Most women I know are pretty in tune with their body and can tell when something isn’t quite right…but I’m noticing a trend of women too busy to take care of themselves and letting some things slide. Ladies, you can’t let things slide. Please take care of yourself and let your health care provider know if you start experiencing any of these symptoms.
1)Shortness of breath – feel like it’s becoming a little more challenging to get oxygen in? Walking from your car to work, or up the stairs causes pressure on your chest? Please don’t blow it off as being overweight or out-of-shape. You could be anemic, have thyroid problems, sleep apnea, a heart murmur, or asthma. Yes, I realize you may be overweight but if you have been overweight for a while and the shortness of breath is new or worsening, talk with your doctor!
2)Worsening Fatigue – OK, yes you may have two little ones at home and work a full-time job while balancing the acts of being a mother, wife, and professional. What if your fatigue is due to something fixable, like anemia? Or thyroid problems? What if your fatigue is a heart problem, sleep problem or hormone problem? Wouldn’t you want to do something about it so that you feel energetic again? Talk with your provider about getting a full work-up.
3)Heart Palpitations – you know that little flutter you may feel from time-to-time in your chest? It’s like your heart wasn’t entirely paying attention for a second and had to do a few double beats to catch up. The occasional palpitation could be normal; our heart does beat about 100,000 times a day so the minor mishap is bound to occur. However, if you are noticing an increase in flutters, prolonged flutters, flutters that cause you to lose your breath or creates some chest pain – see your health care provider. Normal things cause palpitations such as stress or anxious feelings, but it could be a vitamin/mineral deficiency or a heart problem.
4)Chest Pain – seems like a no-brainer but you multi-tasking busy women still manage to push this one under the rug and “hope” it goes away. True, it could be due to stress and anxiety, but what if it’s not? Do heart problems or diabetes run in your family? Get yourself to your doctor.
5)Dizziness – you stand up and the world turns without you - problem of low blood pressure? Low salt? Adrenals? Heart? Thyroid? Post-infection ear problem? Dizziness is a problem I’m hearing more about from women and it’s worthwhile to get it checked out especially if you find that it’s worsening, causing you to black out longer than a few seconds, or occurs randomly.
Women, listen to your bodies and take care of yourself! Please put yourself first every once in awhile and get these symptoms checked out.