#HealthUpdate

#HealthUpdate – #GoodNews&BadNews

/ Marcia / 83 Comments

As many  of you are aware , I’ve had some ongoing health issues for the last couple of years, including two breakthrough cases of COVID among other things. But as I found out last October, my extreme dizzy spells and heart palpitations were not pandemic related. It turned out that I have a heart condition called “Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy.” Essentially, the wall of my heart has thickened and is blocking full blood flow through the arteries that lead to the brain. (Not enough blood was getting to my brain, resulting in  dizziness, palpitations,  and various other issues.)

Good News #1: My cardiologist immediately put me on a beta blocker (Metoprolol) to slow my heart rate down, thus allowing more blood to flow through to my brain again. It worked GREAT from October through January. 

Bad News #1: In February the dizzy spells returned and began getting worse and worse.

Good News #2: Saw my doctor again last Tuesday and he added a new medication to the mix: Amlodipine, which is a calcium channel blocker that relaxes the blood vessels so even more blood can get through.  Next, I’m to be set up with a heart monitor for two to four weeks to get an exact readout and an overall idea of how it’s all working, and then, we will be doing new imaging, too. So … we’re on it!

Bad News #2: Sadly, I’ve been told to cut back on many of my activities–especially anything that can cause physical exertion–at least until we are done with the testing and can reassess my heath status. I’ve had to cancel my wildlife talks for now, and won’t be doing any gardening, hiking, bending over, heavy lifting or other things of that nature. 

Good News #3: After a truly awful day last Wednesday, my new prescription was filled and I took my first Amlodipine that night. Within two hours, the dizzy spells stopped and the discomfort disappeared. And the last few days have been far, far better. I have a good feeling that we are on the right track now, and will find a way to manage my condition. (That’s my story, an’ I’m stickin’ to it!)

The main reason I’m sharing all this is because I may not be around as much as I usually am for a few weeks, However, I’ve already scheduled a lot of posts ahead, so things will still be going on, and I will check in as often as I can.  I also wanted to share because it occurred to me that some of what I’m going through might be of interest to anyone else who has  heart-related issues, too. 

I’ll keep you updated as things progress, hopefully with plenty of good news! For now, I may only have time or energy for “Liking & Sharing” everyone’s blog posts, but I know you’ll forgive me as I try to behave in  way that would make my cardiologist happy. And if any of you have similar issues you’ve dealt with, feel free to share your experiences or ask questions in the comments section. Maybe we can learn from each other.

Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back to business as usual as soon as possible. Blogging isn’t on my “Forbidden List” like planting roses in 90 degree heat is, so I should be able to to handle it as my condition stabilizes. That’s my clever plan, anyway! 😁

And that’s it for now. Will update as the situation progresses!

PS: #HealthUpdate – #Clarification & #ThankYou

/ Marcia / 30 Comments

Thanks to everyone for your kind comments about my health news yesterday! I should have clarified a bit more about why it took so long to discover my heart damage. Lest you think poorly of my previous cardiologist, let me assure you he had been very carefully monitoring my heart for over twenty years. I’d had carotid artery surgery way back then, and he saw me annually and did imaging of both my carotid (to be sure it remained open, which it has) and my heart, to be sure no problems were developing there. (They weren’t.)

Unfortunately, when Mark’s job disappeared and he had to retire, we were told our insurance would remain in effect through June, so I had my last cardio imaging done at that time, along with some other exams. THEN, we found out they had stopped the insurance as of May 30, and I suddenly lost all of my doctors at once! Blam!

Somewhere in the shuffle, the last image of my heart went astray and only resurfaced when it was requested by my new cardio doctor, who immediately saw the damage. Until THAT image, which was only taken a couple of months ago, mid-LC, there had never been any visible damage to my heart at all. So that’s why my new doctor believes the damage to be the direct result of LongCovid.

Since there is no medication available at present with which to treat LongCovid, yet all my miserable symptoms disappeared as soon as I started on the heart meds, I firmly believe LC is gone and probably has been for some time. Of course, it made sure to leave me a souvenir of its visit, via the damage to my heart, but happily, that IS being monitored and treated. And so far, the results have been good.

Again, please if you have LongCovid, be sure your doctors are monitoring you for any possible organ damage, so it can be treated early on! It could make a huge difference in your overall health and your quality of life! 

