Sick and tired of Cardiologists

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L

lynn

So, I've been dealing with a cardio that was assigned to me after surgery (2 hours from home). He put me on Toprol XL, gave me the pacemaker, yada, yada. I'm tired of taking my bp/hr and faxing to them only to get a nurse callback telling me to continue and fax in 10 days. She's kind of a jerk. I have asked the PA numerous times for an echo and she kept telling me it's too soon. I haven't had one at all unless they did one while I was out right after surgery.

Now I'm 3 months out of surgery and want to switch back to my cardio in town here. So, I set up an echo with him, an appt. for 2 weeks after so we can discuss and a pacer check.

I mention that yesterday I felt really dizzy and when I got home my bp/hr was 90/63 hr-88. I've been running in the 80's and low 90's now that I'm on 50 mg (25 in a.m., 25 in p.m.) and can't seem to get much lower without bottoming out the bp. The nurse calls me today and says the doc wants me to cut my Toprol in half (to 25 mg.) and take it in the morning.

I just feel like I can't do this, I haven't even seen him since last September when he sent me off to the surgeon. I was told by the other cardio that I should take the most mg. at nite so I would be sleeping if my bp got lower and that it is higher when you do sleep (lay down).

I'm in a quandry (sp? :) ) Sorry for the rant, but I need to get it off my chest!!!! :D
 
Hon I think we all are! It's hard to find a good one and even then, you feel like your treated as a number and not a person. Wish I could say something to make it better, but truth is, I feel the same way.
 
Lynn, why not give the new cardio in town and ask him about cutting the Toprol. I'm glad you now have a local cardio. Dick switched to a local cardio immediately upon coming home from surgery- the Brigham cardio and surgeon arranged the change. Two hours from home is just to far to communicate well. Best wishes with your new doc!
 
Phyllis, it's the new cardio that wants me to cut it! :eek:

I think I will say no! At least not in half....maybe half of half! It's all just frustrating!

And, I'm probably just whiney and tired because it was our state testing for the students this week.....it's worse than the week before Xmas! They get all nuts and stuff :)
 
Hi Lynn, Has it been one of those weeks for everyone, or is it just that we have got fed up with our cardio's this week?

Is it worth discussing this with your family doctor? I had some concerns this week about my cardio and the beta blocker that he was wanting me to take and I found my family doctor very reassuring and informed in regard to side effects and weighing up the benefits and downside of taking the drug.

All the best, Chris
 
lynn said:
Phyllis, it's the new cardio that wants me to cut it! :eek:

I think I will say no! At least not in half....maybe half of half! It's all just frustrating!

And, I'm probably just whiney and tired because it was our state testing for the students this week.....it's worse than the week before Xmas! They get all nuts and stuff :)
Click to expand...

Sorry I misunderstood that Lynn. I agree, - why not wait for the echo and the appt. Whine away- that's what we are here for and as they like to say on VR.com- have some cheese with it!:)
 
I may be missing something, but if your bp is that low, why are you on the Toprol at all? Is it to help with rhythm problems?

You certainly need to actually visit with your cardio (new) before making lots of care changes, but from the little info I have, it might help you to cut that Toprol.

Good luck.
 
Uggg Lynn, I feel for you. I'm so sick of all medical personell right about now too.

When I first got home from surgery, and in the hospital, they would occasionally "hold" a dose of my Atenol based upon my BP. I called and was told if my top number was <100 to skip the dose. I was taking 25mg morning and night and tested my BP before taking it each time. Dunno if that applies to Toprol or not, just sharing what I was told to do.

Now my BP has gone way back up, of course my heart is still pissed that somebody was in there messing with it so it's acting irratic. There's a side of me, the naturalist side, that just wants to stop all the drugs and Dr's and let my body heal. No, that's not what I'm going to do but the thought does cross this 'ole mind sometimes.

Hang in there, Spring will come soon, the plants will be reborn and with them we will all start to feel better.

All my best,
Ruth
 
Ruth...thanx :)

Nan, I'm on the Toprol for the high HR, at resting it was always 100-105.

I made an excutive decision to cut my 25 in half last nite and will take the 25 this a.m. and see how that goes for a bit. If nothing blows up in my face I may cut the nighttime one out like he wanted and see how that goes before I see him on 3/23. If the hr shoots up again, then I'm back to square one.

