs, go upstairs to my room...my heart is racing like crazy. i don't see stars or anything like that, but i can tell that my pulse is going crazy. now if i add some real activity, such as stocking shelves (which is what i do...for a grocery store), if i'm not going super ultra slow my heart races like crazy there too.
sometimes when i wake up the area where my heart is is very tender to the touch. i've noticed that i have to watch eating salts and sugars because that seems to mess with my heart too. i get hungry very easily nowadays too, and i have to eat a good, solid meal in order to not be hungry for about four hours. if i eat junk i'm hungrier before then (which isn't normal for me). it also seems that if i don't eat for awhile the area around my heart gets tender again and there is also some mild discomfort, but not really "pain" in the area, which goes away 20 or so minutes after eating.
i'm going to the doctors tuesday(my next day off) but i'd like to hear some opinions from you guys. i really don't know what the hell's going on and i really can't afford medical bills (i just bought a new car) but i need to find out what's going on

I have no idea what's wrong with you but it's good that you're going to the doctor. I hope you feel better soon.

Only if one of the fabulous RM women play, too.

is that heart murmur WPW?

what's wpw? i really should know more about my condition but i don't...it's never really given me problems before so i didn't pay much attention to it, but i know it's still there as recently as a few years ago


oh, and thanks for the concern potato

*edit* nvm, i've been reading up on what a wpw is...i still haven't a clue though if i have it or not.

Well, I'd say it's quite likely you have thrombocytopenia (low platelets) with the bleeding issues you have. Combine that with tachycardia and you're still facing quite a long list of differentials. You're not constantly handling rattlesnakes, are you?

You're welcome. Hope it's nothing awful for you.

dude you probably shouldn't be drinking

please live

I'm wondering what the Doc says. hmmm.

well, i went to the doctor and he said that he doesn't hear anything abnormal with my heart (and in fact he doesnt even hear a murmur) but to be on the safe side he has me wearing a portable heart monitor with some electrodes stuck to my body and he had me go for blood work AND he wants me to see a cardiologist soon. (i go back tommorow for them to take the heart monitor off and i guess they'll schedule the appointment for the specialist then too)

i guess no news is good news...for now.

Well that is good news for now. Good luck with the specialist.

so ive had a sinus infection since last week. took off yesterday b/c it wasnt getting better, got some meds and im feeling better today. well better enough to go to work. my one question: why the fuck do my legs hurt?

dehydration?

Just so you know, when most people drink heavily the following day they will have heart palpitations and a racing heart. It's part of the hangover.

thats why i was thinking, but wouldnt all of my muscles hurt, not just my legs? if feels like i ran 84 miles yesterday

I'd give you 3 months...

actually, most of the time it's just my legs that hurt when i'm dehydrated ... or hungover.

hmmm, interesting. thanks dr. ceebs, im gonna down some water