Well...After "braving" the 1 inch dusting that mother nature chucked down, that made it slippery and MESSY enough for all the upstate NY'ers to turn into maniacs who do not know how to drive, almost peeing my pant, almost getting in a accident, getting lost, AND falling in the snow...I finally made it to AMC- (Albany Medical Center)
I met with a Cardiologist at Albany medical center this morning. Dr. T. He was a fantastic DR, and nearly restored my faith in DR's! Even his staff were awesome! You dont usually find BOTH under one roof! LOL..
Anyway. I went in to be evaluated for some issues I have been having (all my life really) Specifically worsening in the last year. I have been leery of doing a lot of reasearch on my own, as not to "convince myself" I have some other rare bull crap disorder to deal with...I met with Dr.T, and he took down all my family history of heart issues, which in of itself , he said, was enough to be evaluated as it is...Then add in the symptoms I was and have been experiencing, and he was very glad that I am getting looked at and checked out appropriately now.In the past, when I would have a episode, where I would pass out, or start to feel"off", I would go to the urgent care, they would run a CBC, do a EKG ( which BTW shows nothing, unless you just had a heart attack or are super sick with an infection) and some basic vitals and send me on my way with valium and anti nausea drugs. Saying it was "anxiety attacks" and what not...One specific time, was right after the methotrexate injection in May/June of last year, and I passed out 3 times in a row, and went to the urgent care and they, and my RE said it must have been a side effect of methotrexate....So basically, no one has even thought to think about cardiac related issues...
After talking through my symptoms and what a "normal" episode is like for me (which ranges from feeling brain fog, to flushing, cold sweats, vomiting, dizziness, and eventually fainting) He said he believes I may have a thing called, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome- AKA, POTS. He ordered a few tests to check things out.
1. Being an echocardiogram- Basically they take some very high tech pics of my heart.
2. Tilt table test.
3. A 30 day loop of my heart rhythm - This is where they record and send the signals that my heart gives off 24/7 (except when I am in the shower) electronically to my DR's office/computer system.
I am assigned to go for these tests on Jan 28th. I am set to follow up with Dr. T on Feb 25th, just before we head out to CA.
Next week, I am going to be setting up an appt with a cardiologist out in CA (for sometime in april) who will be able to manage this, should this issue be confirmed through testing.
So for now, that is about all I got...I will leave you with a couple videos on POTS- If anyone is interested....
Very interesting. I'm glad you are getting it checked out. Def, get the ECG...shows much more (even congenital stuff) that EKG doesn't show. My hubby comes from a long line of heart issues and he's done it all. He's getting his Berkeley test this week in fact. I'm glad you are on top of it and under a specialists care now who's looking further into things for you!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am also glad to be under the care of a awesome DR, and staff/ NOT looking forward to the ECG, or the 30 day loop...BUT I will do whatever necessary Hope you are feeling good! xoxox.
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