I went to bed last night with a giant headache. I didn't feel all too well, and the boyfriend very bluntly (but lovingly, I'm sure) told me that I looked pale and honestly, well, not too good. I'd popped two Tylenol and then tried to read my notes on cardiomyopathies, but after twenty minutes, my headache was still raging unabated. So ultimately, I decided that sleeping my illness off was far more important than being able to differentiate between hypertrophic, dilated, and restrictive.
Throughout the night, I would wake up in a pool of sweat, fall back asleep, and then twenty minutes later, wake up and realize that I was uncontrollably shivering. No, it wasn't a case of finicky Chicago weather or the boyfriend stealing the blankets. It was just me. At one point, I couldn't sleep any more because I was so uncomfortable, so I just stared at the clock. 2:05AM. 2:06AM. 2:07AM. Tick tock tick tock tick tock. It's amazing how loud my clocks were. How had I never been bothered by them before?
The boy had placed a liter of water on my side table, and I had promised to drink up if I woke up in the middle of the night. So I sat there, sipping at it. And then, out of nowhere, a huge wave of nausea washed over me. And so I ran to my bathroom to sit in front of my toilet for a little bit, thanking the heavens that I had cleaned it just the weekend before.
I eventually got too cold - one of those chills episodes again - so I slinked back into bed, my heart racing the whole time. I could physically feel my heart thumping against my ribcage, and the more I thought about it, the faster my heart rate got. Call it medical student syndrome or whatnot, but I was convinced that this was sudden cardiac death and I only had one hour left to live.
I woke up four hours later, totally and completely fine.
So what was wrong with me? I had chills, hot flashes, palpitations, nausea, and a sense of impending doom. No fever.
I'm pretty sure it was just my psyche freaking out about how behind I am, as it's far more likely I was having a panic attack, not a heart attack. And I am very very behind, what with all the fun I've been having. Too much fun, and definitely not enough studying. So here's the plan of action for the rest of the week: studying and eating bunny food (just in case my arteries were trying to tell me something).
3 years ago
