Re: How do you get a doctor to listen?

[Guest guest]

Em: thanks for the good note. Hard to believe it has been 5 years. BTW our site's 10th anniversary is this year. Do you ever note any effects of going off the DASH EATING plan? How did starting the DASH help you?If others have self dx stories please send as one abstract will be: Primary Aldosteronism-self diagnosis using web based information. May your pressure be low!CE Grim MS, MDSpecializing in DifficultHypertensionOn Mar 13, 2012, at 12:38, em5704 <em5704@...> wrote:

I had the same experience with my primary care doctor blowing off my low potassium (3.4) as being of no consequence, while prescribing a cocktail of BP meds to address my high blood pressure. I was told to eat more bananas. This went on until I had a CT scan for an unrelated GYN problem and an "incidental" finding of a left adrenal adenoma. Here is how I was diagnosed with PA: I Googled "adrenal adenoma, low potassium and high blood pressure" and there it was. I diagnosed myself. When I took a printout of information about PA (not having found this group yet) to my primary doctor, she was skeptical and said that PA was incredibly hard to diagnose and prove. Since I was lucky enough not to be in an HMO but rather a PPO, I fired that doctor on the spot. Took myself to an endo, who I

found thru the Yellow Pages (like I said, I hadn't found this group yet). He prescribed the necessary urine and renin tests, and diagnosed me. I've been on spiro (my choice, over surgery) and DASH for 5 years, K came right up on spiro and stayed there, BP is fine.So, in answer to your question, some doctors simply will not listen. They are either too busy, too arrogant or too negligent. If you feel you can educate your doctor, make a complete pest of yourself until you get the tests you need. Have no shame, this is YOUR life, and if you don't take control, nobody will. That's what I learned. If you are still not being heard and it's possible to change doctors, do it. But insist on interviewing the new doctor before you commit. Em

[Guest guest]

I added my story in the file section under lisa n's story. The only things I did not add to that story is that a couple years ago I lost about 50 lbs and was very active until the stresses of finishing my degree and whatever is affecting me now started to slow me down. I've kept the weight off and am within 20 lbs of my goal/ideal weight (so my doctor knows I am trying to live a healthy lifestyle). Another thing that I did not mention is that I was on ortho tri cyclen lo bcp. I had been on it 4 years before all this started and it is really the only other thing that I am really considering for the sudden rise of my bp. I went off it for 3 months with no drop, decided to try it again, but then decided to stay off it again after a month because I feel like I'm already taking too many meds anyway. :-/ So I'm in my 2nd month being off

it. Seeing this blog

http://www.hyperaldosteronism.blogspot.com/search/label/Symptoms is what made me really consider Conn's since all my symptoms basically matched this person's word for word at some point or another during the last year and the only thing most other sites ever discussed were the htn and sometimes low potassium. From: Valarie <val@...>Subject: RE: How do you get a doctor to listen?hyperaldosteronism Date: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 9:05 PM Why is your doctor controlling your access to an endo? Are you in an HMO? Before you see the endo, be sure to

study up on PA. You have to advocate for yourself and understand what's going on. You have to get the correct tests at the correct time. The endo I went to had virtually no clue about it. She gave me the meds I wanted (spironolactone). When my heartbeat got irregular, she called in Toprol. She never, ever listened to my heart. Low potassium is a hallmark of PA. HCTZ dropping potassium is another. You should have a copy of every single test you've had done for the last seven years. Don't guess about any of the results. Federal law requires that be furnished to you. Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of lisa_n87 Hi everyone, I'm new to the group but from what I have read on here and elsewhere online, I feel a lot of my symptoms match what others on here have experienced with hyperaldosteronism. I'm a 25yo female and

last year around February, I started to get really tired all the time. I thought it was due to a bad flu but long after recovering I could never seem to get enough sleep. Around the same time I started to get migraines on an almost daily basis (didn't realize the killer headaches were migraines at the time since I'd never had one). On top of it, my usually sharp memory was completely gone and I was stuck with extreme brain fog. With a lot of caffeine I made it to the end of the school year and made an appt with my GP in June where on top of everything I found I had extremely high bp, 196/92. Now, I had to have a physical for my new job 8 months before where my bp was perfectly normal, 124/80. My bp remained high and got started on metoprolol 25mg. At the time, I was looking for typical issues that might cause all this such as anemia, thyroid and maybe even reaction to bcp. I stopped my ortho tri cyclen and blood tests came back normal except that one

thing was slightly low, and if memory serves me (which it may not :-/), it was my potassium. I also saw an allergist thinking maybe it was my allergies causing it. He was more concerned than my gp and put me on elavil for migraines (I take 10mg) and singulair for asthma so I could stop advair. As soon as I stopped advair I feel I slept much better, but still didn't feel well rested or as energetic. I had my 6 month checkup and my bp was high again at 174/90. I asked my doctor what could be causing it to go up and she just acted like it is one of those things that can just happen. bs! I'm now upped to 50mg meto, she tried me on hctz but that made me feel awful with extreme muscle weakness and fatigue so I had to stop that. Now she has added amlodipine 5mg (for about a week now) but I can still tell my bp is high and the muscle weakness/tiredness has not gone away and I have dull headaches almost every day. My doctor doesn't seem to think anything

