Whats wrong with my mum? Sorry long

[frustratedworkingmum]

She has a long medical history (complicated) which means she has to be on steroid replacement therapy due to an adrenalectomy. This was over 50 years ago.

She has had complications surrounding getting the levels right but these are no presenting at the moment. What is going on now is not, imo, the same thing.

She has high blood pressure, which isn't really responding to treatment yet.

Have managed to get her to change doctors as her old doctor wasn't following things up.

New doctor is my doctor and i have every faith in her, she is very thorough and has already referred to endocrinologist.

The problem is she keeps going "giddy", losing her balance and well, being "giddy". She is 76.

So DR referred to endocrinologist who has reduced her steroids as these might be affectin her BP? she was on a relatively high dose. Told my mum that the dizzy spells were due to drop in BP when she gets up quickly etc - I did TRY to explain to him that this is not when this occurs but he was pretty dismissive.

She has a MRI booked (pituitary tumour - benign, been there over 50 years) just to "check" it.

I am starting to worry though - i don't think her steriods are the root of her dizzines neither do i think her BP is to blame, although this is worryingly high (readings of about 260/140 - i kid you not!)

She has sinus problems caused by a polyp in her nose and im thining it this coud have affected her ears in some way? Could this be he root of the dizziness?

I honestly think the doctors are barking up the wrong tree, distracted by the two obvious things that it could be but of course I am not a medic so don't really want to be saying "actually, i think you are wrong" because its not a criticism, they seem the obvious first things to rule out.

Im worried the tumour has grown, but v unlikely and have been told that the first likely sign of that would be double vision. She has had regular MRIs and no change in 50 years.

Any thoughts? In the past six months my mother has got "old", i have had to stop her from collecting DD from school and use childcare, which to be honest, i prefer but i know tht this has upset my mum that she can no longer do this :(

Hi frustated sorry to hear that your mum is not so good at the moment, how worrying for you and her. I haven't got any advice about this, just hope you get some answers soon, fingers crossed and hope the MRI results are all fine and everything is as it should be. X

Thanks pretty, i had given up on getting a reply, its definately a worry - I am an only child so don't have anyone to bounce things off. I would be surprised if the MRI shows any changes tbh, althouh it is at the back of my mind, we have been told what the symptoms would be if it were to start growing and being problematic and these don't match.

I am just worried that my mums history is clouding the real problem and as a consequence any treatment she might need is being delayed. Not blaming the doctors but can't help but think that if the history was different they would be investigating other things, if that makes sense.

With a BP that high, bringing it down would be my absolute priority, and I'd expect to see a change in the dizzy spells as a result!

I'd also be testing kidney function, as ongoing hypertension can be pretty dangerous in that respect

Has she had her blood sugars tested? Is she diabetic? That would be the next thing I'd check...

I don't really think the nose polyp could have migrated far enough to be causing dizziness! I'd certainly want to rule out any more serious pathologies first!

I would get her to go back as often as she needs to in respect of the blood pressure, I have high bp but am otherwise healthy , but it took two changes of bp meds before I found one that agreed with me. I think dizziness can be a side effect of bp meds. Maybe a change of bp meds might be worth discussing if the mri scan etc is all clear. Just a thought xx

vitc - i was just wondering if the sinus problems was causing inner ear issues?

She has had a full blood profile run and they were all "ok" apparently.

She is on losartan and amlodipine - and maybe it coudl be a side effect. I would agree that the dizziness could be part of the BP and its is scarily high i know. Am going to try for an urgent appointment tomorrow with her GP but fully prepared to be unable to get one as it is monday and the 8am lottery spaces have usually been taken by the time i actually get through.

Not a medic but I can understand your worry and think you're right to keep pushing for other things to be investigated too.

Locally there was a horrible case in the papers about a young woman who was sent down to A&E as she had meningitis by the out of hours doctor that she'd gone to see as she was feeling poorly. He'd done the standard 'Urgent - Meningitis' type referral as I remember.

Unfortunately the girl also had cystic fibrosis, so had a large hospital file that had CF written large across the front of it. The nurses stuck her on a bed and whenever she asked for the antibiotics she needed they just told her that they were busy and she wasn't an urgent case, she needed to wait. They didn't even look at the rash that was getting much worse despite her asking them to.

In the end she died, I think before she even got the antibiotics (or soon after if she did) - when they investigated it was because the nurses had just seen her file and seen CF so assumed that was what she was there for, despite her referral and her telling them that she was there for meningitis - seems they thought she was exaggerating about the meningitis or something in order to get her CF symptoms seen more quickly and they were busy so knew that she could wait a few hours without being looked at Except of course she wasn't complaining about CF symptoms, just meningitis.

An extreme example of medical staff seeing what they want to see and not actually looking at what is in front of them but horrendous and proof that it can happen all too easily, even in extreme examples. So how much more easily can it happen when things aren't as clear cut?

Hope your mum gets things sorted and feels better very soon.

Went to the doctors, still waiting on the results of hormone blood test from two weeks ago Doctor has now reduced her BP meds as this could be what is making her dizzy but her BP still stupidly high, doc is suggesting that her body can't cope with reducing it - weird, but my mums condition is quite complex and the doctor openly admitted that they are at a bit of a loss.

Hoping that she feels a bit better - i hate seeing her like a little old lady, even though she is