Hi there,
Have had very odd symptoms the last few months. Started suddenly with an abrupt increase in blood pressure, I can't talk very well when this happens, get extremely light headed, it because difficult to talk and I have problems answering questions and lose gaps of time. Then my blood pressure drops back down and all is fine for weeks. This has happened so far 4 times. Working for a hospital employee health has sent me down to E.R.
Had echocardiogram showing a minor leaking heart valve. E.K.G. is slightly abnormal. Treadmill went not too well. After 5 minutes I was pulled off because my B.P. went from 115/75 to 197/110. Took a while for it to settle down. Now I am being sent for a Myocardial Perfusion stress test.
Other problems is I used to climb stairs at our hospital nearly daily to the 12th floor with ease. Suddenly I can't get past 3. Get out of breath and have to rest. I have nearly constant squeezing sensation in my chest, but I think maybe that is chest wall and not cardiac. This sensation now is radiating into the back of my throat. I get palpatations, tingingly in my fingers and at times severe pain in my left arm in the bicep area. Occasionally nausea. Average b.p. is 120/75.
I neurologist suggested it is a type of migraine that manifests without headache. An E.E.G. is to be schedule.
I am 45, 132lb woman, eat a mostly healthy diet. Until this started rarely or never got sick except for migraine headaches. An M.R.I. of my brain looks good. I really want to become a boring patient again.
The only other odd thing is we recently took a trip to a local mountain. At 5400 feet all symptoms disapeared and I felt fantastic. It all came back around 3400 feet.
I am on verapamil currenlty for the migraine headaches.
My doctors have admitted I am a mystery. any ideas?
I DO have a leaky valve, mitral valve regurgitation, but I don't have high blood pressure. I do though have a thyroid condition ..for me my thyroid bothers me badly and it effects the heart as well. Check your thyroid as it can aggravate even the smallest of medical problems. I get all kinds of weird pain, pain in my throat, headaches, confusion, memory loss, chest pains, anxiety, my left arm goes numb and tingles, stabbing chest pains, I get lightheaded, severely dizzy, overly cold, night sweats, feeling like I can't breathe...just some of my symptoms...pretty sad..I have lived this way for years...for me I had to cut out iodine (I have hyperthyroid so I have too much iodine, Underactive thyroid where one gains weight-you would need iodine), I eat a low-sodium diet which I strongly recommend to you, I eat no processed foods, don't eat out much at all as a lot of things have too much salt. I don't drink pop, anything with caffeine etc. anything that has loads of sugar, or salt avoid as well. The bloodpressure will respond favorably to this kind of diet even if you still need to take meds. Just some thoughts...I am 36, and a female and I have lived successfully with this restricted diet, though I also respond well to daily exercise and that helps. You need to be your own advocate and demand every test you think will find out what you have so you can get better. I am a strong believer in this forum as well as being your own Doctor is in my opinion the first step to good health! Good Luck and God Bless!
I DO have a leaky valve, mitral valve regurgitation, but I don't have high blood pressure. I do though have a thyroid condition ..for me my thyroid bothers me badly and it effects the heart as well. Check your thyroid as it can aggravate even the smallest of medical problems. I get all kinds of weird pain, pain in my throat, headaches, confusion, memory loss, chest pains, anxiety, my left arm goes numb and tingles, stabbing chest pains, I get lightheaded, severely dizzy, overly cold, night sweats, feeling like I can't breathe...just some of my symptoms...pretty sad..I have lived this way for years...for me I had to cut out iodine (I have hyperthyroid so I have too much iodine, Underactive thyroid where one gains weight-you would need iodine), I eat a low-sodium diet which I strongly recommend to you, I eat no processed foods, don't eat out much at all as a lot of things have too much salt. I don't drink pop, anything with caffeine etc. anything that has loads of sugar, or salt avoid as well. The bloodpressure will respond favorably to this kind of diet even if you still need to take meds. Just some thoughts...I am 36, and a female and I have lived successfully with this restricted diet, though I also respond well to daily exercise and that helps. You need to be your own advocate and demand every test you think will find out what you have so you can get better. I am a strong believer in this forum as well as being your own Doctor is in my opinion the first step to good health! Good Luck and God Bless!
I know exactly what you are talking about. I found out I had a leaky valve when I was 36 also. The mitral valve also. I found out that this happens to alot of women at this age. It is called broken heart... I had my valve replaced in 2006 with a lot of success. My diet went back to normal. At the time of my valve replacement I also had a pacemaker/defibbulator installed. Due to my heart was so weak. Feeling normal hasent happened yet. In June of this year my pacemaker/defibbulator (ICD) was upgraded to a 3 lead. They were hoping to help my heart and to take off some of the stress. In June I also found out I have another leaky valve. I am unable to do anything. I cant do normal household duties. I cant bend over cause of the lack of blood flow I nearly passout. But one good thing, my Doc decided to get me on the transplant list. So possibly I can have a better quality of life. I will keep you in my prayers.
Pam
Had the Myocardio Perfusion Stress Test yesterday. I wasn't allowed on the treadmill due to what happened the last time. They did a chemical simualation. The EKG was not normal, though I was told it could be because of the chemical they are using for the test. They will let me know Monday I hope.
I almost never use salt, actually starting giving that up when my husband developed high blood pressure years ago. Switched to decaf along time ago and never drink soda, prefering to drink my favorit drink water or milk.
Felt funny all day after the test. Really hyper, not normal for me. My co-worker went to my favorit Smoothie Bar that only uses fresh fruit and picked up one iwth extra vitamines in it. Felt better after that.
My big thing is how easy I get tired. Maybe I shouldn't have gone back to work after the test, but me being me, I did. Came home exhausted.
Will let everyone know how the test comes back.
thanks for all the comments and ideas.
dbspar3...sorry to hear about all the trouble you've been having, but what you have is totally different than what other people are describing in this thread. Many young women have something called mitral valve prolapse or MVP which essentially when the mitral valve of the heart is somewhat "pushed out" in to the wrong position and as a result the valve becomes leaky. This is generally a benign condition and doesn't lead to problems with the heart.
You had mitral regurgitation, yes, but it was due to another mechanism than what the ladies in this thread are describing. Your mitral regurgitation may have come from a childhood illness like rheumatic fever which results in damage to the heart where there is a very significant amount of regurgitation which eventually puts so much stress on the heart that it begins to fail.
I'm not sure why you had mitral regurgitation, but because I know you have heart failure, you likely had it for a VERY long time. Did you have rheumatic fever as a child?
Another possibility is that you had some other type of disease which severely damaged the muscle in your heart causing something called "dilated cardiomyopathy" which results in a heart that is very enlarged and not able to pump very effectively. When the heart becomes enlarged, it stretches the mitral valve and results in mitral regurgitation.
Unless you had a cardiac arrest and survived from it, you don't have the "broken heart" syndrome. Broken heart syndrome is a rare entity sometimes called Takatsubo's cardiomyopathy where there is a very severe emotional event that results in an outpouring of adrenaline which can then be toxic to the heart and cause it to enlarge considerably and not pump as effectively. You sound like you had long-standing mitral regurgitation from a faulty valve resulting in dilated cardiomyopathy and then heart failure.
The reason I know you have heart failure is because you mention you have a pacemaker/difibrillator. In the absence of a primary electrophysiologic condition in the heart such as Brugada syndrome, a pacemaker/defibrillator is only inserted in a person whose heart pump fraction is <30%.
Have they told you whether they believe your heart failure is reversible?
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