is really wrong and has never tested me for anything other than a typical blood test (back in June) and a sleep study (which showed I was an inefficient sleeper, due to the advair i believe?) Now today I tried to get a referral from my dr to see an endo thinking that would be my best starting point based from what I have read online and family recommendation. Well the nurse calls me back asking why I would want to see an endo. I explain that my bp is still high and my migraines are returning and I am just all around fatigued and low energy. She questions me saying "don't you mean a neurologist" since I of course mentioned my migraines. I tell her no, I feel the migraines, high bp and other symptoms are all related. So she said "oh, so you're thinking thyroid issues." Well, no I'm not, but I just tell her I feel it may be a gland issue. So she just kinda laughs and says "well, I'll try to call, but they're going to tell me the same thing I told

you" which was that endos don't deal with high bp and migraines. Errr. I'm hoping to hear back from my dr office soon to see if i can get in, but how do I go about making my dr hear me? I know s omething is wrong with me and no matter what she may think, otherwise healthy 25yos don't develop extreme hypertension over an 8 month period without something causing it. I guess if all else fails I'll call my allergist and see if he will give me the referral since he is the only one who has seemed concerned by my symptoms. Thank you for listening to my rant! Any advice from your own experiences would be greatly appreciated. .

[Guest guest]

Hokay will read n's story when I have time to find it. You can paste your story into your email as well. May your pressure be low!CE Grim MS, MDSpecializing in DifficultHypertensionOn Mar 13, 2012, at 17:18, Noffke <lisa_n87@...> wrote:

I added my story in the file section under lisa n's story. The only things I did not add to that story is that a couple years ago I lost about 50 lbs and was very active until the stresses of finishing my degree and whatever is affecting me now started to slow me down. I've kept the weight off and am within 20 lbs of my goal/ideal weight (so my doctor knows I am trying to live a healthy lifestyle). Another thing that I did not mention is that I was on ortho tri cyclen lo bcp. I had been on it 4 years before all this started and it is really the only other thing that I am really considering for the sudden rise of my bp. I went off it for 3 months with no drop, decided to try it again, but then decided to stay off it again after a month because I feel like I'm already taking too many meds anyway. :-/ So I'm in my 2nd month being off

it. Seeing this blog

http://www.hyperaldosteronism.blogspot.com/search/label/Symptoms is what made me really consider Conn's since all my symptoms basically matched this person's word for word at some point or another during the last year and the only thing most other sites ever discussed were the htn and sometimes low potassium. From: Valarie <val@...>Subject: RE: How do you get a doctor to listen?hyperaldosteronism Date: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 9:05 PM Why is your doctor controlling your access to an endo? Are you in an HMO? Before you see the endo, be sure to

study up on PA. You have to advocate for yourself and understand what's going on. You have to get the correct tests at the correct time. The endo I went to had virtually no clue about it. She gave me the meds I wanted (spironolactone). When my heartbeat got irregular, she called in Toprol. She never, ever listened to my heart. Low potassium is a hallmark of PA. HCTZ dropping potassium is another. You should have a copy of every single test you've had done for the last seven years. Don't guess about any of the results. Federal law requires that be furnished to you.

Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of lisa_n87 Hi everyone, I'm new to the group but from what I have read on here and elsewhere online, I feel a lot of my symptoms match what others on here have experienced with hyperaldosteronism. I'm a 25yo female and

last year around February, I started to get really tired all the time. I thought it was due to a bad flu but long after recovering I could never seem to get enough sleep. Around the same time I started to get migraines on an almost daily basis (didn't realize the killer headaches were migraines at the time since I'd never had one). On top of it, my usually sharp memory was completely gone and I was stuck with extreme brain fog. With a lot of caffeine I made it to the end of the school year and made an appt with my GP in June where on top of everything I found I had extremely high bp, 196/92. Now, I had to have a physical for my new job 8 months before where my bp was perfectly normal, 124/80. My bp remained high and got started on metoprolol 25mg. At the time, I was looking for typical issues that might cause all this such as anemia, thyroid and maybe even reaction to bcp. I stopped my ortho tri cyclen and blood tests came back normal except that one

thing was slightly low, and if memory serves me (which it may not :-/), it was my potassium. I also saw an allergist thinking maybe it was my allergies causing it. He was more concerned than my gp and put me on elavil for migraines (I take 10mg) and singulair for asthma so I could stop advair. As soon as I stopped advair I feel I slept much better, but still didn't feel well rested or as energetic. I had my 6 month checkup and my bp was high again at 174/90. I asked my doctor what could be causing it to go up and she just acted like it is one of those things that can just happen. bs! I'm now upped to 50mg meto, she tried me on hctz but that made me feel awful with extreme muscle weakness and fatigue so I had to stop that. Now she has added amlodipine 5mg (for about a week now) but I can still tell my bp is high and the muscle weakness/tiredness has not gone away and I have dull headaches almost every day. My doctor doesn't seem to think anything

