Need a good dr

[Brandie51]

Hi, everyone.  I really need help.  I'm a 30 year old female that was in perfect health until SVT and ablation and now I have a multitude of health problems (not just heart) that no doctor I've seen can find or solve.  What kind of doctor looks at all problems for a common cause. Should I go to the Mayo clinic?  

A little history:  I have been very blesssed with good health and rarely even caught a cold until my SVT showed it's ugly face 1.5 years ago.  I had an ablation to eliminate the SVT but it's been down hill ever since.  After the ablation, I did great for about 4 months but I started having horrible symptomatic PACs and some break through SVT so went on beta blockers.  I suffer from Chest pain off and on all the time, sometimes it will be mild other times horrible stabs of pain.  I am always battling my palpitations and heart issues but stress test and echo are "normal".  I now have terrible GI problems, I get constant UTIs and yeast infections (which I've never had before).  My lab shows an elevated T4 but my thyroid check out "normal".  My heart wakes me up all night long and now I have been diagnosed with sleep apnea.  I have all sorts of muscle pain all the time and terrible headaches with ridiculous pressure in my head.  I quit taking beta blockers about a month ago and some of the symptoms got better but this week has been tough with all sorts of ailments.  18 months ago I was in picture perfect health and never went to the doctor and now I'm a total disaster.  I am so desperate for help.  Any ideas?

[Brandie51]

My apologies for the late reply.  No, I wasn't treated for the sleep apena.  My insurance will not pay for the cpap equipment and treatment b/c they don't think my apnea is bad enough to warrent cpap.  I'm still waiting for my follow up appointment with the pulmonary dr but everyone I've talked to thinks the sleep apnea is the casue of my problems.  I am still waking up all through the night.  Now, I have dermatology issues.  I'm really too young to have so many health problems so it's puzzling to me how the insurance co. can control my treatements.  I just want to be healthy and get on with my life.  THanks for your post to me!

[tom_h]

Brandie, have you been treated for the sleep apnea yet?  Although I had SVT since early childhood, it was exacerbated by undiagnosed very severe sleep apnea. A bad night would result in several days of PVCs which usually triggered an SVT episode.  I was having 62 incidents an hours which would disrupt my sleep.  Once on CPAP, I felt immediately better, lost weight, and felt like a different person.  Sleep Apnea is a slow killer, and the end stage isn't particularly pleasant; stroke, enlarged heart, swollen legs.

[Brandie51]

I was taking beta blockers but recently stopped.  It actully did make me feel a little better, especially at night.  My bp was getting really low at night which made me worse.  That seems to have improved.  I quit taking everything and am hoping some of these symptoms were side effects that will go away.  Not having much luck yet.

[kawagumby]

Are you taking any other medications?  I developed sleep apnea right after taking blood pressure medication, when I quit taking it, the apnea was gone.  I developed GI symptoms from yet another medication that has taken months to resolve... I too was healthy, but with slightly elevated blood pressure and occasional bouts of afib.   The drugs were the problem, and now I've found that I am getting healthy again without them.   Some people, like me, do not tolerate drugs well and are better off without them, especially if you can  find some like benefit from diet and lifestyle changes.

I had to laugh, my cardiologist tried to link the apnea to the afib (must have been on the flowchart), but the only time I ever had the apnea was when I was on the prescribed medication.

Does anyone in the medical profession actually do any diagnosis anymore?  All I see is an endless parade of prescription drugs to treat a symptom......

[Brandie51]

Thank you for your post.  I have no history of anxiety issues and have never suffered from any mental conditions.  No trauma no drama, just one day I was fine and the next day I was in the hospital.  None of the doctors believe that the heart issue is related to the GI issue or related to the female problems.  I am just thinking they must be b/c they all begin at the same time.  I think I am going to try to find a new dr though.  Thanks for the advice.

[Brandie51]

Thank you for your comments.  I'm in AL and there's a teaching hospital in Birmingham. I will check it out.  Thank you.

[dmacd74]

Your body aches and headaches could be related to sleep apnea which causes you to sleep poorly.  When you combine lack of sleep with anxiety, you are in for some very disconcerting symptoms - headaches, body aches, etc.  Your GI woes may be caused by anxiety, which I feel you may have from your words.  Have you considered that your troubles with SVT and its treatment may have triggered an anxiety problem that has yet to be addressed?  Stomach troubles are often caused by anxiety.  I am not a doctor, just have experience with anxiety.  I know that sometimes when I am very worried about a physical problem, I can get crazy anxious, and this will cause me to sleep less, it makes my irritable bowel act up, and I can get facial pain, body aches, and headaches.  Keep tabs on your thyroid, ask your doctor to check it frequently to make sure it is in a normal range as to not cause symptoms.  UTIs and yeast infections are adding to your anxiety, but sometimes these are just issues that us women have to deal with from time to time and may be unrelated to anything else going on.  You need to work with a kind, caring doctor who can reassure you and help with your anxiousness, reassurance that you are healthy goes a long way.  I know pvcs can be caused by anxiety, and I thinks pacs are too.  I am not discounting your symptoms, which are causing you great pain and worry.  I understand.  But they may not be related only in the sense that they are caused by your great concern over your heart.  Work with a good doctor, if you don't have one, find one by asking around.  Try to find ways to relax, and keep writing, there are good people here who will listen, including me!  Take good care.

[DeltaDawn23]

Your heart ailments may be partly related to your sleep apnea.  The Cardiology practice I go to has a sleep apnea dept.  You might want to check that out -- if it is not treated or treated inappropriately, it can cause some irregular rhythms such as Afib.

Is there a teaching hospital near you?  Sometimes when you have a tough problem, that's the way to go.  Since it started with heart issues, that would probably be the place to start.

I'm not sure where you are.  Have heard good things about the Cleveland Clinic.  Good luck to you.  University hospitals are good to check out.  There was an earlier post about some good hospitals regarding ablations.