Frustrated...any advice?

Thanks guys. Laurie, I like the way you put it - it seems like a sensible reason to contact my GP.

And s_w, I really don't know about him. I've only been to him once, he sent me to see a cardiologist, and she just stuck me on pills rather than see if there was a reason why my heart started acting up. He seemed alright though. I guess we'll just see! I'll give his office a call in a little bit.

Thanks guys!

Well there's another reason right there - find out if this person is someone you want to work with on this. Gary's GP hasn't been his consultant in his health issues... but we do have one of the Docs that is. It's really nice to have someone to work with - especially when the specialists dead-end.

Just a suggestion, but I dont go to a GP, I go to Internal Medicine. I pick IM as my primary Drs. There are all so MD diagnostitions to be had? Thats all I have to add... have a vibe and get well.

My hematologist also does IM - he doesn't really have any ideas for me. That's pretty much what the're all telling me around here!




ETA:

They can't see me until Monday. Oh well, guess I get to sit tight after all. Is it odd to say that I hope the chest stuffiness and achiness and rib pain turns into a cold really soon?

No it is not odd! It sounds funny - but living with someone that has gone improperly or undiagnosed for a length of time... what everyone in these situations always hopes for is SOMETHNG KNOWN. !!!!!

Originally Posted by fwan

i have no damage in my hand but yet i have sharp pains from just above my elbow down to my ring finger and to my little finger, my wrist hurts like crazy when it is cold.

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I have those exact same symptoms in my both arms. They also appear when it's starting to rain. I haven't been x-rayed but they did rule out rheumatism which kinda runs in the family. They still don't know what is causing the pain.

^The two of you should have your necks checked. Various things can cause nerves to be pressed which will cause referred pain in your arms. If it's arthritis it will be affected by the weather.

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

They can't see me until Monday.

Oh well, guess I get to sit tight after all. Is it odd to say that I hope the chest stuffiness and achiness and rib pain turns into a cold really soon?

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At least that would be something more normal - but it may be worse on you already being ill. Good luck Monday, maybe the GP will have another idea or maybe he'll try sending you right back to the cardiologist? who knows.

I saw the cardiologist a few weeks ago and she wasn't concerned even though I told her my palpitations were starting up again. She was also unconcerned about my atypically low blood pressure of 85/60.

I'm getting the feeling that a lot of doctors are kind of blase about my care...Hoping I get a little more concern out of the GP. No matter how they act, being dizzy with vertigo for nearly three months can NOT be normal.

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

I saw the cardiologist a few weeks ago and she wasn't concerned even though I told her my palpitations were starting up again.

She was also unconcerned about my atypically low blood pressure of 85/60.

I'm getting the feeling that a lot of doctors are kind of blase about my care...Hoping I get a little more concern out of the GP. No matter how they act, being dizzy with vertigo for nearly three months can NOT be normal.

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They'd be more concerned if they were going through it.

As for the palps and low BP. Palps aren't that dangerous, everyone gets them, but when you have low BP or tachycardia you may be more likely to feel them.
And there's fancy new medications being pushed for low BP like their is high BP. Why put a patient on medication when there's no benefit for the doctor? or when it's not something the drug reps have been around pushing. Besides... only high BP kills, right? (never mind the fact that if your BP falls too low you can have seizures, coma, and death - not that you're that low yet). The public sure isn't warned about the dangers of low BP and doctors tend to think low = healthier.
I'm glad you're off those diuretics, someone should have been slapped for putting you on those.

Yeah, I wasn't so concerned about the palpitations - the tachycardia was more concerning. But now the drugs are controlling the tach, with the palpitations coming back, which makes me wonder if whatever my unknown cause for the heart trouble in the first place is getting worse or otherwise exacerbating the problem.

I mean, normal people don't suddenly go tachycardic. You'd think people might want to know why their hearts suddenly started acting up....

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

Yeah, I wasn't so concerned about the palpitations - the tachycardia was more concerning. But now the drugs are controlling the tach, with the palpitations coming back, which makes me wonder if whatever my unknown cause for the heart trouble in the first place is getting worse or otherwise exacerbating the problem.

I mean, normal people don't suddenly go tachycardic. You'd think people might want to know why their hearts suddenly started acting up....

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I've heard of betablockers causing that, actually. They strengthen the contractions of the heart a bit, and that could be part of what you're feeling.

It's not as rare as you'd think. Women ranging from teens to 30s can get issues with tachycardia. One problem is our darn hormones! They work against us. Another is things like NSC/NMH/vasovagal syncope - it's fairly common though doctors act like it's some great mystery and many don't know what it is. And linked to both is blood volume problems. When someone gets dehydrated their heart rate can go up. If you're chronically in a state of lower blood volume your heart is going to try to compensate for that and the low blood pressure because your brain won't be getting as much blood as it should. Compensatory tachycardia, in other words. I honestly believe you have a little of this since the diuretics obviously made you worse and because your blood pressure is too low. Low blood volume can go along with a lot of illnesses, even a bad viral infection can trigger it.