is really wrong and has never tested me for anything other than a typical blood test (back in June) and a sleep study (which showed I was an inefficient sleeper, due to the advair i believe?) Now today I tried to get a referral from my dr to see an endo thinking that would be my best starting point based from what I have read online and family recommendation. Well the nurse calls me back asking why I would want to see an endo. I explain that my bp is still high and my migraines are returning and I am just all around fatigued and low energy. She questions me saying "don't you mean a neurologist" since I of course mentioned my migraines. I tell her no, I feel the migraines, high bp and other symptoms are all related. So she said "oh, so you're thinking thyroid issues." Well, no I'm not, but I just tell her I feel it may be a gland issue. So she just kinda laughs and says "well, I'll try to call, but they're going to tell me the same thing I told

you" which was that endos don't deal with high bp and migraines. Errr. I'm hoping to hear back from my dr office soon to see if i can get in, but how do I go about making my dr hear me? I know s omething is wrong with me and no matter what she may think, otherwise healthy 25yos don't develop extreme hypertension over an 8 month period without something causing it. I guess if all else fails I'll call my allergist and see if he will give me the referral since he is the only one who has seemed concerned by my symptoms. Thank you for listening to my rant! Any advice from your own experiences would be greatly appreciated. .

Reply to sender |

Reply to group |

Reply via web post |

Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic

(30)

[Guest guest]

I'll paste my story for you, sorry it is so long, but I don't want to leave out any details that may be important. I

first noticed my symptoms around the fall of 2010. My first symptom was

fatigue. It was vague and didn’t concern me too much. Come October, I had my

first horrible migraine. It was so bad, I almost couldn’t drive home and no

medication could touch it.

I

had a lot of colds (first year teacher), but it seemed almost all of them turned

into sinus infections. Sudafed would knock it out of my system if I caught it

early. I would feel better for about another 2 weeks before another cold/sinus

infection would hit. I think these were due to Advair I was taking since I've had no issues since stopping it.

My

fatigue worsened and I stopped working out as much. I noticed when I would

workout sometimes my heart would feel like it was racing or pounding with very

little exertion and I would have to pause in order to let my heart slow down. I

was very athletic before this.

It

got worse when I had the flu really bad in March and was sick for about 6 days with

extreme fatigue, muscle aches, and fever. My doctor only wanted to see me if my

fever didn’t go down with medicine.

After

this illness, it felt like I couldn’t catch up on sleep and was so tired that I

would come home from work just to fall asleep and take a two hour nap before

going to bed around 9 or 10. I honestly think the advair was not allowing me to sleep as well while on it, as I no longer remembered any dreams upon waking which was not normal for me. I also remember my memory being completely shot. I

had extreme brain fog and couldn’t concentrate for the life of me. I usually

was very good at remembering anything I needed to but now found myself

constantly using the excuse “I forgotâ€.

I

went to the doctor at the beginning of June. There she told me that my blood

pressure was 196/98. This was shocking to me since my blood pressure in

September for my work physical was 124/80 and at this point I’d had several

days without work so no real stress in my life (besides feeling lousy). My

doctor seemed slightly surprised but not hugely concerned and ordered a

standard blood test (CBC) and scheduled me for a sleep study (which showed

nothing) while having me come back 2 more times to see if my bp remained high,

which it never went lower than 186/92. My blood work came back normal except for a

note saying potassium was slightly low.

After

12.5mg of metoprolol didn't get it down the dr found that 25mg got my blood pressure down to

138/84 and sent me away saying she would need to see me in 6 months.

I

went to an allergist thinking maybe my allergies or asthma were to blame. At

that point, I found out my horrible headaches were migraines and that my allergies

were worse than I had thought. He has me still taking allegra 180 for

allergies, singulair for asthma, and elavil for my migraines. This

doc was pretty upset and concerned that my gp hadn’t done more investigating

into my symptoms (bp was 146/82 when I saw him) and other symptoms and ordered

some blood work (looking into trouble with sinus infections and my white blood

cells), head mri, ct scan (due to sinus inflamation) and a chest x-ray. All

came back normal besides the sinus inflamation.

I

stopped the Advair and my sleep returned to normal. With the elavil my

migraines went almost completely away. I was feeling almost back to normal but

my mind was still a little foggy and I still got fatigued easily, finding I can

no longer stay up past 10pm without a big struggle from my body.

As

of right now, I find that some of my symptoms are worsening again. I had my 6

month check up and my bp was up to 168/90. My meto was upped to 50mg. That brought it down only to 160/78 so I was put on hctz which made me feel awful. My arms and

legs got extremely tight and weak within a few days and my legs always felt

like they were on the verge of cramping. That med brought it to 156/84 and was stopped so amlodipine

5mg was added. It’s almost two weeks in and my muscles are still very weak and

tired. And thinking about it, the muscle weakness started before the hctz, with

my back between the shoulder blades and upper arms aching a lot.

Now

somewhere in all of this, other symptoms have shown up and come and go:

·

Pounding

heart upon laying down or going to bed (not very often)

·

Jitteriness

and like my hands are shaking even though they are steady

·

Dull

headaches

·

Easily

startled by silly things

·

Every

once in a while I will get a flutter in my chest like my heart has skipped a

beat

·

Every

once in a while I will get a feeling like my heart rhythm is off, like the two

sides are out of sync, and is just bouncing (best way I can describe it) while

my hands feel shaky but upon feeling my pulse it is perfectly normal. This is a

pretty rare occurrence.

·

Achiness

in chest that goes away if I get my mind off of it or do something active (anxiety related?)

