A Visit To The Doctor

In February of this year I shared my story about my ongoing problem with breathing.

I was sick again on September 6^th with yet another bout of chronic bronchitis.  I eventually got better.  My follow-up visit with the doctor was a little strange in that my lung specialist spent about 20 minutes reading something on the computer in the examination room.

I sat there quietly watching him scroll through page after page, exit that screen and enter another.  I didn’t dare speak.  I didn’t want to break his concentration.  Honestly, it was nerve-racking.

Finally, he turned to me and asked how long I had been taking Lisinopril.  I answered that I had been prescribed that medication shortly after being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, so somewhere around 2006 or early 2007.  He said that 1 in 20 patients who take Lisinopril for long periods of time develop the kind of cough I had. 

He said he wanted to change my blood pressure medicine to Diovan®.  His hope was to eliminate the all-too-frequent coughing that I was experiencing. His instruction to me was to discontinue taking the Lisinopril because using both would lower my blood pressure too much.

I had my follow-up visit with him today.  He asked how I was feeling.  I cheerily answered that I didn’t know if it was psychosomatic or physiological, but I had almost stopped the coughing entirely.

That answer brought me to a place I never expected to go.

Acknowledging that the cough was better, he said that the fact remained that I still had restrictive lung disease which was causing my air hunger.

He said he wanted to have me take thyroid tests—T3 and TSH—to determine whether I have inadequate thyroid function.  A poorly functioning thyroid affects the way the body uses energy.  I have a high-stress job and thyroid problems ain’t good.

So we talked a little bit about how a poorly functioning thyroid can affect other organs in the body.  Then he said he wanted to learn more about why I was still suffering from a shortness of breath.

He said he wanted me to also undergo a complete pulmonary function test with and without a bronchodilator.  He thought maybe my heart could be the source of the problem.

It was then that I decided to tell him that my grandmother had heart disease, my mother had a heart murmur and died as a result of multiple sclerosis and that my dad died from an ischemic heart attack.

His eyes got as big as saucers and also scheduled me for an EKG and a dypsnea stress test.

So, on November 12^th and November 14^th, just days from now, your humble scribe will be testing her little guts out.

This doctor really cares about me.  I’m glad I found him and I’m hopeful that he can unlock the key to the mystery of why I’m breathless.

That’s my story for today and I’m sticking to it.

I hope you guys are all doing well.  I’m 22 days away from a long-deserved vacation.

Thanks for stopping by.  Take care out there.