Thursday, September 17, 2009

Cardiologist appt

My cardiologist thinks I have POTS - thanks, Doc, same to you! ;-) He said on the echo, my heart only pumped out 50% of the blood it takes in when it relaxes. Normal is 60%, not 100.

It's "Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome" and he said that it's not always easy to definitively diagnose it all the time, but he wants to do a stress test and tilt table test. So I have one test a week for the next two weeks, then I see him again on Oct 5th. The treatment? I need MORE SODIUM! He said salt has gotten a bad rap unnecessarily and our body really needs it to help us retain water (not in a bad way.) He said a great majority of people walking around are dehydrated because they aren't getting enough salt and that most doctors will rarely recommend a low sodium diet. And that most people can help the symptoms just by adding salt to their diet. HELLO, FRITOS! LOL Just kidding. :-D

I think my son definitely has the flu, but the fever is gone today, thankfully. I think we got on it quickly with the Tamiflu.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Would be great if all that was needed was eating a little more salt a day!
Praying hard right now!
Psalms 116:6-9 The LORD preserveth the simple: I was brought low, and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.
Prayer Bears
My email address

Diana said...

I'm glad that they're catching it now. I guess salt does have a bad rap! I never would have guessed. I hope that's all you need!

Great that you caught your son's flu early.

Hanlie said...

I use Himalayan Crystal salt... it's much better than regular refined table salt. Good luck with your tests!

Anonymous said...

I was thinking about ya'll today, so I definitely appreciated the update!! Keep us posted on your test results.

Praying for you and Kendall!!

Love and hugs,
Lynda

.... said...

That is really interesting about the salt.

I hope it does turn out to be something very simple. Keep us updated, okay?

Have a good weekend,
Lynn

SeaShore said...

You're the second person I know that has been told by their doctor that they need more salt. (The first is my mother in law.)

I hope it's all you need.

Ro said...

Wow...I've been brainwshed about salt. I love kosher salt....thanks for the info and I'm glad u found out sooner than later.
How's the knee??

Cammy@TippyToeDiet said...

Oooh, fingers crossed that adjusting your sodium takes care of the worst of the problem.

Steven J said...

I have a similar problem called "Orthostatic Hypotension", which is when my vision goes black for a few seconds and then comes back, anytime I stand up after laying down for sometime.

It's due to low blood pressure. Dieters often drink too little fluids, or they cut too much sodium from their diets. I'm guilty of both. I have a blood pressure monitor at home, and my systolic reading is often low, or borderline-low.