Current

meds: allegra 180mg, singulair 10mg, elavil 20mg, metoprolol 50mg, amlodipine

5mgFrom: Valarie <val@...>Subject: RE: How do you get a doctor to listen?hyperaldosteronism Date: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 9:05 PM Why is your doctor controlling your access to an endo? Are you in an HMO? Before you see the endo, be sure to

study up on PA. You have to advocate for yourself and understand what's going on. You have to get the correct tests at the correct time. The endo I went to had virtually no clue about it. She gave me the meds I wanted (spironolactone). When my heartbeat got irregular, she called in Toprol. She never, ever listened to my heart. Low potassium is a hallmark of PA. HCTZ dropping potassium is another. You should have a copy of every single test you've had done for the last seven years. Don't guess about any of the results. Federal law requires that be furnished to you.

Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of lisa_n87 Hi everyone, I'm new to the group but from what I have read on here and elsewhere online, I feel a lot of my symptoms match what others on here have experienced with hyperaldosteronism. I'm a 25yo female and

last year around February, I started to get really tired all the time. I thought it was due to a bad flu but long after recovering I could never seem to get enough sleep. Around the same time I started to get migraines on an almost daily basis (didn't realize the killer headaches were migraines at the time since I'd never had one). On top of it, my usually sharp memory was completely gone and I was stuck with extreme brain fog. With a lot of caffeine I made it to the end of the school year and made an appt with my GP in June where on top of everything I found I had extremely high bp, 196/92. Now, I had to have a physical for my new job 8 months before where my bp was perfectly normal, 124/80. My bp remained high and got started on metoprolol 25mg. At the time, I was looking for typical issues that might cause all this such as anemia, thyroid and maybe even reaction to bcp. I stopped my ortho tri cyclen and blood tests came back normal except that one

thing was slightly low, and if memory serves me (which it may not :-/), it was my potassium. I also saw an allergist thinking maybe it was my allergies causing it. He was more concerned than my gp and put me on elavil for migraines (I take 10mg) and singulair for asthma so I could stop advair. As soon as I stopped advair I feel I slept much better, but still didn't feel well rested or as energetic. I had my 6 month checkup and my bp was high again at 174/90. I asked my doctor what could be causing it to go up and she just acted like it is one of those things that can just happen. bs! I'm now upped to 50mg meto, she tried me on hctz but that made me feel awful with extreme muscle weakness and fatigue so I had to stop that. Now she has added amlodipine 5mg (for about a week now) but I can still tell my bp is high and the muscle weakness/tiredness has not gone away and I have dull headaches almost every day. My doctor doesn't seem to think anything

is really wrong and has never tested me for anything other than a typical blood test (back in June) and a sleep study (which showed I was an inefficient sleeper, due to the advair i believe?) Now today I tried to get a referral from my dr to see an endo thinking that would be my best starting point based from what I have read online and family recommendation. Well the nurse calls me back asking why I would want to see an endo. I explain that my bp is still high and my migraines are returning and I am just all around fatigued and low energy. She questions me saying "don't you mean a neurologist" since I of course mentioned my migraines. I tell her no, I feel the migraines, high bp and other symptoms are all related. So she said "oh, so you're thinking thyroid issues." Well, no I'm not, but I just tell her I feel it may be a gland issue. So she just kinda laughs and says "well, I'll try to call, but they're going to tell me the same thing I told

you" which was that endos don't deal with high bp and migraines. Errr. I'm hoping to hear back from my dr office soon to see if i can get in, but how do I go about making my dr hear me? I know s omething is wrong with me and no matter what she may think, otherwise healthy 25yos don't develop extreme hypertension over an 8 month period without something causing it. I guess if all else fails I'll call my allergist and see if he will give me the referral since he is the only one who has seemed concerned by my symptoms. Thank you for listening to my rant! Any advice from your own experiences would be greatly appreciated. .

Reply to sender |

Reply to group |

Reply via web post |

Start a New Topic

Messages in this topic

(30)

[Guest guest]

Thanks. If you read my evolution of PA ATRICLE u will note that BB USUALLY have no effect on BP IN PA. You need ask for 24 hr urine for NA K AND. CREATININE and aldo. And a plasm renin and aldosterone on the same day. Let us know what the results are. You did not mention getting up At night to pee or muscle cramps in hands and feet May your pressure be low!CE Grim MS, MDSpecializing in DifficultHypertensionOn Mar 13, 2012, at 19:12, Noffke <lisa_n87@...> wrote:

I'll paste my story for you, sorry it is so long, but I don't want to leave out any details that may be important. I

first noticed my symptoms around the fall of 2010. My first symptom was

fatigue. It was vague and didn’t concern me too much. Come October, I had my

first horrible migraine. It was so bad, I almost couldn’t drive home and no

medication could touch it.

I

had a lot of colds (first year teacher), but it seemed almost all of them turned

into sinus infections. Sudafed would knock it out of my system if I caught it

early. I would feel better for about another 2 weeks before another cold/sinus

infection would hit. I think these were due to Advair I was taking since I've had no issues since stopping it.

My

fatigue worsened and I stopped working out as much. I noticed when I would

workout sometimes my heart would feel like it was racing or pounding with very

little exertion and I would have to pause in order to let my heart slow down. I

was very athletic before this.

