I just stumbled upon this thread as I am a newbie on the 50+ forum. Read every post and found it quite compelling. Keep up the detailed reporting DnvrFox the chronicle you have provided and the discussion it provokes may indeed help others. Plus it must act as some form of therapy for you to vent and express and I would guess this is one reason you have kept it up.

I found your post about your first night in the sleep testing centre both hilarious (I am sure it wasn't at the time but you describe it really well) and saddening, especially to hear about all the hardship you and your wife have had to endure with health related issues in your family. Who said life was fair? But is has to go on and we have to make the best of it and can overcome almost anything with a good attitude. My mother suffered with one of the most advanced cases of MS for 25 years until her death at age 59. My father took care of her at home (while working) so I know 1st hand what illness in the family is like. In fact never a day goes by that I don't stop and reflect how lucky I am not to have these issues to deal with in my life (at least for now). All the other problems of life seem trivial when compared to illness.

I had a weird tachycardia event about 2 years ago which people who follow this thread may find interesting.

I was alone in the house around supper time, and had eaten a pita bread sandwich too fast. I was also in a reclining position on my side on the bed watching TV in our bedroom. You know that feeling of a knot in your sternum when you eat something too fast? Usually takes a minute or 2 to pass but is very uncomfortable.

Well that is what happened to me that evening, but the feeling did not pass. What did happen though within about 4 minutes of eating was a heartbeat from hell. Out of nowhere my heart started to race a million miles an hour, at a much higher rate than at my peak performance i.e. busting a lung up a mountain.

I tried to relax and calm down, but it didn't change. Then I started to get worried and looked around to see where the phone was in case I had to call 911. It was not near the bed, I had to get up to get the cordless and bring it near my side. Still didn't get any better and was about to call for an ambulance.

I started to feel light headed, like you do when you stand up too quickly. I did a dumb thing and went to the bathroom in our bedroom to get a glass of water to try to wash down what I had eaten, it wasn't really stuck it was just there.

One second I am standing in the bathroom (it's a small one, no shower or tub), next thing I am face down spread eagled on the floor. Miracle I didn't crack my skull on the toilet bowl. I knew that I came to almost as soon as I hit the floor, but that was the first (and only time I hope) that I had ever fainted. Still had the crazy heart rate (it was a good 15 minutes at this point) and managed to get back to the bed with the phone in my hand ready to call for help.

Then just as quickly as my heart rate shot up, it returned to normal. It was a moment of relief but immediately a type of panic set in. While it was happening I was so focused on surviving, that I did not worry, I was only thinking of what I needed to do so that I didn't croak then and there. Going to the bathroom while dizzy like that was in hindsight really stupid.

Once I was stabilized HR wise I wanted to go the ER to get checked out in case I was having an MI or something. I thought of driving myself, didn't want to have the whole production of an ambulance when I was feeling ok and at that moment my son arrived. He took me to the ER and I made him go home, why wait hours on end and I was feeling fine by then, just worried.

They treated me ok in ER, saw a triage nurse (1st line) who took my statement then my BP (it was surprising low she said even though it was 140/95) given the circumstances and she said they would do an ekg just in case. I was freaking out that I wasn't being seen quickly enough and that they were not taking blood for "enzymes" etc. The ekg was done within 10 minutes of the triage and it showed normal and then I waited a few hours to see the on call doc who after examining me said that he had heard of (but never seen) a tachycardia (abnormal very rapid heart rate) triggered by pressure to the chest. In essence whatever I had scoffed down had stuck in my esophagus and the funny angle I was reclining at was enough to trigger this type of pressure reaction.
The fainting was due to low blood pressure cause by the tachycardia.

I went the next day to my family doctor and a few months later was checked out by a cardiologist and given a clean bill of health. Never had it happen again.

Talk about weird.

My dad was a lifelong very high hypertensive who had a "mild" MI at age 70 that resulted in afib. So I know all about INR, coumadin, heparin, fractions, etc.

Best of luck.