Am I the only patient with hyperaldosteronism in Los Angeles? (please reply)

[Guest guest]

I live in Los Angeles, California where there is a huge population.

Recently, I have seen 5 doctors and 1 dietician and asked them the

following questions about hyperaldosteronism:

1. Have you seen any other patients with hyperaldosteronism?

2. Do you recommend the DASH diet to patients with hypertension?

_________________________

Here are their answers:

A. My nephrologist Dr. A, who I have been seeing for 20 years for

hypertension said he has had one patient with an adrenal tumor who

got it operated out and then was cured. He said he has mentioned

low salt to his hypertension patients, but never has mentioned the

DASH diet. I am the only patient he has seen with hyperplasia.

B. My endocrinologist Dr. B, who I have seen for 5 years who

specializes in diabetic patients said he thinks he has another

patient with hyperaldosteronism, but he is not sure.

He recommended that I start Byetta shots for weight loss even though

he knows that I am not diabetic. My A1C is 5.6, my fasting glucose is

85-95 and my 2 hour postprandial glucose tolerance test was 122 after

sugar loading - which are all normal.

When I confronted him about the severe symptoms from Byetta. He said

to keep taking it.

I asked him if I did loose weight with Byetta then would I gain it all

back if I stopped the Byetta and he did not answer the question.

C. A new internist Dr. C who sees primarily HIV patients

(I am HIV-negative) said he did not know of any patients with

hyperaldosteronism except me, and he refers his patients to a

diabetes educator for diet counseling. I asked him about Inspra and

hyperaldosteronism and he was not knowledgable about them.

D. I saw this dietician Dietician D, and I was impressed with her

knowledge. She recommended a diet that was similar to DASH but

did not call it that.

Also she says I should do a c-peptide level with my next fasting

glucose to see if I am insulin resistant.

E. I saw a new internist Dr. E who was recommended by my allergist

who said he has never met another patient with hyperaldosteronism

besides me in his 50 year career. He did not know about the DASH

diet. He could not explain the angiotensin - renin - aldosterone

system when I asked him about it.

He could make no recommendations to me, but he wanted copies of

all my studies and reports from all my doctors after he saw me

1 1/2 hours late after my appointment time.

F. I saw endocrinologist Dr. F at a major hospital who works in the

diabetes clinic. He says that I am the only patient with

hyperaldosteronism that he has, although he said he may have others,

but he has never checked.

He recommends that I take 2000 mg. Metaformin to facilitate weight

loss, but I am not diabetic. I have metabolic syndrome.

----------------------------

Since I cannot find any hypertension and diabetes experts who are

knowledgable about hyperaldosteronism, what should I do?