It

got worse when I had the flu really bad in March and was sick for about 6 days with

extreme fatigue, muscle aches, and fever. My doctor only wanted to see me if my

fever didn’t go down with medicine.

After

this illness, it felt like I couldn’t catch up on sleep and was so tired that I

would come home from work just to fall asleep and take a two hour nap before

going to bed around 9 or 10. I honestly think the advair was not allowing me to sleep as well while on it, as I no longer remembered any dreams upon waking which was not normal for me. I also remember my memory being completely shot. I

had extreme brain fog and couldn’t concentrate for the life of me. I usually

was very good at remembering anything I needed to but now found myself

constantly using the excuse “I forgotâ€.

I

went to the doctor at the beginning of June. There she told me that my blood

pressure was 196/98. This was shocking to me since my blood pressure in

September for my work physical was 124/80 and at this point I’d had several

days without work so no real stress in my life (besides feeling lousy). My

doctor seemed slightly surprised but not hugely concerned and ordered a

standard blood test (CBC) and scheduled me for a sleep study (which showed

nothing) while having me come back 2 more times to see if my bp remained high,

which it never went lower than 186/92. My blood work came back normal except for a

note saying potassium was slightly low.

After

12.5mg of metoprolol didn't get it down the dr found that 25mg got my blood pressure down to

138/84 and sent me away saying she would need to see me in 6 months.

I

went to an allergist thinking maybe my allergies or asthma were to blame. At

that point, I found out my horrible headaches were migraines and that my allergies

were worse than I had thought. He has me still taking allegra 180 for

allergies, singulair for asthma, and elavil for my migraines. This

doc was pretty upset and concerned that my gp hadn’t done more investigating

into my symptoms (bp was 146/82 when I saw him) and other symptoms and ordered

some blood work (looking into trouble with sinus infections and my white blood

cells), head mri, ct scan (due to sinus inflamation) and a chest x-ray. All

came back normal besides the sinus inflamation.

I

stopped the Advair and my sleep returned to normal. With the elavil my

migraines went almost completely away. I was feeling almost back to normal but

my mind was still a little foggy and I still got fatigued easily, finding I can

no longer stay up past 10pm without a big struggle from my body.

As

of right now, I find that some of my symptoms are worsening again. I had my 6

month check up and my bp was up to 168/90. My meto was upped to 50mg. That brought it down only to 160/78 so I was put on hctz which made me feel awful. My arms and

legs got extremely tight and weak within a few days and my legs always felt

like they were on the verge of cramping. That med brought it to 156/84 and was stopped so amlodipine

5mg was added. It’s almost two weeks in and my muscles are still very weak and

tired. And thinking about it, the muscle weakness started before the hctz, with

my back between the shoulder blades and upper arms aching a lot.

Now

somewhere in all of this, other symptoms have shown up and come and go:

·

Pounding

heart upon laying down or going to bed (not very often)

·

Jitteriness

and like my hands are shaking even though they are steady

·

Dull

headaches

·

Easily

startled by silly things

·

Every

once in a while I will get a flutter in my chest like my heart has skipped a

beat

·

Every

once in a while I will get a feeling like my heart rhythm is off, like the two

sides are out of sync, and is just bouncing (best way I can describe it) while

my hands feel shaky but upon feeling my pulse it is perfectly normal. This is a

pretty rare occurrence.

·

Achiness

in chest that goes away if I get my mind off of it or do something active (anxiety related?)

Current

meds: allegra 180mg, singulair 10mg, elavil 20mg, metoprolol 50mg, amlodipine

5mgFrom: Clarence Grim <

[Guest guest]

