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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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I Had A Bilateral PE A Year Ago, Actually There

I had a bilateral PE a year ago, actually there were multiple clots. It just happened out of the blue. They did think I had a leg DvT initially but it cleared up quickly. They did not give any clot busting agents. I was placed on coumadin. 6 months after the PEmbolism I continued to be short of breath with walking with a pulse ox of 90 when walking at an average pace ( i bought a little pulse ox to check my own). They were worried about pulmonary HTN or chronic clots. I had a VQ scan and it was negative. I then had a right heart cath which they said at the time my pressures were normal and they did not perform a pulmangiogram but when I saw the actual report it said I have very mild PH. I don't remember the numbers. But an echo had been done prior to these two tests and it showed my right atrium, left atrium and left ventricle were all normal. But my right ventricle was now globally dilated - when the echo was done about 3 mos after the original PE my right ventricle was only mildly dilated - so it got worse. I do have sleep apnea. I am not kidding when I say I use my cpap religiously every night and have done so for the past 5 years. So after all this testing, they tell me I don't "really" have PH and I don't have chronic blood clots in my lung BUT I am still sob with walking with the pulse ox thing going to 90-93 and I have this right ventricle that is dilated and worse over the past year. I stopped smoking 25 years ago. I am obese at 240 pounds so I know I need to lose weight. But I am really worried now because I am afraid I could develop PH - now over the past two weeks, one month since the heart cath, my BP has gone up to 150/90 on lisinopril 5 mg and the measurements were taken several times. prior to this my bp was around 130/78 or 80. They added HCTZ 25 mg and now my BP is around 120/90. I am worried because now my BP is higher. So I guess my question is where do things go from here? I am not better, I am still SOB with walking and need O2 if I walk more than 1000 feet. ( I had a two minute walk test and I dropped to 88 without O2). My doc's seem to be kind of casual about all this but I am worried because I am worried my heart is working harder than it should be. I am on the right meds? I have seen a pulmonologist who was watching and waiting so long that I finally made an appt with the HF doctor in cardiology because he had talked about a heart cath but never ordered it and I got tired of waiting. thank you. I apologize for my rambling format. Any suggestions you can provide I appreciate. Oh PS - no chest pain, never had any. Normal lipid profile and not on cholesterol meds. No alcohol or drug use. Dad had a fatal MI age 63 and no other family hx. I am not diabetic and my thyroid check was normal.
Fri, 26 Jun 2015
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I Had A Bilateral PE A Year Ago, Actually There