Hello,
Sorry to hear about all of the things the 15 year old had to go through. I was wondering if any one has heard of what I am going through. I have been having problems with my eyes and feeling light headed lately. It usually happens when I stand up or bend down. When I get back up, I feel like my peripheral vision is somewhat closing in. (Sometimes flickering) I have a general feeling of just being light headed. It last for a few minutes and then things seem better. Have you heard of that before?
Von
Thanks for all the helpful information.
There are 7 Heart forums on this website, 5 of them are "expert" forums and two are community forums. The expert forums have physicians who will answer questions and the community forums are patients, caregivers, family members,etc
1) Heart Disease Expert
2) Heart Rhythm Expert
3) Interventional Cardiology Expert
4) Peripheral Artery Disease Expert
5) Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Expert
6) Heart Disease community (the one where you posted, but thought it was expert)
7) Heart Rhythm community (this one)
You can get to the Expert forums or the Communities by clicking on "forums" (at the top of the page) or by looking on the right hand side of the page and choosing the forum you want to check out. Not to worry, you're doing fine : )
An EP is an electrophysiologist (cardiologist with advanced training in arrythmia problems).
Oh, this will help too.......On the top right of the screen, under the "search MedHelp" box, you can click on "watch this discussion". That way, you will be notified by email when there are new messages. Just check your settings to be sure you have email notification turned on (it's under "My MedHelp" - the heart shaped icon on top). Don't worry, it's not as hard as it seems.
connie
Thanks for your support, I appreciate it. Apparently I find this posting thing very confusing, I thought I finally got into "ask a doctor" and it appears I was just reposting in the community section. Maybe I'll get the hang of this eventually but I appreciate your suggestions on that and will try some different time frames or other cardiology forums.
We are not too far from Cleveland. What is an EP?
I'm SO sorry you and your daughter have not been greeted with more professionalism and comfort....makes me so upset when I hear that patients are basically blown off. GRRRR!!!!
There is a window of time that the expert forums accept questions, and it changes. I've had luck in the past (years ago) around 7:00-9:00a.m. (EST), but I'm not sure those times still work. The best advice I can give is for you to have your question ready (in WORD or somewhere similar) and when the forum is open, copy and paste the question and go for it. I wish there was a set time so I could offer a better suggestion. You can try posting to the doctors on the Interventional Cardiology forum or the doctor on Preventive....they sometimes can take more questions/day. Don't give up - you have great questions!
Are you anywhere near Cleveland? I have a fabulous EP in Cleveland if you'd want another opinion.
Hang in there.....
By the way, I don't understand the wait till she's 50 either........what's that about? As you said, you're only asking about ONE. I'd want much better explanations that you're getting and can certainly understand your frustration.
Connie
Thanks for your kind comments and suggestions. My daughter's pediatric cardiologist said he will worry about closing the pfo when she is around 50 and is at risk for developing blood clots or before then if she has a confirmed stroke. That seemed strange to me so I got the opinion of another cardiologist and when I asked him if he thought my daughter's health would improve if the pfo was closed he said....20% of the population have pfo's and we can't go around closing everyone's pfo, the health care system would go broke. I wasn't asking him to consider closing 60 million, only one. I walked into the hall as he was reviewing with a resident, my notes, which I have recorded word for word from my daughter's description of events, and I saw the roll of his eyes and a smirk that spoke louder than words....this woman's a nut. He did an exercise stress test but couldn't be bothered to explain what he was looking for or the results. He stuck his head in the door and said it's normal, take the medication and get lost, well maybe not that last part but that's the way he made us feel. My pediatrician told me later that the stress test was not exactly normal because her heart rate failed to elevate to the expected level. She had a word for it that I can't recall.
I have tried to post on the ask a doctor heart forum but darn if I can figure out the timing on that. It always comes up saying the maximum questions have been recieved for the day. Have you had any success with that?
Thanks again,
Ohio Mom
Hi Ohio Mom! (I lived in Ohio for 47 years and love it there!)
Your daughter has a very interesting history. As a mom it must be scary and frustrating not having ALL the answers.
I had a bubble study and MRI in April after a temporary loss of vision. Initially, they thought I had a large PFO, but it turned out to be the jet from my leaky mitral valve. No sign of stroke on the MRI. Anyway, when they thought it was PFO, there was talk of closing the hole. Have they suggested closure in your daughter's case?
Also, you may want to stop over at the Dysautonomia Community - there may be others who can help with the NCS diagnosis. They are familiar with POTS and similar conditions.
Connie
Go Tribe!