Help!!Docs don't believe me

[Hope20155]

Thank you to anyone who takes the time out to read this!!!
What can I do for the docs to take me seriously ?? A little background , I'm 30 yrs old never been sick except for the occasional cold and no history of heart problems in my family. Not overweight, use to spoke from 13-22. I was in perfect Heath until July of this past year. I stood up one afternoon and had a pain deep in my chest in my heart. I certainly didn't brush it off, I couldn't if I wanted to because it kept happening. One of the weirdest symptoms I have (every time I tell a doc this they ALL look at me crazy like yea whatever ) is my heart can't get startled for nothing anymore, somebody could literally walk up to me and put a gun my head and my heart would not start beating fast. I've been in plenty I situations where I was "startled"  but my heart did NOT REACT. In August I went to see my first cardiologist and he did a echo stress, stress test and EKG and all came back normal. I still was feeling off and had episodes where I was unusually fatigue after little exertion. I've woke up plenty of days feeling extremely nauseous but never actually vomit. I started having what they claim to be panic attacks, out of no where I would be walking or sitting and start feeling short of breath my heart would start racing and I would feeling I was about to faint and die. I'll say since early November I've had fluids coming up my throat and comes up without coughing and the appearance is like solid white frothy with little are bubbles in it. My newest symptom is about a mth ago I started having trouble urinating I went the whole day with just a few drops, I knew something was really up after I drank a lot of water and still nothing. I was still having ongoing chest pain as a regular symptom so  I got a regular doc involved they did kidney function test , chest xray ,another echo (ejection fraction 70%) all came back normal. So I went to see a new cardiologist  Christmas Eve for a second opinion and I already have him a
heads up that nobody thinks I have heart trouble and to hear me out. He listen and I told him about my symptoms he
had me lay on the exam table and listened to my chest area with the  stethoscope and he said I had mitral valve prolapse because he could hear the clicking. He also said the white frothy mucus is from some type of stomach / acid reflex issue . I asked him (abt the MVP )why wouldn't that have shown up on either of the echoes I've done and he said it could have been missed human error it happens

[Hope20155]

Right! And that's  why I never bought into it when same doc said I had MVP . I also highly doubt that 2 echos would miss it. He simply diagnosed me with his stethoscope .

[Occupant]

But that's how the heart is generally checked to come up with a diagnosis for MVP.  Unless the people that did your Echo-cardiogram are extremely incompetent - find that hard to believe in this day and age - they would have discovered it and told you so.

[Hope20155]

But I had 2 echos done and the MVP never showed up on either .

[Occupant]

I kind of agree with your second cardiologist. You don't need an Angiogram to show MVP, an Echo will do that and you should probably be checked for a Hiatal Hernia as well.

[Hope20155]

Thanks for reading my entire post!

I thought the same thing on the MVP  and I wasn't buying his story on  why it didn't show up on the 2 echos i had  done.

The. Heart cath is the only way to go but now I feel I'll need to go to a 3rd caridologists because the second one flat out told he will not do one.

[Hope20155]

Thanks for replying!

I've read in a lot of places that coughing up white frothy septum is a symptom of heart failure. It's always a fact it could be some else. As far as the bubbly urine that's a sign of protein in the urine. Which is a indicator that the kidneys are functioning properly and in my mind I would contribute any kidney trouble to my suspected heart failure (although I know it could be unrelated).

I totally agree after reading you alls post the heart cath is the only way to know for sure. I just have to come up with a way to get them do it!

[Hope20155]

That is great advise and he probably would have taken me more seriously had I presented to him this way .I wish I would have posted this question before I went to see him again.

Question. What part in my post lead you to believe I may have esophageal spasms?

