For some time, I have felt as though my concerns were disappearing into a void. I’ve experienced severe fatigue, lightheadedness, profuse sweating, and episodes in which I felt close to passing out. I have also required hospital care after becoming over-diuresed. Despite numerous calls and messages to my cardiologist’s office, I received very little response.
I have an appointment with a new cardiologist in October, but even during the off-season, the wait to see a specialist through Lee Health in Southwest Florida can be lengthy.
Thankfully, my persistence finally paid off. Today, I met with a nurse practitioner and explained everything I have been experiencing. The most encouraging part of the appointment was simple but important: she listened to me.
She reduced my lisinopril dose by half. Rather than changing several medications at once, she wants to make one adjustment at a time so we have a better chance of identifying what may be contributing to these episodes.
She also created a worksheet in MyChart where I can record my daily weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and other readings. Those numbers will now be sent directly to her for review. In addition, she instructed me to activate the symptom marker for my loop recorder whenever one of these episodes occurs so the recorded heart rhythm can be compared with what I was feeling at that moment.
Nothing was completely solved today, but I finally feel as though someone is paying attention. After months of uncertainty and frustration, that feels like meaningful progress.