A few years ago, when I was pregnant with my third child, I began having frightening heart palpitations that felt like they caused my entire body to shudder. I had four doctors I saw regularly then – a general practitioner, an obstetrician, a psychiatrist, and an endocrinologist…all for symptoms I was told had nothing to ...
Mitral Valve Prolapse (MVP) is a mild risk, but sometimes scary, disorder to live with. Sometimes it’s caught at birth, but many times, a person will find out they have it in various scary scenarios. I found out I had it when I had a bout of serious heart palpitations, accompanied by a panic attack, ...
I remember finding his memoirs. His heart was broken like mine. All he wanted was to live, but for him to live, someone had to die. He wanted to pray for tragedy, and so do I. But how wrong are we to put our lives before those, who could change this world for the better? ...
What is Marfan Syndrome? Marfan Syndrome is a genetic disorder that affects the connective tissue. Since connective tissue is found throughout the body, this can cause symptoms related to the skeleton, eyes, heart, and blood vessels. Even the skin can be affected. Marfan symptoms are caused by a mutation in the FBN1 gene. People with ...
Recently I came down with a nasty viral infection and took the trip to my physician office only to leave the office with a prescription she wrote in hand and a recommendation to pick up an over-the-counter antihistamine to minimize my discomfort until the prescription antibiotic kicked in. When I reminded her that I had ...
Heart palpitations, chest pain, anxiety/panic attacks, extreme fatigue, migraines–Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome (MVPS), while not life-threatening, brings with it a host of warning signs that certainly feel like death can’t be far away. MVPS encompasses a stunning range of seemingly unrelated symptoms: · Aches and pains · Awareness of heartbeat · Chest tightness · Depression ...
In late November 2001, my mother began taking dialysis therapy for End Stage Renal Failure. Her kidney function had dropped to less than 15% of normal and the toxins produced by her normal bodily functions were building up in her blood stream and reaching dangerous levels. Without the therapy, the doctors said she would survive ...
In 1992 I was diagnosed with a common heart condition called Mitral Valve Prolapse. The cardiologist put me on a beta-blocker medication and sent me on my way, considering me to be one of his “healthy” patients compared to his usual cases. I certainly felt anything but healthy, since I suffered from a myriad of ...
Mitral Valve Prolapse is considered the most common cardiac condition in the U.S. Thought to be harmless in most diagnosed cases, some doctors don’t even tell their patients when they detect it in tests. The mitral valve, which is located between the upper and lower chambers on the left side of the heart, has two ...
When I took our youngest daughter to her 18 month checkup, the pediatrician muttered something about a heart murmur as he listened at her chest with his stethoscope. My gasp probably led him to listen several more times and eventually let me know that it was considered a “benign” heart murmur. “We’ll just listen at ...