I'm not sure an hr in the 80's is still all that desirable, but neither is low 90's/60's for my bp. Maybe he'll find me something else when I see him. At least they call back and don't make me sound like I'm freaking out AND he ordered an echo....that's what really made me mad about the other guy, I want to make sure my heart is working ok with all this high hr!

Ok.....enough from me!! HAPPY SATURDAY EVERYONE!! It's a gloomy, rainy day and hubby wants to go look at corvettes, mid-life crisis here we come :D
 
Corvettes are a cheap way out of the problem relatively speaking. Divorce is expensive and having him trade you in when you hit 50
for 2 25's isn't any fun either. Go for the car, just make sure you drive it sometimes too. That'll get your heart going! :p

It's dreary here too, I'm ready for springtime already!!
 
Hi, Lynn--
Not much I can add here with regard to advice, but I can empathize with state testing. Ours is in late April, but first my sophomores need to pass the California High School Exit Exam, and I've not been able to prep them as much as I should, and that test comes up in two weeks. Crazy times!

However, I know what you mean about dealing with office staff. My cardio tends to change his secretaries like he changes his underwear. If they do the slightest thing wrong, they're gone--that's not a bad thing, mind you, but it does make things difficult when I call and they have no idea how to handle the call or try to put me off because they're following "procedure." Case in point: Last week, I was at the hospital, waiting to be admitted for my angioplasty, and the admissions guy told me I wasn't scheduled and to call my cardio's office before he could do anything. I called my cardio's office, and his new secretary answered. It went something like this:

Sec: "Dr. V's office, may I help you?"
Me: "Hi, I'm Debi, I'm here at the hospital for my angioplasty, and I'm being told I'm not scheduled. I need to speak with Dr. V because I'm stuck here until I know for sure I'm supposed to be here today."
Sec: "I'm sorry, Dr. V is booked with patients all day. He won't be able to call you back until later this afternoon."
Me: "I understand that. But my appointment with Dr. V is at one, and I need to get prepped for my angioplasty first. I'm being told by (man's name) the admissions person, that I'm not scheduled."
Sec: "You really have to understand that the doctor is busy right now, and he can't call you back until five."
Me (getting very frustrated): "Can you give him this message as soon as he's done with his patient? I am stuck here at the hospital, and if I'm not supposed to be here, I need to know now."
Sec: "Are you at home?"
Oh, my gosh. "No, I'm at the hospital." Then I gave her my husband's cell number.
Sec: "I'll have him call you right back."

A few minutes later, Dr. V called back and assured me I was scheduled. He had his other secretary call the cath lab and have them call admitting to confirm my appointment. Grrr!!! Frustrating! But at least my cardio called me down.

After I got off the phone with Dr. V, my hubby said, "Why didn't you just ask to talk to his wife?" And then I remembered. The last time I was in Dr. V's office a week earlier with my cold foot, his wife (the office manager) admonished me for not calling her directly because that same day I was trying to get a hold of his nurse practitioner to tell her about my foot. "Just ask for me," she said. "I'll always help you."

Thankfully, everything turned out well, but apparently this new secretary gives everyone a hard time, even the echo tech from the hospital when she calls.

Well, Lynn, take care of yourself...and by the way, this might seem really silly of me to ask, but why haven't you been seeing your regular cardio?

Debi (debster913)
 
Debi...OMG, that is crazy! Do they read from a script or something?

The reason I haven't seen my local card is my surgery was done in another town 2 hours away. When things went wrong in the hospital they called in the card that works out of the hospital. So, I was seeing him through my post op stuff and pacemaker implant. I did call my local guy before the pacemaker was put in to get his opinion and he didn't want to *step on any toes*

So, now I'm getting back with him so I can be local again and stop these long distance phone calls!

BTW...found a lovely Deep Purple vette, but of course the salesman mislead us that it was a FL car when in fact it wasn't....DARN!
 
Geez Lynn, where have I been? Oh yeah, my cardio sent me back to work so I have been sleeping for the last 40 hours to catch up.
I am sorry that you are going through all of this. It shouldn't be that hard, right? Deep purple, huh? Shouldn't be too hard to miss on the road. Your students would have loved it!
 
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