Guest guest Posted November 14, 2008 Report Share Posted November 14, 2008 I am a woman of 58, post-menopausal, who has been overweight for many years.. Until recently I always had a heartbeat in the mid-70's and normal blood pressure, 120/80. In 2006, I began following a diet for 18 months to lose weight and lost about 55 lbs. One of the diet's benefits was low salt intake. Recently, because of family illness ending in the death of both my parents within a month, I abandoned the diet. My salt intake was greatly increased and I regained more than 10 lbs in a short period of time. Upon my return to work at the beginning of October 2008, I began experiencing sudden, strange sensations of warmth many times throughout the day. In connection with this sensation, I felt drained. No one around me recognizes that I'm not feeling well and I am able to carry on with my normal activities. When I went to doctors with this problem, my heartbeat was low: 55 bpm and 51 bpm. But at the same time, my blood pressure is somewhat elevated, up to 177/57 at one point and routinely 140/70. I've had foot and leg cramping at night for awhile. And some isolated instances of muscle twitching. I'm told my blood potassium is normal. When I collected 24-hour urine samples, I produced 4000 milliters and 2900 milliters of urine. The doctors ruled out pheochromocytomas, but are surprised when I suggest hyperaldosteronism. They say it's rare and I get the impression that with a normal potassium level (though I've told them I've upped my intake of foods rich in potassium and decreased salt intake), they don't want to proceed with the tests that might be needed to diagnose it. What tests would be useful? Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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