A couple weeks ago, I managed to get a fever, which is rare for me. It spiked to 38.3C, whereas my normal is 36.0C. But I didn't bother going to the doctor because it appeared to be a typical seasonal flu. Instead, I stayed home and did the usual things necessary to deal with it.
My temperature slowly started to return to normal. But then, I awakened in the middle of the night with a tight chest and labored breathing. I thought it might be due to the almonds I'd eaten, to which I'm mildly allergic, but hopelessly addicted (which is only possible because I balance their high omega-6 fat content with sufficient omega-3 from other foods).
Whatever the cause might have been, the effect persisted, and I decided that I needed to see a doctor promptly, in case I was coming down with aggressive pneumonia or who-knows-what. It was about 5am, so I called a cab.
Now, a year ago, I had bought a great little pulse oximeter from Nonin Medical. It shows my blood oxygen saturation percentage, and heart rate. The reason was that I have sleep apnea, but sometimes I prefer to sleep without the aid of a CPAP. In that case, I want an alarm to awaken me if my oxygen drops to an unacceptably low level, which for my preference is 91%. So I simply put the laser clamp on my finger, and go to sleep. It has worked quite well, saving me from mild hypoxia on a number of occasions. Although, I do wonder whether it would actually extend life, as I get quite an adrenaline spike when the way-too-loud alert goes off in the middle of a night, which could in principle cause a stroke when lying down.
Back to the taxi. I brought my Nonin along in order to determine whether my groggy state was due to "fever insanity" or hypoxia. Unfortunately, I had dumped the batteries prior to my last plane trip, in order to ensure that the device would not pose any overheating danger while sitting in my luggage. So I had the cab stop at a convenience store. I picked up some batteries, and started monitoring myself.
I noticed that my heart rate was elevated, around 100bpm. (My normal baseline is 48bpm, up from 38bpm a few years ago, when I was doing 134 floors on the stairmaster in 20 minutes.) I figured it was just nervousness, and ignored it. The important thing was that my oxygen was 98% (my new normal, thanks to air pollution or perhaps a chronic mild lung infection, down from 99% a year ago, back in the USA).
When I got to the hospital, after relaxing in the waiting room a few minutes, they took my vital stats. My heart rate had fallen to 91bpm, which the nurse said was "normal". I looked at her, puzzled. I said my baseline was 48bpm. She asked if I was an athlete, and I said yes (albeit much less so than before my MVPS days). I was a bit nervous, but not excessively so, which made me wonder why my heart rate was so high. Maybe I was having a panic attack without being aware of it; I wondered how that could possibly work.
Finally, I got in to see the doctor. I asked him about the heart rate, and he explained that it was a normal consequence of my illness. Apparently, it's a defensive response to infection, just like elevated body temperature. He explained that it would remain elevated until I returned to normal temperature. That is, in fact, what happened.
So just because you're experiencing shortness of breath with a rapid heart rate, does not mean that you're having a panic attack. If you can manage to calm yourself, and the symptoms persist, it's probably something else, such as the flu. I learn something new everyday!
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