#GoodNews! – #HealthUpdate

/ Marcia / 49 Comments

Some of you know it’s been  almost 9 months since I first developed Long Covid, and I’ve only recently found out that science has determined LC can cause all sorts of damage to our internal organs. In my case, it has done some permanent damage to my heart.

Where’s the good news, you ask? Well … here it is: since I started on the heart medication about ten days ago, my symptoms have all disappeared! I’ve had exactly ONE dizzy spell, the day after I started the meds. ONE. (I’d been having rolling dizzy spells all day long, nearly every day, and  including numbness in my right leg, and other discomforts.)

Since my new medication does nothing to ease Long Covid, I suspect that my Long Covid had already disappeared some time back, leaving me with the heart damage that caused my fatigue and extreme dizziness. And now that I’m taking medication to help my heart, the symptoms have pretty much disappeared!

I will, of course, be discussing all of this when I see my cardio guy again for my 30-day follow up, but I’m beyond happy to be feeling more and more like normal every day!

Again, my purpose in sharing this with you is to remind you if you have Long Covid, you need to have your doctor(s) monitoring you for possible organ damage, and proper treatment should they find any. And you should understand that if you have suffered some organ damage, your doctor may be able to treat it and make your life much easier.  Mine sure is! 

And that’s a wrap, folks! Will update you again if there are any important changes, or I learn anything new about LC. In the meantime, PLEASE STAY HEALTHY & SAFE!

-#HealthUpdate – #LONGCOVID – #NewInformation

/ Marcia / 24 Comments

Good Morning, Folks! Hope this Wodin’s Day finds you doing well and enjoying life. We are having some cooler weather here in central Florida, with temps in the 50s this morning, so a very nice change! I do have some news to share today, as applies to everyone’s health in general and mine, in particular. 

Most of you know by now that I have had  LONG COVID since February, but what you may not know is something I read a few days ago:

LONG COVID is NOT just an annoying and/or painful interruption to your day. It can also cause damage to your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, and other organs.

This has now been proven to be the case, and having your doctor(s) monitor your health is highly recommended if you are experiencing any of the typical LC symptoms . (Extreme fatigue, brain fog, palpitations, dizzy spells, numbness, trouble breathing, etc, etc, etc.)

Yesterday, I saw my new cardiologist for the first time, and we discussed this at length. It turns out the last imaging done of my heart by my old cardio doctor (which I never got any results from as  it was lost in the shuffle of insurance changes) had finally been sent to my new doctor. For the first time in more than twenty years of annual testing, it was NOT good. I definitely have heart damage that has occurred during the last month or two, and he feels certain it’s from the LongCovid.

There has been a thickening of the inner wall of my heart, which has caused the opening of the aorta to narrow and restrict full blood flow to my body.  At present, he has prescribed a heart medication to help with blood pressure and in preventing a heart attack. Proper hydration is also critical, so he has cut back the dosage of the diuretic that I’ve been on for years in conjunction with my thyroid medication. (I’m only sharing all this because it might be helpful to some of you who have similar issues.)  

BOTTOM LINE: I now have permanent damage to my heart which we are working to manage. I feel sure we can do that. BUT … and this is the bigger problem … until the LONGCOVID finally disappears, it will continue damaging my heart and possibly even attack other organs, too.  

Please, everyone … if you have LONG COVID, be sure your doctors are watching out for any damages it might do to you, especially if you’ve had it for longer than a few weeks. 

I’m now supposed to “take it easy, rest and relax, and only do things I feel I can do without tiring myself out.” I was already cutting WAY back on my blog posts for the last part of this year, thinking a bit of a break would mean I’d be able to focus on my WIPs. Now I will likely be cutting back even more, and definitely will not be overtaxing myself!

I still have one more guest post coming up, and I’ve scheduled some other things ahead so you’ll still have some fun posts to look forward to. (ThorsDaySmile, Granny Says, and a few bits of poetry shared here and there). I will respond to comments on those as I’m able, but don’t worry if I’m not here nearly as much as before all this came about. First and foremost, I WILL follow my doctor’s instructions, and then we will reassess in 30 days to see how the new medication is working, and if there is evidence of new damage. I’ll know more then, and will post an update. (Hopefully a good one!)

In the meantime, PLEASE STAY SAFE, you guys! You are ALL very important to me, and I don’t want to see any of you going through issues of this kind! Remember:

GRANNY LOVES YOU!