bunch of questions regarding app

[nobodieshero07]

so im applying to the cf for infantry. upon reading the fourms for the last few hours, ive come up with a couple questions regarding my personal situation and would appreciate any info possible

1) i suffer from GAD and was taking an antidepressant and ativan to cope. ive stopped taking all of the medications however its only been two months. is this going to affect my chances of passing my medical (when/if it comes)?

2) this seems stupid to ask but im not able to view any of my application status on the Cf site and dont know why.

 

[Michael OLeary]

Start with the results of this search:

site:army.ca anti-depressants

 

[medicineman]

1 - Probably, at least for a few more months.  You'll need a letter from whoever the treating physician/psychiatrist attesting to how well you're doing.    BTW, if you have GAD and aren't coping well off meds, you're not going to have a good time either in training or real time ops I'm afraid.

2 - No clue - sorry.

As an aside, you're not going to have a good time here if you continue NOT using capital letters and appropriate punctuation when required.

Cheers.

MM

 

[nobodieshero07]

My bad apparently. I am coping just fine how ever i don't know if it will affect my chances. I don't have a doctor and was prescribed them by an emerg physician so i would need a letter from them or what?

 

[medicineman]

You kept going to an ER to get presription renewals for Paxil or did they just write you up for a pile of it and hoped you'd follow up with someone  ??

MM

 

[nobodieshero07]

BAHA. No. i went once during a panic attack back in Nov and that's when they prescribed it to me. I followed up once with a medi clinic and stopped taking them in Feb. I never actually saw a doctor to get off them and like I said, Calgary sucks for GP's so i don't have a family doctor.

Also, how do I go about getting my HR down when I work out? I've been out of the exercise game since I dislocated my shoulder in 09 so i find my HR spikes to 190 with in a couple min

 

[aesop081]

Also, how do I go about getting my HR down when I work out?

More working out.

 

[medicineman]

Or stop taking stimulants to work out with.

MM

 

[nobodieshero07]

I don't take stimulants. I don't drink energy drinks, I don't drink Tim's.

more working out seems like the obvious choice here. Thanks

 

[medicineman]

190 beats per minute isn't a normal heart rate for really anyone, working out or not, since your heart's own pacemaker is normally set to the 150-60 range as an upper limit.  In the 190 range, you're usually looking at some sort of electrophyisological disturbance - automatic defibrillators are set to shock ventricular tachycardias at 180bpm or greater, and some of the other less dangerous rhythms we'd either be dropping a pile of drugs into you and/or maybe even some electricity to sort them out.  If you get chest pain or dizziness with these spikes, you might want to get that checked out.  If you're just fluffing that rate up a bit for purposes of exaggeration, I'd suggest a proper warm up and obviously more SENSIBLE working out.

Cheers.

MM

 

[nobodieshero07]

Ive been through the ECG, 7 day holter, ultra sound, stress test (worst hour of my life) and the dye thing. Every thing is normal. But I will try doing a 20 min warm up and hope that helps. Thanks again medicineman!

 

[m.k]

Also, how do I go about getting my HR down when I work out? I've been out of the exercise game since I dislocated my shoulder in 09 so i find my HR spikes to 190 with in a couple min

definitely not normal. im sure most people here know this, but your max HR is 220 minus your age. for me, that would make it 201. the only time I've ever come close to 190 is doing very high intensity training such as sprinting or brutal weight circuits (even then it usually never surpasses 180)

if you have talked to a doctor and everything comes back as normal, just start exercising daily. but take it easy and be sure to warm up. by warm up, I mean light cardio ALONG with static stretching. people always skip the stretching and it never does them any good.

 

[infantryian]

Are you by any chance using the hand grip heart rate monitors on exercise equipment? I once saw my heart rate change from 140ish-180ish-160ish within a couple of seconds at a consistent pace and exertion level. Sometimes I can't even get them to read a pulse at all. I like those monitors to get a general idea, as I find it difficult to count my beats while I am running, but I wouldn't put too much stock into them as an accurate medical measuring device.

That being said, I have noticed that my heart rate both resting and elevated have lowered since I began a strict cardio routine.

 

[m.k]

Are you by any chance using the hand grip heart rate monitors on exercise equipment? I once saw my heart rate change from 140ish-180ish-160ish within a couple of seconds at a consistent pace and exertion level. Sometimes I can't even get them to read a pulse at all. I like those monitors to get a general idea, as I find it difficult to count my beats while I am running, but I wouldn't put too much stock into them as an accurate medical measuring device.

That being said, I have noticed that my heart rate both resting and elevated have lowered since I began a strict cardio routine.

hand grip heart rate monitors = unreliable. much more accurate to watch a clock, count beats in a 10 second period then multiply it by 6. or the other way around. pretty foolproof if you ask me