Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Is this a vicious cycle?

I went to a new cardiologist on Monday whon said that my symptoms were vaso-vagal but that the tingling was not. He hypothosized that maybe I was hyperventilating which caused the tingling and felt my symptoms were stress related. He also told me to take fluronef twice a day instead of just once and also prescribed a new medication which constricts blood vessels.

At first I felt defensive that he was suggesting that my illness might be psychosomatic but on further reflextion, I realized how frightened I am of having these episodes, so maybe I am making them worse by focusing in my symptoms.

I took the new medicine on Monday afternoon and it made me feel really lousy. My husband convinced me yo stop taking it. However, I did double the dosage of fluronef to .2mg. Tuesday morning I took the medicine and felt alright but really scared of recurring symptoms so I called my daughter to take my mind off it. It seemed to do the trick and I was able to shopping by myself later in the day. Again I was nervous and kept trying to relax. Today , I am feeling good and went to get a pedicure. No problem, but I am still skittish. I plan to go food shopping again later but am eating and drinking plenty of fluids first. I also am eating high salt foods like pretzels as recommended by all the doctors I have seen so far.

Between the medicine, change in diet, and relaxation techniques there might still be a life after vaso-vagal syncope.

Beth

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