3rd October 2007
Goldy :)
I have been "pesty" with my computer all morning, digging for info for you and I always find something to help myself. It is inevitable when studying heart disease.
Goldy, I swear it raised the hair on my body when I read your statement about the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, after you had had episodes of shortness of breath and passing out. I think maybe that is where things may have went wrong, I just don't know. There are so many "conditions" and variations of conditions. FM to me is just a general diagnosis when your body is aching and fatigued.
I truly believe that some heart conditions and the powerful medications to treat them, combined, cause some of the same symptoms as FM.
At this point I am really confused. I guess more than ever about having FM and heart disease.
Anyway I was reading about aortic valve repair on the CC web site and found that it does take minimally invasive surgery at least to repair or replace an aortic valve.
I started to compare your echo results to the reference ranges on my echo test results. I suddenly realized that a women's reference ranges should be different from a mans.
So I journeyed into the land of totally non standardized, subjectively interpreted echocardiograms. It blew my mind. Looky here:
Conclusions
Despite the widespread use of echocardiography for diagnostic purposes, interpreting and reporting of echocardiographic measurements is seriously limited by a lack of standardization of reference values. Furthermore, there is no agreement among echocardiographers regarding the partitioning of reference values (by sex, ethnicity, or age), the anthropometric measure to be used for adjustment, or the choice of cut-points to categorize values within the abnormal range. The generation of a consensus regarding these controversial issues merits urgent attention to render more scientific and consistent the interpretation of echocardiographic measurements within and between laboratories.
Have you read the survival statistics on aortic valve repair and replacements at the CC? If not I have them. They are 0% mortality for repair.
I also studied up on the vagus nerve and most organs of the body it can effect. It is a powerful nerve. I have the feeling that some symptoms you mentioned could be due to your heart, as well as nerve damage.
I would stay focused on the heart though Goldy. I have learned to listen to my body when it comes to my heart. Your heart will try to signal, or warn you that you need to dial 911. I have done this several times, due to chest pain and each time my life was saved by the insertion of a stent, that cleared a large blockage in one of my coronary arteries.
Now I can have no more stents in my most importantly coronary artery-the left anterior descending (LAD). Bypass surgery is next for me. My doc has said no more stents in the LAD. I have 4 already.
I have been reading about connective tissue disease and all of the info seems to be dominated by Marfan's syndrome. Remember, these people have very odd physical characteristics such as being really tall and having very large hands. A doctor can diagnose this syndrome by just looking at the patient, I think.
I also have hypercholesterolemia and cannot take any statin. My numbers are unbelievable.
The Vioxx is a real terror for me to hear. Those with FM have searched for any and everything to relieve their pain. I cannot believe that people are still taking Celebrex!
I had a dear friend that was a nurse that took the Phen-Fen combination and died last fall.
Well, I must drive from Clements (Limestone county) to the far side of Huntsville for a doctor's appointment today.
I am also having a high BP crisis. The change to Coreg has caused it. It takes a while for the full effect to take place. On my on I took a 150 mg dose of Avapro, an ARB which I just stopped due to adverse side effects. To date, I have tried every ARB and cannot tolerate them. I am like you when it comes to being super sensitive to medicines. I believe it could be combinations that cause the adverse reactions.
The study goes on. I have so much to say and so little energy and time to say it. Yes, once I was on an FM board, but now cannot sign in due to a glitch. There is an FM board here :)
Till when :)
Huck
I have been "pesty" with my computer all morning, digging for info for you and I always find something to help myself. It is inevitable when studying heart disease.
Goldy, I swear it raised the hair on my body when I read your statement about the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia, after you had had episodes of shortness of breath and passing out. I think maybe that is where things may have went wrong, I just don't know. There are so many "conditions" and variations of conditions. FM to me is just a general diagnosis when your body is aching and fatigued.
I truly believe that some heart conditions and the powerful medications to treat them, combined, cause some of the same symptoms as FM.
At this point I am really confused. I guess more than ever about having FM and heart disease.
Anyway I was reading about aortic valve repair on the CC web site and found that it does take minimally invasive surgery at least to repair or replace an aortic valve.
I started to compare your echo results to the reference ranges on my echo test results. I suddenly realized that a women's reference ranges should be different from a mans.
So I journeyed into the land of totally non standardized, subjectively interpreted echocardiograms. It blew my mind. Looky here:
Conclusions
Despite the widespread use of echocardiography for diagnostic purposes, interpreting and reporting of echocardiographic measurements is seriously limited by a lack of standardization of reference values. Furthermore, there is no agreement among echocardiographers regarding the partitioning of reference values (by sex, ethnicity, or age), the anthropometric measure to be used for adjustment, or the choice of cut-points to categorize values within the abnormal range. The generation of a consensus regarding these controversial issues merits urgent attention to render more scientific and consistent the interpretation of echocardiographic measurements within and between laboratories.
Have you read the survival statistics on aortic valve repair and replacements at the CC? If not I have them. They are 0% mortality for repair.
I also studied up on the vagus nerve and most organs of the body it can effect. It is a powerful nerve. I have the feeling that some symptoms you mentioned could be due to your heart, as well as nerve damage.
I would stay focused on the heart though Goldy. I have learned to listen to my body when it comes to my heart. Your heart will try to signal, or warn you that you need to dial 911. I have done this several times, due to chest pain and each time my life was saved by the insertion of a stent, that cleared a large blockage in one of my coronary arteries.
Now I can have no more stents in my most importantly coronary artery-the left anterior descending (LAD). Bypass surgery is next for me. My doc has said no more stents in the LAD. I have 4 already.
I have been reading about connective tissue disease and all of the info seems to be dominated by Marfan's syndrome. Remember, these people have very odd physical characteristics such as being really tall and having very large hands. A doctor can diagnose this syndrome by just looking at the patient, I think.
I also have hypercholesterolemia and cannot take any statin. My numbers are unbelievable.
The Vioxx is a real terror for me to hear. Those with FM have searched for any and everything to relieve their pain. I cannot believe that people are still taking Celebrex!
I had a dear friend that was a nurse that took the Phen-Fen combination and died last fall.
Well, I must drive from Clements (Limestone county) to the far side of Huntsville for a doctor's appointment today.
I am also having a high BP crisis. The change to Coreg has caused it. It takes a while for the full effect to take place. On my on I took a 150 mg dose of Avapro, an ARB which I just stopped due to adverse side effects. To date, I have tried every ARB and cannot tolerate them. I am like you when it comes to being super sensitive to medicines. I believe it could be combinations that cause the adverse reactions.
The study goes on. I have so much to say and so little energy and time to say it. Yes, once I was on an FM board, but now cannot sign in due to a glitch. There is an FM board here :)
Till when :)
Huck