I am a 38 year old female with a history of migraine headaches, frequent UTIs, IBS, unexplained lesions on the brain (tested for MS, but not diagnosed), exercise intolerance, sometimes severe fatigue that leads to problems completing daily activities, heat/cold intolerance without hypo/hyperthyroid and 3 strokes at the age of 31. All of these symptoms come and go. Despite this history I am very healthy. Last week I began having heart palpitations with moderate chest pain that radiated to my back between my shoulder blades and down the back of both of my arms. An EKG was performed, chem-8, TSH levels, troponins checked and all tests came back normal. I was released and 3 days later returned with the complaint of dizziness, weakness, and severe fatigue. All tests were repeated with the addition of a hematocrit to check for anemia as I am a vegetarian. All tests results were again normal. I have an appt with a cardiologist later this week. I took to some research and discovered that my symptoms seem to point to MELAS or mitochondrial disease (many of my family members complain of similar symptoms). My question is that I have been able to live a fairly normal life up to this point and would like to know the life expectancy of someone with MELAS.