[Danilavonemoore]

I have been dealing with right sided heart failure since 1998 it took them a while to diagnose me because of my age and my physical shape. I was a marathon runner and just recently discharged from the service. (Army) Age was 36. I keep going into the ER and was told the filling of having an elaphant sitting on my chest was because I had started smoking after a death in the family. It took 7 ER visits to finally get some one to take an ex ray of my chest . I ended up in the cardiac intensive care unit for a heart transplant I was on the list for two years . at the time of diagnosis my EJECTION Fraction was 18 . The cardiologist could not figure out how I was still alive . I didn't have to have the transplant after 2 years of taking large amounts of medications for CHF  and idiopathic dilated Cardiomyopathy. I am now 52 and just was told that the left side of my heart was not working They don't know why . My original CHF was in the right side of my heart  .  Now I have a wall in my left ventricular part of heart that does not move at all . I had no symptoms at all just a lucky catch when I had an alergic reaction to a medication they were using to figure out why I am starving to death while I eat all the time . The symptoms you talk about don't fit (frothy sputum, air bubbles in urine . But if you really want to know you will have to have a right heart cath. It is the most defining form of test. An EF number between 50 to 70 or higher is normal. Get the cath and you will get your answers

[S_Chaney]

It sounds like you are also having esophageal spasms. These feel almost exactly like the early stages of a heart attack. The primary difference for me at least is the e-spasms are center mass and the heart attacks/angina are more left sided and back.

If you really want to sway your new cardiologist, just explain that you have no faith in your past tests especially since they missed the mitral valve issue. Mention that their failure and his success makes you constantly worried they missed something else important and you're confident he won't.

Keep in mind, your doctor is in a bit of a tough situation as well. Everything short of an angio can only confirm a problem, and usually dependent on timing. So unless they get lucky and get some data during an episode they may never actually see the problem. There are no tests which can rule out a heart issue.

As for a heart cath, that may be the only way to get an answer. Currently it is the only real diagnostic method that is exclusive. Caths are pretty safe and some facilities even do them as an out patient procedure. There are some risks involved but as far as medical procedures go they are pretty unlikely.

[Hope20155]

So the doc prescribed me a beta blocker atenolol 25mg. I can say since I've been on the beta blocker for almost a mth it has greatly reduced my chest pain. But I'm still having other heart related symptoms associated with what I think is heart failure . Still have those fluids coming up and I feel like I'm retaining fluids in my stomach area. I've been feeling so frustrated and feel like all the does are over looking what is really going on , so I scheduled another appointment with the same cardio doc that have me the beta blockers. He and is nurse were basically borderline upset to see me back so soon. The doc was saying why do u think something is wrong with your heart and I told him my concerns and that I wanted to do another echo because I feel like it will show that my heart is not functioning properly. He then said but your last echo was just in October and it was 70% which is better than mine. I told him yes I understand that but the way I feel now and how I felt then is totally different . It basically refused to do another echo and said only
thing that's left to do is a heart cath and IM NOT DOING THAT! I said I don't want that and said I heard all the stories but I see you docs really wait until someone is on their death bed to do something . I also told him that I know this is a totally different type of doc but I think I'm having kidney trouble, I've been having urination problems and bubbles in my urine that have NEVER been there before and I been my kidneys are being damaged because of my heart not functioning properly. He then said I'd be more than glad to do a kidney function test. I just left it at that because he wasn't trying to help me with anything else. I called to let the doc know I noticed swelling in my right leg . I then got my results back yesterday and they came back normal but I had cloudy urine and nurse told me the doc said go see your primary for the leg swelling .I'm going to end my long post with what I think is going on. I think I have heart failure . I think the frothy fluid that is coming up is pulmonary edema (X-rays show no sign so the primary doc claims), I think my recent urination/bubbles/cloudy urine problem is the very early stages of kidney failure due to the lack of blood flowing to my kidneys because of the heart failure ,I think that the fact that I am unable to get startled is proof that I have some type of heart damage because it can't pump fast or efficiently enough to work normally in terrifying situations. No doc is taking me seriously meanwhile I feel like I'm dying because I'm not getting the right treatment. I know how serious heart failure is I know the prognosis . I want to be at least treated for what I have and know what they think. ANY ADVICE is greatly appreciated . Sorry for the long post I wanted you all to get a good feel of what I've been going through