Pituitary Tumor, Afib, Low Blood Pressure

[April209]

My brother started having an irregular heartbeat (afib) 3 years ago which is about the same time he was diagnosed with a pituitary tumor after going to ER with a severe headache. He saw a specialist for the pituitary tumor and it was determined that it was best to leave it alone unless the headaches or more severe symptoms came on. They did extensive blood tests for issues related to his pituitary gland which came back with normal results. Recently he was back in the ER after having a severe fainting spell from low blood pressure and hypoglycemia. He was feeling the afib that morning but it was gone when the paramedics checked his heartrate. His pituitary tumor was not visible on the catscan in the ER this time (they compared it to the one from 3 years back). They sent him home from ER with normal xray of his heart and all his bloodwork comes back within normal range from recent dr. visits except low vitamin D. I still suspect that he is having undiagnosed thyroid/adrenal issues. Does anyone have advice or similar circumstances? He has continual fatigue from dealing with the afib (about 1-2x a week right now), low blood pressure (sometimes- not always) and hypoglycemia.

[California2019]

My wife fainted and had a siezure with low blood pressure last night.  It was the first time so I started looking online and found your post.  She has a petuitary tumor but everything else checked out fine at ER and she gets normal readings from doctors visits, except low vitamin d.  The ER doctor doesn’t know why siezure happened but he said most likely a combination of things.  She has been dieting and eating less food and wasn’t drinking enough fluids yesterday.  She also had a bad headache yesterday, we think from tumor.  She’s choosing to leave the tumor in place since it’s benign and would require removal of petuitary gland creating side effects.  I just wanted to reply because of the similarities with your brother.  I believe diet and hydration played a major role in my wife’s siezure last night.  Especially with a petuitary tumor, I’m thinking healthy diet and hydration are even more important, so maybe it’s something to look at with your brothers fainting episodes.  Hope this helps I’m seeing the post was a long time ago.  

[rumpled]

There are some doc search features here but the best way is to look for a university or larger practice, call ahead and ask if they are neuro-endo (don't ask if they treat pituitary they all say yes for some reason) as well look on sites for pituitary disorders that have doc lists as they will have neuro-endos listed. I have a few listed in the health pages.

You may have to travel though to get a good one.

[April209]

Thank you for your response. He is not currently seeing a neuro-endo but I can definitely see that it's time he sees one. Does anyone have recommendations for a well qualified neuro-endo in the Phoenix area? Thanks again!

[rumpled]

Just saying *pituitary tumor* is rather... broad - there are many types and they effect the body in different ways. Does he know the type, size and location on the pituitary? Is he seeing a neuro-endo at a pituitary center for treatment or is he not being followed for adequate care (it sounds like that)?

The heart issues may or may not be related as I have no idea what type of tumor he has. The fact that it shows up and then does not may mean it is a small one, the radiologist did not see it or he had apoplexy (there is another post currently on that topic) but seeing it. not seeing it - lab work is the most important part of hormonal testing, not imaging per se since imaging is not perfect when it comes to pituitary unless you get a really good 3T dynamic at a pituitary center and still a small lesion can fall between the slices. CT scans do not show pituitary lesions. That would not be expected unless it was huge and he would then be blind or have other symptoms.

He needs to find a neuro-endo and get competent testing. An ER or regular endo cannot test for pituitary lesions well.