Any doctors???

[luv2ride94]

Hey this is luv2rides sister Angela again.

I'm writing to ask for advice from anyone in the medical field...

Katie has been having some health problems lately and we have been round and round with her normal doctor and are having a hard time getting anyone to listen. This has been going on for about the past month. Her symptoms -- Extreme tiredness, when exercizing she has chest pains, shortness of breath, lightheaded and dizzy spells.. But also her resting heartrate is averaging about 90 - 100 beats a minutes and just a few months ago it was regularly under 60.

Shes had a EKG. echogram, chest xray and a battery of tyest for thyroid, diebetes, mono, anemia etc...

They say shes perfectly healthy and has refused to referr her onto a specialist. Does anyone have any wisdom??? We are all pretty worried and shes VERY frustrated... Thanks in advance

[TsPoet]

What are the conditions for her health insurance (I assume that's why you need a referral). Can she go into an urgent care clinic next time she has an "episode" and get a referral from them? I had a friend with surprisingly similar symptoms, she had to call and get permission before going to urgent care, but called as soon as she felt chest pains and was given clearance right away once she told them she was having chest pains. She ended up with a referral from the clinic which was good enough for insurance purposes.
Or, she should be able to call her insurance and get a different primary to referr her. The phone call alone should cause enough stress to initiate the symptoms .
(for my friend it seemed to be a panic attack that lasted 3 months, the referral doctor gave her a shot of valium - just one - and she's been trouble free for 5 years, go figure).

[Pedal Wench]

Does she have a specialist for her epilepsy? That doctor should be able to give her a referral too.

Also, she had mentioned being on some special medications. Are there side effects that might be causing this?

[silver]

Not a doctor. i do think that we have a doctor here, so maybe she will see this.

I'm so sorry to hear that she's still struggling with this.

a few thoughts based on my limited experience with medical issues. Can you research this online and find a specialist that seems to have more experience that the issues. You may need to go out of town. try looking at doctors within a three hour drive. Then contact that doctor's office and tell them that you want to see them and need help getting the referral.

You'll probably need to investigate your insurance. you may be able to call the Human Resources Person at the business that provides the insurance and ask their help.

Can you try going to a new Primary care Doctor for a second opinion?

Isn't her doctor someone who rides with her?

[Xrayted]

I was just going to say, find a doctor in that field that you want to go to and ask them to obtain a referral for you. Let them know that you are hitting roadblocks from your doctor. Specialists tend to take these things more seriously because it is their field.
I'd also read the med side effects for anything she is taking. By themselves, they may be fine, but adding them together could be giving her problems. There are specialists to determine things like that too.

Let us know what happens. I hope she finds some answers soon.

[roadie gal]

(just got back into town from doing the family thing for the holidays)

I'm an ER doc. I can sympathise with your sister from both the doc and patient point of view. I had similar symptoms, but with a slow heart rate. The short version of this story is that, after a YEAR of trying to figure it out, I ended up with a pacemaker. So I know how frustrating it can be.

I don't know if getting an urgent care/ER referral will work for your insurance. Each one is so different.

Find out from your insurance company what the exact process is to get to a specialist. If you must go through your doctor, make his life miserable until he gives in and sends you to the cardiologist. Or go to a different doc and get the referral. Don't give up on this. Don't let the doctor blow you off. (If my cardiologist hadn't known me well enough to know that I'm not a whiner I can see where it would have been easy to tell me I was fine.)