Results of:Aldosterone, renin, potassium blood24-hour urine K, Na, creatinine All done the same day. ? Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of NoffkeSent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 8:12 PMhyperaldosteronism Subject: Re: How do you get a doctor to listen? I'll paste my story for you, sorry it is so long, but I don't want to leave out any details that may be important. I first noticed my symptoms around the fall of 2010. My first symptom was fatigue. It was vague and didn’t concern me too much. Come October, I had my first horrible migraine. It was so bad, I almost couldn’t drive home and no medication could touch it. I had a lot of colds (first year teacher), but it seemed almost all of them turned into sinus infections. Sudafed would knock it out of my system if I caught it early. I would feel better for about another 2 weeks before another cold/sinus infection would hit. I think these were due to Advair I was taking since I've had no issues since stopping it. My fatigue worsened and I stopped working out as much. I noticed when I would workout sometimes my heart would feel like it was racing or pounding with very little exertion and I would have to pause in order to let my heart slow down. I was very athletic before this. It got worse when I had the flu really bad in March and was sick for about 6 days with extreme fatigue, muscle aches, and fever. My doctor only wanted to see me if my fever didn’t go down with medicine. After this illness, it felt like I couldn’t catch up on sleep and was so tired that I would come home from work just to fall asleep and take a two hour nap before going to bed around 9 or 10. I honestly think the advair was not allowing me to sleep as well while on it, as I no longer remembered any dreams upon waking which was not normal for me. I also remember my memory being completely shot. I had extreme brain fog and couldn’t concentrate for the life of me. I usually was very good at remembering anything I needed to but now found myself constantly using the excuse “I forgotâ€. I went to the doctor at the beginning of June. There she told me that my blood pressure was 196/98. This was shocking to me since my blood pressure in September for my work physical was 124/80 and at this point I’d had several days without work so no real stress in my life (besides feeling lousy). My doctor seemed slightly surprised but not hugely concerned and ordered a standard blood test (CBC) and scheduled me for a sleep study (which showed nothing) while having me come back 2 more times to see if my bp remained high, which it never went lower than 186/92. My blood work came back normal except for a note saying potassium was slightly low. After 12.5mg of metoprolol didn't get it down the dr found that 25mg got my blood pressure down to 138/84 and sent me away saying she would need to see me in 6 months. I went to an allergist thinking maybe my allergies or asthma were to blame. At that point, I found out my horrible headaches were migraines and that my allergies were worse than I had thought. He has me still taking allegra 180 for allergies, singulair for asthma, and elavil for my migraines. This doc was pretty upset and concerned that my gp hadn’t done more investigating into my symptoms (bp was 146/82 when I saw him) and other symptoms and ordered some blood work (looking into trouble with sinus infections and my white blood cells), head mri, ct scan (due to sinus inflamation) and a chest x-ray. All came back normal besides the sinus inflamation. I stopped the Advair and my sleep returned to normal. With the elavil my migraines went almost completely away. I was feeling almost back to normal but my mind was still a little foggy and I still got fatigued easily, finding I can no longer stay up past 10pm without a big struggle from my body. As of right now, I find that some of my symptoms are worsening again. I had my 6 month check up and my bp was up to 168/90. My meto was upped to 50mg. That brought it down only to 160/78 so I was put on hctz which made me feel awful. My arms and legs got extremely tight and weak within a few days and my legs always felt like they were on the verge of cramping. That med brought it to 156/84 and was stopped so amlodipine 5mg was added. It’s almost two weeks in and my muscles are still very weak and tired. And thinking about it, the muscle weakness started before the hctz, with my back between the shoulder blades and upper arms aching a lot. Now somewhere in all of this, other symptoms have shown up and come and go:· Pounding heart upon laying down or going to bed (not very often)· Jitteriness and like my hands are shaking even though they are steady· Dull headaches· Easily startled by silly things· Every once in a while I will get a flutter in my chest like my heart has skipped a beat· Every once in a while I will get a feeling like my heart rhythm is off, like the two sides are out of sync, and is just bouncing (best way I can describe it) while my hands feel shaky but upon feeling my pulse it is perfectly normal. This is a pretty rare occurrence. · Achiness in chest that goes away if I get my mind off of it or do something active (anxiety related?) Current meds: allegra 180mg, singulair 10mg, elavil 20mg, metoprolol 50mg, amlodipine 5mgFrom: Valarie <val@...>Subject: RE: How do you get a doctor to listen?hyperaldosteronism Date: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 9:05 PM Why is your doctor controlling your access to an endo? Are you in an HMO? Before you see the endo, be sure to study up on PA. You have to advocate for yourself and understand what's going on. You have to get the correct tests at the correct time. The endo I went to had virtually no clue about it. She gave me the meds I wanted (spironolactone). When my heartbeat got irregular, she called in Toprol. She never, ever listened to my heart. Low potassium is a hallmark of PA. HCTZ dropping potassium is another. You should have a copy of every single test you've had done for the last seven years. Don't guess about any of the results. Federal law requires that be furnished to you. Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of lisa_n87Hi everyone, I'm new to the group but from what I have read on here and elsewhere online, I feel a lot of my symptoms match what others on here have experienced with hyperaldosteronism. I'm a 25yo female and last year around February, I started to get really tired all the time. I thought it was due to a bad flu but long after recovering I could never seem to get enough sleep. Around the same time I started to get migraines on an almost daily basis (didn't realize the killer headaches were migraines at the time since I'd never had one). On top of it, my usually sharp memory was completely gone and I was stuck with extreme brain fog. With a lot of caffeine I made it to the end of the school year and made an appt with my GP in June where on top of everything I found I had extremely high bp, 196/92. Now, I had to have a physical for my new job 8 months before where my bp was perfectly normal, 124/80. My bp remained high and got started on metoprolol 25mg. At the time, I was looking for typical issues that might cause all this such as anemia, thyroid and maybe even reaction to bcp. I stopped my ortho tri cyclen and blood tests came back normal except that one thing was slightly low, and if memory serves me (which it may not :-/), it was my potassium. I also saw an allergist thinking maybe it was my allergies causing it. He was more concerned than my gp and put me on elavil for migraines (I take 10mg) and singulair for asthma so I could stop advair. As soon as I stopped advair I feel I slept much better, but still didn't feel well rested or as energetic. I had my 6 month checkup and my bp was high again at 174/90. I asked my doctor what could be causing it to go up and she just acted like it is one of those things that can just happen. bs! I'm now upped to 50mg meto, she tried me on hctz but that made me feel awful with extreme muscle weakness and fatigue so I had to stop that. Now she has added amlodipine 5mg (for about a week now) but I can still tell my bp is high and the muscle weakness/tiredness has not gone away and I have dull headaches almost every day. My doctor doesn't seem to think anything is really wrong and has never tested me for anything other than a typical blood test (back in June) and a sleep study (which showed I was an inefficient sleeper, due to the advair i believe?) Now today I tried to get a referral from my dr to see an endo thinking that would be my best starting point based from what I have read online and family recommendation. Well the nurse calls me back asking why I would want to see an endo. I explain that my bp is still high and my migraines are returning and I am just all around fatigued and low energy. She questions me saying " don't you mean a neurologist " since I of course mentioned my migraines. I tell her no, I feel the migraines, high bp and other symptoms are all related. So she said " oh, so you're thinking thyroid issues. " Well, no I'm not, but I just tell her I feel it may be a gland issue. So she just kinda laughs and says " well, I'll try to call, but they're going to tell me the same thing I told you " which was that endos don't deal with high bp and migraines. Errr. I'm hoping to hear back from my dr office soon to see if i can get in, but how do I go about making my dr hear me? I know s omething is wrong with me and no matter what she may think, otherwise healthy 25yos don't develop extreme hypertension over an 8 month period without something causing it. I guess if all else fails I'll call my allergist and see if he will give me the referral since he is the only one who has seemed concerned by my symptoms. Thank you for listening to my rant! Any advice from your own experiences would be greatly appreciated. .Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (30)

