Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Cardio Says What?

Yesterday I had my follow up with my cardiologist. He hasn't given up on me yet. We went over all my test results again, talked about how I was feeling, and tried to come up with a plan. And I found out I lost two pounds.

One of my previous test results indicated that I had an increased risk of having a blood clot somewhere. We had decided that it was probably because of the existing clot I have in my left carotid. We know that I don't have any clots in my arms, legs or lungs. So now the current theory is that I may have some very small clots in the vessels in my heart. I think it's similar to angina. When the oxygen gets cut off to those parts of the heart, it can cause pain.

To help out, we are going to try a new medication that is for chronic and recurring angina. If it works, great! If not, we'll revisit the situation in two weeks. I'm not a big fan of the side effects, though. The medication is Ranexa. It makes me feel dizzy and nauseous but I'm going to stick with it. It's too early to tell if it's working or not yet. But considering that I've been living with chest pain and shortness of breath off and on for three years, I'm willing to try anything.


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