A Scottish author has told how an ice-cold ‘immune boosting’ drink actually sent his body into shock by skyrocketing his heart rate and freezing a nerve. Ed James, 46, said the horror incident during the pandemic left him ‘staring into the void of his own mortality.’
The crime-writer, from the Borders, made an ice-cold smoothie but, unbeknown to him, the freezing drink shocked his stomach, froze his vagal nerve, and kicked his heart into Atrial Fibrillation. The condition sent his heartbeat skyrocketing to 180bpm, even when simply walking his dogs or watching football on the sofa.
“I did fear I was going to die,” he admitted. “Then there is the feeling you’ve survived something very serious. It makes you look at life differently. I’ve changed a lot of things in my life since then.
“Because I am an idiotic Scottish man in his forties who ignores medical issues, I could have had a stroke at any time. The NHS staff at Tweedbank and Edinburgh have been amazing.
“If my own GP hadn’t identified the problem and put me on beta blockers at the start, I dread to think what might have happened. What I’d say is that, if you feel your heart racing a few times, don’t ignore it. Don’t be like me. Go to the doctors immediately. Or even A&E.”
After being prescribed beta blockers and referred to a cardiologist at Borders General Hospital he was placed on the waiting list for Electrical Cardioversion to put his heart back into normal sinus rhythm.
After waiting four months due to Covid-related NHS backlogs, the procedure worked to settle his rhythm – after his heart had to be restarted six times using defibrillation paddles. Worryingly, though, that was not the end of his ordeal, with a stroke possible at any time.
After enduring blood thinners and a drug which gave him sunburn in November, he suffered arrhythmia again and was booked in for further Cardioversion. Ed added: “When I suffered arrhythmia again, after the first Cardioversion, it was after another cold smoothie.
“It was at that point both I and the cardiologist had some clarity over what was triggering it. Obviously, when it happened the first time, I didn’t know it was the cold smoothie that had set things off.”
He was then referred to a cardiologist in Edinburgh for another procedure called catheter ablation, to burn away the electrical pathways to his heart. With the procedure regarded as successful, he was given the all-clear in November 2023 only to suffer three further bouts of Atrial Fibrillation.
He is now on the waiting list for another catheter ablation after doctors discovered he was one of only 30 per cent for whom the treatment does not fully work at the first attempt.
Ed’s latest book, ‘His Path of Darkness’ – which borrows a quote from James Hogg’s ‘Confessions’ – is the sixth book in his DI Rob Marshall series, featuring a serial killer on the loose in close-knit Borders towns near to his home.
The book is now available from Amazon Kindle, Audible and in print from Ed’s own online bookshop, www.greydogbooks.co.uk.
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