I thrived on stress but now my heart is no longer in it

After a recent health episode, I've been told by my doctor to take it easy and reduce stress. Problem is, I enjoy my work and sometimes that means I take on a bit too much and don't realize I've done so until my body gives me a wake-up call.

Such an event happened to me a few weeks ago, when, while on my way to an event in East China, I found my heart rate rise sharply for a period of five minutes, while standing still, for no apparent reason, causing alarm bells to go off and an urgent appointment with a cardiologist upon my return to Beijing.

Dr Peng was the physician charged with getting to the bottom of what happened with my ticker and, over the course of a week, put me through every forensic test under the sun, for which I was very grateful. They did X-rays, echocardiograms, ultrasounds, took countless amounts of blood, and even hooked me up to a remote monitoring device with 10 nodes which I had to wear for 24 hours, the results of which were examined in great detail.

"What did you do at 3 pm yesterday?" asked Dr Peng, analyzing my many heart rate graphs.

"Three pm yesterday, why?" I replied.

"There's a spike in your heart rate at 3 pm yesterday, what did you do?"

"Hmm," I thought, trying to work it out.

"He rode a bike at 3 pm yesterday," my partner chipped in.

"I see, that explains it," said Peng.

Not wanting to make any conclusions until all the test results were pored over and all possibilities had been considered, Peng reserved the most rigorous test for last－a heart stress test.

Again, I was strapped up to my 10-node companion and this time plugged into a computer next to a treadmill. For the few days prior, I had been paranoid that any unreasonable elevation in my heart rate would result in instant death. I'm not a medical man, of course.

"You'll be fine," reassured Peng. "And if you do have a problem, you've got the best man next to you."

This put me at ease. Peng had been so thorough in his investigations all week.

The machine got underway and I started at walking pace first. So far, everything was fine.

"Ready for the next level?" said Peng after a few minutes.

The speed increased and my heart increased, but was "normal". Another speed increase and my heart rate increased accordingly. Finally, we got to 180 beats per minute at (what I must assume) a "topish" speed, and Peng asked me to stop.

"Good news," Peng said, as I stood there panting. "You don't have heart disease. No structural issues. Your heart is fine. It's like an engine, well, not a Ferrari engine, more of a Hyundai, but it is fine."

Relieved, I asked Peng why my heart rate had suddenly risen during a five-minute period of inactivity in the first place.

"Stress," he said. "You need to reduce your stress levels." He also added some other information about blood sugar and eating properly, etc.

Opposite the hospital is Beijing's amazing 798 art zone, which overflows with creativity. I wandered through it on my way home, taking in all the great artistic works on display. Relaxing. Not checking my heart rate every five minutes.

And that's my current approach. I'm taking life in. I'm not worrying about things I can't control and I'm taking on less work.

Two days after writing this column, I tripped and cracked my ribs. Either I'm Mr Magoo incarnate, or someone up there really does want me to take it easy.

Contact the writer at owenfishwick@chinadaily.com.cn