New to Group: My Story and Questions

[Guest guest]

Hello, I'm a 45-year old African American male with long history of high blood

pressure (in

the 180/115 range). I've been on what seems like every drug known to

pharmacology -

NORVASC, LISINOPRIL, CLONIDINE, METOPROLOL, AMLODIPINE, HYDROCHLOROTHIAZIDE,

NORTRIPTYLINE, TRIAMTERENE, etc... No matter what there has been no change in my

high blood pressure.

In late 2007 I had serious tingling and some numbness on my left side (legs and

arms) and

my primary doctor got a blood test. The result was low potassium. So, I went on

a

potassium pill and it mostly cleared up. 3 weeks ago after yet another visit to

my primary

and really high blood pressure he ordered another blood test. The results,

according to the

letter he sent me, showed " low renin " and he thought I could have " Primary

Hyperaldosteronism. " With that he referred me to an endocrinologist for

followup.

I met with the endo doc today, he went over my history and I described all of my

current

symptoms - frequent headaches, occasional blurry vision, and the return of the

tingling/numbness. Though I was in the office a while, the endo doc landed on a

solution

that seems too conservative for me. He discussed the possibilities for the cause

of my

high blood pressure, including benign tumor of the adrenal glands, adrenal

hyperplasia

and God knows what else. Right there in the office he ruled out benign tumor or

other

mass (malignant) because my CT scan from TWO years ago showed no adrenal

abnormalities! That specific CT scan was in the emergency room for

diverticulitis, so there

was no reason to focus on the adrenal glands - the endo freely admitted such.

So, after spending nearly 2 hours in the endo's office his chosen course of

action was to

prescribe SPIRONOLACTONE, 25mg twice a day. He said if it brings down my blood

pressure then bingo, it's all good. He even wrote the prescription with a year

of refills!

Here's my concern: I've read here and other sources that SPIRONOLACTONE is used

to

actually diagnose Primary Hyperaldosteronism, and if blood pressure goes down

it's likely

that the patient has some kind of adrenal growth (adenoma?), which can be

surgically

removed. SPIRONOLACTONE has some potentially disturbing side effects for men -

like

breast enlargement, low libido, erection problems, etc. I don't want to be on

SPIRONOLACTONE for a year if the actual culprit is a adrenal growth (benign or

malignant)

and surgery could potentially be a " cure. "

I found out today that my health insurance plan allows for me to simply call

another endo

(in network) and make an appointment for a second opinion. Fortunately, there

are 10

other board certified endos to choose from. Not sure how to choose - male,

female,

young, old, but I would like to make a choice soon.

With respect to second opinion I'm not quite sure what to say to another endo.

How does

that first conversation even start? Isn't it unlikely for one doctor to

second-guess another

doctor?

I'm sorry for such a lengthy post, but I'm not happy with the direction of my

care. Can

someone here PLEASE help me understand all of this, or give me some desktop

advice on

what to think about, how to proceed, or simply what to do next?