[Guest guest]

AND I LIKE URINE ALDO as well.from the intro: I have added a couple of things Dr. Grim's Perfect Primary Aldosteronism Blood and Urine Testing to diagnose PA in one day. 1. Eat a high salt diet for 2 weeks-at least 4000 mg of Na a day.2. No BP meds in last 4-12 weeks depending on meds and Drs advice.3. Collect 24 hr urine for Na, K and creatinine and aldosterone. Do not lose a drop of this liquid gold. It is impossible to interpret the plasma renin and aldosterone and urine aldosterone without this. 4. The morning you finish the 24 hr urine have fasting blood drawn for renin, aldosterone and K using our guidelines to get an accurate K. Try to get this done about 1-4 hours after you have been out of bed. Be sure the laboratory orders and does aldosterone NOT aldolase.5. Send us the results with the normal values for your lab.6. If you ever have a salt (saline) infusion test for PA be certain to ask them to measure how much you pee during the 4 hours of the infusion. If it is 1-1.5 liter of urine it strongly suggests that you may have PA. If more tha 1.5 L you almost certainly have PA. I call this Dr. Grim’s “Quick Pee Test” for PA. On Mar 14, 2012, at 2:19 PM, Valarie wrote: Results of:Aldosterone, renin, potassium blood24-hour urine K, Na, creatinine All done the same day. ? Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of NoffkeSent: Tuesday, March 13, 2012 8:12 PMhyperaldosteronism Subject: Re: How do you get a doctor to listen? I'll paste my story for you, sorry it is so long, but I don't want to leave out any details that may be important. I first noticed my symptoms around the fall of 2010. My first symptom was fatigue. It was vague and didn’t concern me too much. Come October, I had my first horrible migraine. It was so bad, I almost couldn’t drive home and no medication could touch it. I had a lot of colds (first year teacher), but it seemed almost all of them turned into sinus infections. Sudafed would knock it out of my system if I caught it early. I would feel better for about another 2 weeks before another cold/sinus infection would hit. I think these were due to Advair I was taking since I've had no issues since stopping it. My fatigue worsened and I stopped working out as much. I noticed when I would workout sometimes my heart would feel like it was racing or pounding with very little exertion and I would have to pause in order to let my heart slow down. I was very athletic before this. It got worse when I had the flu really bad in March and was sick for about 6 days with extreme fatigue, muscle aches, and fever. My doctor only wanted to see me if my fever didn’t go down with medicine. After this illness, it felt like I couldn’t catch up on sleep and was so tired that I would come home from work just to fall asleep and take a two hour nap before going to bed around 9 or 10. I honestly think the advair was not allowing me to sleep as well while on it, as I no longer remembered any dreams upon waking which was not normal for me. I also remember my memory being completely shot. I had extreme brain fog and couldn’t concentrate for the life of me. I usually was very good at remembering anything I needed to but now found myself constantly using the excuse “I forgot”. I went to the doctor at the beginning of June. There she told me that my blood pressure was 196/98. This was shocking to me since my blood pressure in September for my work physical was 124/80 and at this point I’d had several days without work so no real stress in my life (besides feeling lousy). My doctor seemed slightly surprised but not hugely concerned and ordered a standard blood test (CBC) and scheduled me for a sleep study (which showed nothing) while having me come back 2 more times to see if my bp remained high, which it never went lower than 186/92. My blood work came back normal except for a note saying potassium was slightly low. After 12.5mg of metoprolol didn't get it down the dr found that 25mg got my blood pressure down to 138/84 and sent me away saying she would need to see me in 6 months. I went to an allergist thinking maybe my allergies or asthma were to blame. At that point, I found out my horrible headaches were migraines and that my allergies were worse than I had thought. He has me still taking allegra 180 for allergies, singulair for asthma, and elavil for my migraines. This doc was pretty upset and concerned that my gp hadn’t done more investigating into my symptoms (bp was 146/82 when I saw him) and other symptoms and ordered some blood work (looking into trouble with sinus infections and my white blood cells), head mri, ct scan (due to sinus inflamation) and a chest x-ray. All came back normal besides the sinus inflamation. I stopped the Advair and my sleep returned to normal. With the elavil my migraines went almost completely away. I was feeling almost back to normal but my mind was still a little foggy and I still got fatigued easily, finding I can no longer stay up past 10pm without a big struggle from my body. As of right now, I find that some of my symptoms are worsening again. I had my 6 month check up and my bp was up to 168/90. My meto was upped to 50mg. That brought it down only to 160/78 so I was put on hctz which made me feel awful. My arms and legs got extremely tight and weak within a few days and my legs always felt like they were on the verge of cramping. That med brought it to 156/84 and was stopped so amlodipine 5mg was added. It’s almost two weeks in and my muscles are still very weak and tired. And thinking about it, the muscle weakness started before