Re: Re: pacemaking, etc. _Joanne/anne

[Guest guest]

Low sodium causes shortness of breath? Carsen's sodium is always low. His last two cmp's had low potassium too. 2nd one lower than the last... He had it done because of such increased urine output.Very often and increased quantity. His urine was dilute. That's all I know. Can this be cardiac related at all?

Krystena R.

Re: pacemaking, etc. _Joanne

Krystena:Zach was tried on atenalol at some point but that was last year and I think it was quite brief. We switched to labetalol because his heart failure was not improving with the atenalol. Between labetalol and Lasix he seems to compensate adequately if he is not too active. Activity raises his Blood pressure and that in turn seems to lead to a heart gallop (literally sounds like a horse is galloping), shortness of breath and a dropping sodium level. All of those are signs of decompensated heart failure.the labetalol has been good although I am not sure it would be adequate without the lasix. The good thing about labetalol is that it is made in an intravenous form. Zach has recently switched to a continuous IV infusion of labetalol that runs 24 hrs/day. It is good because it eliminates the peaks and valleys that he had when he was getting it 4x/day.Sam's heart failure needed more help. His was treated with 2 diuretics: lasix and chlorothiazide (diurel), continuous infusions of labetalol and milrinone and then 2 other infusions to keep his BP down because the highs always led to worsening heart function. It was only with all of those things that we finally eliminated the heart rates of 150-180 and persistent gallop that plagued him for months before that. He still had periods of heart decompensation and his heart was very very fragile but the drugs made a big difference and I believe they added years to his life.I hope your appt goes well.Anne J.Please contact mito-owner with any problems or questions.