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How Do I Address These Concerns PCP For Years Now And It Seems Like Nothing Get Accomplished?
Question: Hello, I am not sure where to start with this and this will be lengthy. My mom has been seeing her PCP for years now and it seems like nothing get accomplished. I know for sure that my mom is not honest with her PCP about certain things but when I went to an appt with my mom to share more in depth history, I was brushed off. Most recently my mom has been having heart issues (palpitations, low blood pressure, low pulse, dizziness/fainting). She has an appt with a cardiologist coming up and has an echocardiogram and cardiolyte stress tests this month. However, my mom has a very poor diet (will eat a slice of toast with peanut butter in the AM and that be the only thing she eats all day), as well as I recently found out that she uses laxatives daily. I am really concerned that her being undernourished, combined with the excessive use of laxatives may be one of the underlying reasons for her heart and breathing issues. My mom is in denial that any of these things are problems, that the heart issue needs to be fixed and that is it. How do I address these concerns and who do I address them with? The cardiologist? Her PCP? Plus side is her PCP is retiring and she will have to find a new PCP. Am I crazy for thinking that her diet and laxatives could be impacting her heart? Where do I go from here?
Brief Answer:
Kindly refer to the detailed answer below
Detailed Answer:
Hello ,
After going through your medical query I understand your concern for your mother and I would like to tell you that
1. Breathlessness, palpitations and chest or heart pain have many causes and the commonest is anaemia which can be there due to lack a proper diet. You should check her heamogram .
2. Lack of physical activity, low fiber diet and less consumption of water can cause constipation. But in elderly patients it is a common problem and they have to take laxative. You can try to give her fibre rich diet or salads.
3. A proper and balanced diet will also help her to have healthy blood pressure.
4. If all above things are fine then her basic cardiac evaluation is required to find out if her heart is working low. Inane heart conditions a patient can feel breathless and palpitations can happen with low cardiac output.
If you have any reports of her then you can share them from your dashboard for further opinion.
Kind Regards
Dr Bhanu Partap
Kindly refer to the detailed answer below
Detailed Answer:
Hello ,
After going through your medical query I understand your concern for your mother and I would like to tell you that
1. Breathlessness, palpitations and chest or heart pain have many causes and the commonest is anaemia which can be there due to lack a proper diet. You should check her heamogram .
2. Lack of physical activity, low fiber diet and less consumption of water can cause constipation. But in elderly patients it is a common problem and they have to take laxative. You can try to give her fibre rich diet or salads.
3. A proper and balanced diet will also help her to have healthy blood pressure.
4. If all above things are fine then her basic cardiac evaluation is required to find out if her heart is working low. Inane heart conditions a patient can feel breathless and palpitations can happen with low cardiac output.
If you have any reports of her then you can share them from your dashboard for further opinion.
Kind Regards
Dr Bhanu Partap
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Raju A.T
Answered by
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