Do I have Vasovagal Syncope or Something else????

[imabat]

I really need some help here. I'm a 28 male. Weigh 155 lbs. I had a ablation back in 2001 for afib. After the ablation I still need to take beta-paste for about 2 years ( I stopped about 6 months ago). About 8 months after the ablation I started having horrible heat intolerence. This is what happans...... I can be in the heat for more than about five minutes or a hot stuufy room. I get shortness of breath, a pain on the left side of my body that goes all the way up to my neck, nausea, I pass alot of gas, and I feel like I will pass out if I don't get into a cool place. It almost feels like I'm either having a heart attack or I'm having heat stroke.

Recently this year I have had a treadmill test, and a angiogram all normal. I have also had blood work done for thyroid and other gland tests including a 24hr urine test. All come back normal. I really need some help this is ruining my life. I will be having a tilt table test in two weeks.... but my doctor doesn't really know if this will diganose what I have. I also have a very small heart murmur.

Please help

Kyle

[Cleveland Clinic]

Kyle,

Its hard to explain all of your symptoms. Some element of vasovagal symptoms or autonomic dysfuction however might explain some of them, as might medication side effects.

Also, I would have a hard time attributing all of your symtoms to your medications.

In conjunction with a cardiologist, you may wish to seek the opinion of a neurologist.

Hope this is a start.

good luck

[jdm]

Sorry to hear of your problems.  I have developed severe anxiety problems due to tachycardia.  Some of the symptoms in me include what seem like hot flashes.  I feel like I am burning up but on taking my temperature it is generally well below "normal" due to the attenolol I take.  It's mental but it's also REAL.  

I had to learn about the reality of anxiety attacks and sypmtoms the hard way through experience.  It was terrifying.  I suggest that you see a mental health provider about this problem.  Also, in my experience, don't bother seeking support and understanding from other males-they will just think you are a wimp...until it happens to them!  That's the way it is with my migraines ( I am male as well ).  People, both men and women think of anxiety and migraine type problems as a woman's condition.  

good luck-you are too young to feel like your life is ruined.  I pray that you will be able to turn it around with proper help...and...cardiologists are the wrong people to expect to successfully treat severe anxiety.  

[imabat]

THANKS FOR THE COMMENT ...... BUT THIS ISN'T ANXIETY .... THIS IS SOMETHING WITH THE HEART .. ITS BEEN GOING ON TWO YEARS NOW .. I LIVE IN SAN FRANCISCO ONE REASON I LIVE HERE IS BECAUSE IT IS COOL ALL YEAR AROUND.

[jdm]

http://www.ndrf.org/  

National Dysautonomia Research Foundation

Just proves that nothing's ever simple.  It still sounds a lot like anxiety to me.

[tlcjuliet]

Maybe this might sound silly, but has your doctor tested you for H.Pylori bacteria in your gut?  Worth checking out :)
hope you are feeling better

[starion]

(tDysautonomia is a poorly understood condition, even among docs & cardiologists (though about 1/2 million folks in the US have it).   My son has had symptoms of it for ten years before finally being correctly diagnosed last week at the age of 16!  The resident (in the cardio clinic) kept asking us why we were there in the cardiology clinic & I kept responding that I believed my son had orthostatic intolerance, even though he's never fainted.

The Orthostatic Intolerance cardiologist listened to my son's history (has always had a hard time standing for any length of time, especially  when playing soccer (& to a lesser extent basketball).  From about the age of 6, he would SQUAT on the soccer field during games because it felt better.  He continued for the next 10 years to be THE ONLY person squatting during the soccer game, even though his coaches & teammeates razzed him about it.  Whenever the ball would come near him, he'd rise & chase it down.  After the game he'd always feel awful (often nauseaus as well & need to lie down.  The cardiologist had my son lie down for a short while & examined him.  He took son's pulse & blood pressure.  Had son stand ABSOLUTELY STILL for a short while & re-measured pulse & blood pressure.  He then confirmed that son DOES have dysautomina, specifically Orthostatic Intolerance, POTS & NMH.  
Son was prescribed a cardiac selective beta blocker, Toprol XL 25mg, once/day, re-check in a month.

He did reassure us that son's condition(s) generally have a good prognosis & is NOT fatal.  It does explain a LOT of the symptoms he's had, which have been worsening over the past 3 1/2 years.  Hopefully with treatment, things will improve.  

Good luck--in scheduling an appointment, try calling the nearest large med school & asking them if they are aware of any specialists in dysautomia and/or orthostatic intolerance.  Another way to do this is call a large teaching hospital in your area and speak to the cardiology department.  Ask them which cardiologists conduct tilt table tests--one of the ways to definitely diagnosis several forms of dysautomia.  If you see someone who is unfamilar with this condition, you will likely just spin your wheels & delay effective treatment.

I hope you're diagnosed sooner than my son was!
Aloha,
Starion

[HealThySelf]

The symptoms that you have described seem like classic near syncope as I have experienced it.

Once I opened my car window at a McDonalds drive thru in Montana when it was about 95 degrees outside.  I immediately felt so Nauseous that I pulled over and threw up for 10 minutes in their parking lot.  Not too good for business:)  I was traveling and was so sick for 2 days that I thought that I might die.  

Other times the trigger was something like sitting down in the car.

In my case, beta blockers were the cause.  I have a very low resting heart rate and shouldn't have been on beta blockers.  After stopping them for a month, I never had another episode.

Also beta blockers can mess up your autonomic system for years, so it might take some time to get your system back to a normal balance.

The autonomic system is not something to be tinkered with.  In my opinion, Beta Blockers are over prescribed and I think that someone is crazy to let a doctor do ablations unless they are absolutely going to die otherwise.

Good Luck.

[hbp702]

I agree with you 100% about beta blockers, but expect to be flamed by the medicopharmaceutical establishment for your statements.

Beta blockers can cause "zombification" (tired, walking slow, feeling out of it, no vitality), extreme fatigue, insulin resistance and even full blown diabetes, poor cholesterol profile, fainting, dizziness, confusion, cold hands and feet, impotence in men and arousal disorder in women, and other side effects.

Cutting your cardiac output below what your body wants is not going to be very healthy for it.

(I know, in CHF it can help the failing heart last longer, etc, etc - they do have a use - but they are over-prescribed).

I took beta blockers for a bit to lower my hypertension and turned into a zombie (I barely felt like walking up a small hill I need to cross to get to the parking lot at the end of the day) until I DEMANDED to be taken off them. They resisted at first, saying I needed my BP down and it is such a small dose. I said find another way - the side effects are intolerable.

[imabat]

Yes , I feel alot better since I have been off the beta blockers... But the problem I'm having in the heat is intolerable... it has changed my life for the worse.... I can't do everything I need to do ( job wise )