Fun bit of info- women get told it's all in their heads, it's anxiety, panic disorders and so on because we're believed to be overly emotional. One thing that commonly gets misdiagnosed as "panic disorder" or anxiety is beta hypersensitivity. Basically you're more sensitive to adrenaline. Low blood volume can cause this lovely little affect because you'll end up with the same amount of adrenaline circulating is less blood than a healthy person has. Autonomic nervous system issues can cause it too (and again, many things can damage various parts of your nervous system - PMDD is believe to do just that, again with those darn hormones!).
I have some problems with this myself and cannot have anything with epinephrine in it.

Well, tomorrow is appointment one of the week. I really hope he believes that I'm sick. This year has been one disappointment after another, and I could really use something going really right for me. I have to present lab meeting this week, need to finish my proposal so I can start writing my Master's thesis, and these experiments are keeping me in the lab late which is exhausting. Plus, I just got word that my friend with the brain tumor has been given less than six months to live.

I really need something to boost my spirits right now...

Hon, is there a diagnostic clinic near you? We have a couple around here -- places that specialize in testing and analyzing and working their way through symptom by symptom until they figure out what the problem is, and then refer you to the right specialist. They're accustomed to doing real detective work for their patients, and I think that's what these doctors are failing to give you.

If there isn't such a clinic in town, I bet it would be worth a trip to Austin or Houston.

And you are NOT a hypochondriac. I think maybe the reason they don't take you seriously is that you're so young and pretty -- you look perfectly healthy, so maybe they just can't quite believe you're going through such misery.

I'm so sorry! Feel better soon.

There's not one that I know of, Carol. If I was going to pick, I would probably go with Dallas, since I have family in the area that I could stay with, though really, I do have friends in Houston and a cousin in the Austin area...


Today's visit wasn't really productive. He mostly wants me to wait for Friday and the dizziness specialist, though he wants to run some tests on my cortisol levels if the doc on Friday also runs blood tests. So I guess we'll see. Another five-day wait. Boo....

Aw Pam... We're familiar with the disappointment trip. But you didn't know this GP - and apparently it's someone who doesn't really want to get involved on his own....

Pretty much what I expected you to post. I'm sorry it was sort of a waste of your time, hopefully the specialist will be more useful.

If you never get any sort of answers, definitive results on tests they're trying, maybe look into dysautonomia? There's different forms and degrees of how much a person is affected. All the name really means is dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system - the ANS would be responsible in one way or another for most of you systems. Some people get this for no discernible reason, others get it from bad infections, metabolic problems, hormone issues, etc.
Only tests specifically intended to look for anything differing in the ANS will see anything.
If it's determined that this is going on secondary to something else they could at least look into causes and try to balance medications out better so as not to make you worse. And if that's part of the problem, you may also need to be very careful (more so as time goes by) as to what you allow people to test out on you. Every time I'm given something new I'm finding more drugs that I cannot take - I'm also finding out I can no longer take things I was able to 2-3 years ago.

If you haven't chatted with StarryEyedTiGeR, you may want to. She also has similar symptoms including the vertigo (meniere's). I pointed her in the dysautonomia direction, too, and hope that's what helped her get some answers.

Yeah, I have bad side effects to most of the drugs they try to get me to take, it seems, always have.

Who would I go to to ask about dysautonomia, s_w? I've already seen someone who seems like a competent neurologist who thinks its something systemic and not strictly neurological.

Originally Posted by Sandtigress

Who would I go to to ask about dysautonomia, s_w? I've already seen someone who seems like a competent neurologist who thinks its something systemic and not strictly neurological.

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You could ask a cardiologist, electrophysiologist, or neurologist about it. If you were to do so with no knowledge of it you'll likely get dismissed, again.

Research it first, see if anything makes sense to you. If a lot of things match up you look for one of these specialist that actually have some experience in that area. Though the ANS does so much in your body, a lot of doctors are surprisingly ignorant of how much it really does and what happens when there's a problem somewhere.
Maybe through looking up one thing you'll find suggestions for things we've all forgot about so far.

The doctor's office called me this morning - I was thinking "Oh no, tell me you're not going to reschedule again!" Turns out, the doctor from Austin will be in a little earlier than expected, so they asked if I wanted to move my appointment up! I said yes - hopefully if he wants to test for anything in house, he can, and get something back to me sooner. Yes, I really want a diagnosis!

Appt's at 12:15, wish me luck!

Good luck. I hope you find this doctor is curious and willing to work with you!