Have an appointment with Cardiologist, Question to ask

Posted by deechris @deechris, Mar 7 2:29am

Hi all, I have an appointment with my cardiologist soon. I am currently on labetalol 200mg per day. my symptoms seems to be increasing as i get more fatigue and high heart palpitations . Are there any other options i can ask my doctor about because they seem to want to only suggest Labetalol or i go for surgery.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) Support Group.

Would be hard to share our personal experiences not knowing your medical profile.

What did your cardiologist diagnose you with? If he or she has you on labetalol must have diagnosed something causing your symptoms. I am not familiar with labetalol and have never taken it.

Are you syptoms just fatique and heart palpitations? How is your weight (fatique)? Are you under stress and anxiety (heart palpitations)? Do you have high blood pressure. Do you have electrical problems of heart?

Doctors must be seeing something if want you on Labetalol or surgery. You can see not knowing your medical history or even what your doctors have told you is your cause hard to give what we know from out personal experiences.

I can suggest without knowing your diagnosis if you don't agree with treatments and diagnosis try to get a second opinon from a major medical facility.
Good luck!

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@jc76

Would be hard to share our personal experiences not knowing your medical profile.

What did your cardiologist diagnose you with? If he or she has you on labetalol must have diagnosed something causing your symptoms. I am not familiar with labetalol and have never taken it.

Are you syptoms just fatique and heart palpitations? How is your weight (fatique)? Are you under stress and anxiety (heart palpitations)? Do you have high blood pressure. Do you have electrical problems of heart?

Doctors must be seeing something if want you on Labetalol or surgery. You can see not knowing your medical history or even what your doctors have told you is your cause hard to give what we know from out personal experiences.

I can suggest without knowing your diagnosis if you don't agree with treatments and diagnosis try to get a second opinon from a major medical facility.
Good luck!

Jump to this post

I have HCM, was diagnosed 2yrs ago.

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Ask your Cardiologist if you can take CAMZYOS for the HCM. The very first week of taking it on the second day all my angina (chest pressure) was gone. I have been taking it for about 1 year and I feel great my "OBSTRUCTIVE HCM" has improved a lot and I can walk now normal with no side effects. That medicine is not for everyone so they have to evaluate you and see if it is suitable for you. I only had light dizziness at night the first week but no other secondary effects at all after that. My insurance covers that medicine that costs around $9,000 per month supply. I wish you the best.

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Please be sure that your cardiologist is well versed in HCM. Before this heart era of my life, I had no idea that there were so many different aspects of heart disease. Different cardiologists seem to specialize in different aspects of heart abnormalities. BTW, this is the first time I heard of Labetalol, just looked it up, is used to treat high blood pressure. Have you had an echocardiogram to monitor your HCM? What does the cardiologist say when comparing echoes over time? I think a starting question is to find out why your symptoms are getting more pronounced followed by what treatment is recommended.

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Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect @deechris. This is a great place to learn from others who share your same condition, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy or affectionately HCM.
@walkinggirl makes a great point, and I echo her thoughts...be certain your cardiologist is up-to-date on all things HCM and HOCM (Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy)
HOCM is when HCM decides to turn your life upside down and become obstructed. This is when a lot of people begin to notice their life is changing. And not for the better.
As you posted, you are symptomatic, and you feel your symptoms are increasing. You know you better than anyone else, and you deserve to listen to yourself! Trust your instincts and if you feel a second opinion is in order, I would highly recommend you get one. HCM and HOCM are nothing to sit around and wait for it to get worse.
You are already ahead of the curve, so to speak, as you already know you have it. For many people, they are misdiagnosed for many years with a host of heart conditions, murmurs, irregular heart beats before they are finally diagnosed with HCM. Sometimes, by the time they know something is really wrong...drugs will not work and only surgery is left. That is my story. I was not a candidate for Camzyos. Nothing worked. My heart was failing. My life was so limited. But I was blessed to be able to have my treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester and my life is amazing once again!
Beta blockers, like Labetalol, and Calcium channel blockers are used when HCM is identified and symptoms are milder. As things progress, different treatments may be in order.
This is a link you may find interesting from the Mayo Clinic talking about HCM:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20350198
Camzyos, as mentioned by @maneulpo, is used for obstructive HCM, which you did not mention you have. Here is a handy link for information on this newly approved drug for the treatment of Obstructive HCM:
https://www.camzyos.com.
You ask if there are any other options you can ask your doctor about, because they only seem to suggest the Beta blocker...this support group can't really offer medication advise...we are patients like you, but what we can do is offer suggestions.
My suggestion to you is to learn as much as you can about this HCM business. There is a lot of information here on Connect and also online in places such as this:
https://www.4hcm.org/
or this:
https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/cardiomyopathy/what-is-cardiomyopathy-in-adults/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy
And after filling your brain with all this information, if you feel unheard or not sure about what your treatment plan is, please do not hesitate to get a second opinion. I did. In fact I got three opinions. And it saved my life.
Other than HCM, are you active physically?

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@deechris

I have HCM, was diagnosed 2yrs ago.

Jump to this post

@deechris
I have cardiomyopathy caused by a virus that got into my heart and cause scarring that really messed up my electrical system.

I am not familiar with HCM but I think that is where your heart muscle inside gets thickened and cuts down on amount of blood that can be pumped. What is your EF?

There are many many medications from my personal experience since I was diagnosed with HF all the way back to 2001. Ask your cardilogist about medications to help control PVCs and palapatations. There are a lot of medications out there that can improve EF also.

I see the MCC mentor has already reached out to you with valuable information. I echo that this is your heart and you want to get the best diagnosis and treatments. So make sure like Mentor stated ensure your cardiologist is experience in your heart condition. If you are anywhere close to a major medical facility like Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, John Hopkins, would suggest getting second opinion.

I suggest that as back when I was diagnosed with HF, cardiomyopathy, and decreasing EF, I decided to get second opinion and when to Mayo Jacksonville. There after I decided to change to their care the changed my medicaions, and also had a ICD/Pacemaker implanted.

My EF stopped getting and worse and has been the same for almost 20 years. Other that weight problems my heart failure does not stop me from doing my exercise routines and any daily life. I contribute this to Mayo and the health care team I now have treating me.

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I went years being misdiagnosed!
After 2 back to back heart failures, exercise induced! My local cardiologist said i had heart failure with LVOTO, my provoked gradient was 122mmHg.
I went to mayo and was diagnosed with HCM with severe LVOTO they said because of my age 56 and how active iam surgery was best option! Put me on camzyos to get me to feeling better while awaiting surgery in July in Rochester!
Went back to my local cardiologist and he was really surprised mayo diagnoses me with HCM and want to do surgery!
He said the muscle was not that thick!
My septal is 18mm and it enlarges during stress near the aorta valve restricting blood leaving heart!
Goes to show how little is known of HCM!
Get a 2nd opinion from a big teaching hospital

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