What to expect?

[Annalise]

    I had an incident one week ago in which my heart was racing and I was panicking.  At the doctor's office, my blood pressure was very high -- roughly 150/110.  And an EKG showed a possible calcium/potassium imbalance. I am 44, 20 pounds overweight.  My doctor put me on 25 mg of Toprol, which immediately lowered my blood pressure.  And I began consuming a lot more bananas, spinach, broccoli and milk.  Plus I have stopped ingesting caffeine and diet drinks as per my doctor's orders.  I bought a BP monitor, and since then my blood pressure has consistently been 116 over 70ish, and I feel much, much better.  Now the next hurdle:  I will undergo an echocardiogram next week and am VERY nervous.  Will my nervousness affect the results?  In general, what do doctors look for?  My doctor ordered it just to rule out any problems, but I am still worried.  

[Cleveland Clinic]

annalise,

First, an echocardigram is a simple procedure with relatively little discofort other then the cold gel they use for the echo probe and rarely a little extra pressure from the probe on the chest wall.  Your nervousness will not effect the result at all. Your doctor will primarily be looking for changes in the structure of the heart from your high blood pressure in addition to the overall function of the heart muscle and valves.

Unless you actully had blood test that showed a low potassium or calcium levels I would not rely on the ecg to make this diagnosis.

[Scientist]

I wonder if you might want to ask your doctor about the following (I'm not a physician, so not qualified to prescribe what to do).  What I'd like to communicate to you is a synopsis of what I have read in numerous books on nutrition and recent medical research (but not the many research papers that these sources cite).  The claims are supported by my own experience.

Even given a good balanced diet (which is hard to maintain in today's culture), we tend to be deficient in magnesium (also a few other minerals, such as chromium), largely because our soils are depleted.  Moreover, some studies show that certain ailments (such as CFS) seem to produce a further deficiency.  A shortage of magnesium can cause many problems, including heart problems.  Many authors recommend at least 200mg of magnesium as a daily supplement.  Some books (such and the well known reference "Prescription for Nutrtitional Healing" by Balch and Balch) suggest more).

Any effect is slow.  Although people sometimes see improvement after a few days, it apparently takes a few months for the correction to occur at the cellular level.

Moreover, this tends to be only a partial solution, because magnesium is likely just one of the factors.  Because the relationships are not well understood, and because they are complex, many people recommend learning about nutrition and the body and applying the knowledge to one's own case.  It's not a quick fix but it has worked for many people, often in conjunction with judicious medical consultation.

[3rdMajor]

I had an echocardiogram a while back.  A hand held probe is placed near your heart.  It generates an image which appears on a personal computer's video monitor.  It gives the doctor a view of your heart in action.  From that, I think he can diagnose enlarged heart, thickening of ventricles, see the valves in action, etc. It is about as non-invasive as a test can be.  No reason for anxiety whatsoever, unless you are fearful of having a problem discovered. (Which is actually a good thing)
However, I had mine and everything looked wonderful.  A year later, I required 5 coronary artery bypasses. So, it doesnt show Coronary Artery Disease.  I'm thinking a stress echocardiogram or stress EKG would have served me better. Good luck, and no worries.

[Annalise]

Thanks for all the excellent advice.  As far as supplements, my doctor says she may put me on some when I go in for my follow-up visit.  And as far as the echocardiogram, I just don't want my nervousness to affect the test results in some way (like how some people's blood pressure shoots up in the doctor's office, then returns to normal).

[Annalise]

Thank you for your advice.  My doctor had a number of blood tests run, and I expect to get the results during the followup.  I am not sure if she specifically requested a test for low potassium but will ask.

[Emmaj]

The echo tech won't tell you any results, so no need to be nervous for the test. It is really a breeze. Wait till you see your dr. for the test results... and that is no more nerve wracking than most dr. visits! Good luck!

[roland]

If your potassium is low, ask your doctor to prescribe KLOR-KON. It will raise your potassium level. Your doctor can write you a prescription for it.