I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy November 30, 2003. I also had been seeing my family doctor since September with shortness of breath and pain in my stomach. I did not know that I had been filling up with fluid all along. I was extremely tired all the time and when I would walk up the stairs carrying anything it was all I could do to catch my breath. I had feelings that my heart was beating up in my throat and I would ask the doctor, are you sure it isn't anything with my heart? He continued to tell me no, my heart sounded good, a little fast, but strong. I should have been more demanding but I assumed he knew what he was doing. I was treated for acid reflux, gastritis and even had an edoscopy Nov. 14 which did show that I did have gastritis and acid reflux. Nothing was getting any better and I was getting more short of breath and the pressure in my upper abdomen was so severe I couldn't function properly. After Thanksgiving I got really bad, felt like I had bronchitis or penumonia or something and couldn't breathe at all. I went into the clinic and saw a physicians assistant and told him that I wasn't leaving until something was done. I explained how many times I had been in the office and nothing was done. I was always told I was too young to worry about my heart. I put off to stress. First off the PA listened to my heart and lungs and decided on doing an EKG, blood test, and chest xrays. The results came back and I was told something was wrong with both my heart and lungs. Had the first doctor just even did and ekg or taken an xray I am sure they would have found it out earlier. Doctors need to listen to us more.
Posted on May 14, 2004, 9:08 AM from IP address 149.174.164.21