the hctz, with my back between the shoulder blades and upper arms aching a lot. Now somewhere in all of this, other symptoms have shown up and come and go:· Pounding heart upon laying down or going to bed (not very often)· Jitteriness and like my hands are shaking even though they are steady· Dull headaches· Easily startled by silly things· Every once in a while I will get a flutter in my chest like my heart has skipped a beat· Every once in a while I will get a feeling like my heart rhythm is off, like the two sides are out of sync, and is just bouncing (best way I can describe it) while my hands feel shaky but upon feeling my pulse it is perfectly normal. This is a pretty rare occurrence. · Achiness in chest that goes away if I get my mind off of it or do something active (anxiety related?) Current meds: allegra 180mg, singulair 10mg, elavil 20mg, metoprolol 50mg, amlodipine 5mgFrom: Valarie <val@...>Subject: RE: How do you get a doctor to listen?hyperaldosteronism Date: Sunday, March 11, 2012, 9:05 PM Why is your doctor controlling your access to an endo? Are you in an HMO? Before you see the endo, be sure to study up on PA. You have to advocate for yourself and understand what's going on. You have to get the correct tests at the correct time. The endo I went to had virtually no clue about it. She gave me the meds I wanted (spironolactone). When my heartbeat got irregular, she called in Toprol. She never, ever listened to my heart. Low potassium is a hallmark of PA. HCTZ dropping potassium is another. You should have a copy of every single test you've had done for the last seven years. Don't guess about any of the results. Federal law requires that be furnished to you. Val From: hyperaldosteronism [mailto:hyperaldosteronism ] On Behalf Of lisa_n87Hi everyone, I'm new to the group but from what I have read on here and elsewhere online, I feel a lot of my symptoms match what others on here have experienced with hyperaldosteronism. I'm a 25yo female and last year around February, I started to get really tired all the time. I thought it was due to a bad flu but long after recovering I could never seem to get enough sleep. Around the same time I started to get migraines on an almost daily basis (didn't realize the killer headaches were migraines at the time since I'd never had one). On top of it, my usually sharp memory was completely gone and I was stuck with extreme brain fog. With a lot of caffeine I made it to the end of the school year and made an appt with my GP in June where on top of everything I found I had extremely high bp, 196/92. Now, I had to have a physical for my new job 8 months before where my bp was perfectly normal, 124/80. My bp remained high and got started on metoprolol 25mg. At the time, I was looking for typical issues that might cause all this such as anemia, thyroid and maybe even reaction to bcp. I stopped my ortho tri cyclen and blood tests came back normal except that one thing was slightly low, and if memory serves me (which it may not :-/), it was my potassium. I also saw an allergist thinking maybe it was my allergies causing it. He was more concerned than my gp and put me on elavil for migraines (I take 10mg) and singulair for asthma so I could stop advair. As soon as I stopped advair I feel I slept much better, but still didn't feel well rested or as energetic. I had my 6 month checkup and my bp was high again at 174/90. I asked my doctor what could be causing it to go up and she just acted like it is one of those things that can just happen. bs! I'm now upped to 50mg meto, she tried me on hctz but that made me feel awful with extreme muscle weakness and fatigue so I had to stop that. Now she has added amlodipine 5mg (for about a week now) but I can still tell my bp is high and the muscle weakness/tiredness has not gone away and I have dull headaches almost every day. My doctor doesn't seem to think anything is really wrong and has never tested me for anything other than a typical blood test (back in June) and a sleep study (which showed I was an inefficient sleeper, due to the advair i believe?) Now today I tried to get a referral from my dr to see an endo thinking that would be my best starting point based from what I have read online and family recommendation. Well the nurse calls me back asking why I would want to see an endo. I explain that my bp is still high and my migraines are returning and I am just all around fatigued and low energy. She questions me saying "don't you mean a neurologist" since I of course mentioned my migraines. I tell her no, I feel the migraines, high bp and other symptoms are all related. So she said "oh, so you're thinking thyroid issues." Well, no I'm not, but I just tell her I feel it may be a gland issue. So she just kinda laughs and says "well, I'll try to call, but they're going to tell me the same thing I told you" which was that endos don't deal with high bp and migraines. Errr. I'm hoping to hear back from my dr office soon to see if i can get in, but how do I go about making my dr hear me? I know s omething is wrong with me and no matter what she may think, otherwise healthy 25yos don't develop extreme hypertension over an 8 month period without something causing it. I guess if all else fails I'll call my allergist and see if he will give me the referral since he is the only one who has seemed concerned by my symptoms. Thank you for listening to my rant! Any advice from your own experiences would be greatly appreciated. .Reply to sender | Reply to group | Reply via web post | Start a New Topic Messages in this topic (30)