Heart Medications and Doctor Checkups, Cardiologist.

Well, I made it to the Cardiologist last week and what a bummer. I had an echo cardiogram done which everyone told me was OK.

While I was getting the echo my husband was talking with the doctor and told him my coughing was worse and we really needed to do something about it. The doctor said I should have called and told him about it and he would have changed my medication. He seemed to forget that I did tell him about it my last visit.

When I went in to talk to the Doctor about getting off the Ace Inhibitors because of the cough side effect he did not want me to go completely off the medicine. He changed me to Diovan, 40mg, once a day and gave me samples to try. He said coughing was not one of the side effects of this medicine. If that is so why didn't he change me to it last time when I told him about the coughing problem.

My husband and I could not seem to get a straight answer about why I needed to stay on the ace inhibitors except that it lowers my chance of getting congestive heart disease later on. I am worried about what they are doing to me now.

The doctor said it will take 2-4 weeks for the old medication to get out of my system and to call him back in 4 week and let him know what is happening with the cough.

I was reading the patient information sheet that was with my samples and guess what the second major side effect of Diovan is: Coughing. According to the sheet the occurrence is less than with the medicine I was on so hopefully my coughing will diminish.

Sometimes it is frustrating going to number of different doctors as one will say one thing and then another will say the opposite.

As a cancer patient it is said that you have a family of doctors: your primary care (the one you go to for colds, flu, etc), your surgeon (biopsies, ultrasounds, surgeries, etc), your oncologist (blood work, chemo, etc), your cardiologist ( heart related problems), and all the other specialist they can come up with.

How is it suppose to be a family of doctors if the doctors do not tell each other what the other is doing? How are you suppose to understand and feel secure when you get conflicting advice?

Well, as you can see I am feeling a little frustrated right now and I have to stop or I will really get upset. And that would raise my blood pressure. Which might not be bad since the #1 side effect of the new medication is low blood pressure. OH WELL!

Good health and god bless to you all, and hang in there if you are going thru what I have been.

Visiting Cardiologist to get off Ace Inhibitors from Cancer Treatments

Wednesday I go to the Cardiologist for an Echo cardiogram. I have to talk to him about getting off the Ace Inhibitors as one of the side effects is a cough. A dry hacking cough that after almost 2 years feels worse to me than the reason I started taking them. When you take Herceptin it can effect how your heart pumps blood (the strength of the pumping action). With the combination of a beta blocker and ace inhibitor my cardiologist was able to get my reading back up high enough for me to finish the full treatment (52 weeks) with Herceptin. I finished that two months ago and I really hope that when I see him Wednesday he will be able to take me off the Ace Inhibitors. I had already been taking the beta blockers due to a rise in my pulse rate when I was put on Taxol but I was only given the ace inhibitor last July. When it first started making me cough I thought it might be allergies so I went to the ENT and he gave me a prescription for Singular ($100.00 for 30 days). I tried it but did not make that much difference. My oncologist office had a new doctor start and I was transferred to him. The first time I saw him I told him about the cough and he said it was from the Ace Inhibitor. Telling me it was a common side effect. My surgeon told me the same thing last time I saw him. Well, now the coughing has gotten so bad that to me it is worse than the heart problem. I cough all day long. Anytime I have to talk for any length of time my throat wants to make me cough. You know that tiny little "I have a Hair in my Throat" cough that just won't go away. You suck on throat lozenges, take cough medicine, hot tea, anything to try to make it go away. I have sucked on so many cough drops I have gained 10 pounds in the last 6 months. And menthol drops make it worse. Well, enough complaining, I just plan to get off these and maybe I will quit coughing and will also be able to sleep. Haven't done much of that in the past 9 months because of the cough. If anyone has had this type of problem and has a solution to it please let me know, I would greatly appreciate it.
Good health to you all, Leigh

Check up today, Mammogram time

Just a quick note to say my Mammogram came out clear today. Had it taken yesterday and got the results today. Just some information for anyone who has been put on Ace Inhibitors for their heart. If you have a dry cough check with your doctor. Ace Inhibitors are known to cause dry coughs. After going to the Ear, Nose and Throat Doctor and him just changing my allergy medicine ( to one that cost $100.00 per month supply) and saying we will just have to try a few different ones till one works, I found out that it is very common for the Ace Inhibitors to cause the cough. So if you have this problem check this out. Information only. I hope to get off the Ace Inhibitors soon so maybe the cough will go away, please. Well, this was just a quick note so I will be back soon. If you have had similar problems please let me know how you solved them. Leigh