24 hour urine collection! heart problems anyone help!

[lisad123]

and yes have already called misdee for advice too

I have been having palpitations, and very fast HR for over 2 years, although when first discovered they put it down to pregnancy as was carrying DD2 at the time. However was in hopital in Oct after another fast heart rate of over 187.
Saw consultant in dec and been referred over to cardio. Now recieved a letter this morning telling me to do 24 hr urine collection. Load of tests written underneath in terrible handwriting, only one i have been able to google (to my mistake) was VMA. Anyone know what else they would be testing for? I can see its not the normal lft, u&es ect. tia

sorry mate, I have no idea but I'll bump this for you.

(I was going to suggest asking misdee )

first thing i did LOL

i don't know about the urine collection thing, but know how the palpitations feel. i was born with an extra nerve in my heart, a condition called supra ventricular tachycardia (svt), which kicks in occasionally and can make my heart go as fast as 200 bpm. it used to happen a lot as a child, but much less frequently as an adult. it took years before this was finally diagnosed when i was about 15. hope they can sort this out for you soon, x.

As far as I remember, they will be looking at the amount of creatinine cleared by the kidneys, amount of protein, and sometimes catecholamines - essentially looking at what your kidneys are doing kidney function and to see if there are any signs of damage from hypertension.
If you can make a rough estimation at what has beeen squggled on the form, I can make a guess at what has been written!

VMA - Hormone levels related to the adrenal glands. Looking to see if there is a hormone imbalance causing fast HR. Probably looking at thyroid function as well. Sounds like they are being thorough.

VMA is short for vanillylmandelic acid. It is produced as a waste product as the body breaksdown down the hormone noradrenaline. Noradrenaline is produced in the adrenal glands that sit on top of the kidneys. It is the hormone that the body produces when stressed and causes the fight or flight reaction which causes the heart rate to increase.

The body normally releases noradrenaline in response to emotional or physical stress, but it may also be release by a VERY RARE adrenal tumour called a phaeochromocytoma. You almost certainly wont have it, they'll just be testing for the sake of completeness. www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/40001342/

Far more likely - you may have what lucykate had, an extra electrical pathway in the heart, which if you are otherwise young and healthy is (aside from the worry it causing you) not particularly serious and relatively easy to treat. www.patient.co.uk/showdoc/23069180/

how did they find the exttra nerve? I have had a 24 hour tape ecg, a eco, thyroid function and on beta blockers that have no effect.
The other writing seems to say , Urinary, VMA, adrillalise and M adulalis.
I have seem the stuff about adrenal tumors, and knew i shouldnt have googled it.

Also says I have H/O palpitations and HTu??

thanks for the help so far though

Oh this is great fun, thanks for the thread!

History of palpitations and hypertension. 24hr urinary VMA, adrenaline and ? noradrenaline. usually check for urinary dopamine too. Phaeochromocytomas are rare.

Extra pathway usually diagnosed on a heart trace (ECG) which you'll probably have had already. You've had the 24 hr version at least. You've had an ultrasound (an 'echo') to look at the shape of the heart but this although this wont show the nerves. An overactive thyroid gland can cause a fast heart rate.

Other possible causes? Anaemia - checked for with a full blood count (FBC) and I bet you've had one already. Some asthma inhalers can make your heart race, but you shouldn't be on them if you've been given a beta-blocker.

If the above get you nowhere then it is possible for a clever cardiologist to insert electrodes into your heart to try to find an extra pathway. Bit invasive though.

I know someone who went through all the above, but no cause was found. She hasn't come to any harm, apart from the worry. Don't be afraid to talk to your GP.

thanks northwest, glad my health is fun for you.
Yep have had countless ecg's one that caught the tacicardia at full speed, they had to give me some drugs to slow it down, bit scary tbh
A ecocardiogam was done about 2 years ago, which showed nothing.

Yes high of high BP, and other stomach problems like gall stones and upper gastric inflamasion. Also blood clots, god im falling apart.
No inhalers, and bloods all came back clear. Also been subjucted to blood tests from veins which made me jump off the bed

thanks, as long as its not the VMA, i think i can handle it.

lisad when your tachycardia was caught on ecg were you given advice about vagal methods of slowly the heart?

Has anyone in your family had cardiac problems or hormone issues/endocrine tumours?

wobbly no. the doc who was there, as i was trying not to pass out, did a weird massage thingy on my neck, and then when it didnt work they took me into resus and stuck me full of drugs, think it was something to do with my o2 levels why they rushed.

family history, my dads parent both died f=before 65 of heart attack and stroke. My mothers dad had cancer last year and my aunt at 40 odd. no cardiac problems i know of.

The neck massage was an attempt to slow the heart through a vagal manouevre.
For SVTs some people are advised to try slowing the heart rate by certain manouvres which are difficult to explain on MN.
I take it you were advise to avoid caffeine and alcohol in abundance.

Do you know how high your BP has been?

last BP check was 187/144!! surprised I could stand! normal for me is 100/60 havent had one since dec though, should i be getting check reg?

I dont drink anyone but yes decaf tea and never drink coffee. Missing redbull LOL

That is high! I take you are being investigated at a specialist unit now.
On checking your BP it really depends. Does your BP only shot up when you have episodes of SVT. Do you get other symptoms at the same time, hunger, sweatiness etc.?
Have you had CT or MRI scans of you adrenal glands?

Sorry for being insensitive earlier.

It sounds like they may have made a diagnosis of SVT when they gave you the drug that stopped the tachycardia. Also definitely get your bp checked again.

im under the cardiologist, same one as misdee's dh funny enough!but not seem them yet, was under general medical till dec. No CT or MRI scans yet. Didnt mention something about electrodles mis firing but given me nothing more to go on.

No its fine, im glad of some help tbh.

My BP has never been up that high before, and never that high during an attack. TBH my heart runs quick all the time about 120-140 has become normal for me lately.
The drugs slowed rate but only to 120bpm, but wish they would friggin hurry up now!!

lisa - i don't like it when they give drugs to slow the heart. when mine does it, it starts going fast almost instantly, and stops instantly. i was given verapamil in tablet form once, and it was awful, so scary. i had to take a second dose as first didn't work, and then my heart started to slow down gradually, it was a horrid feeling. i've tried the neck massage thing but never worked for me, main thing i have to do is just relax and stay calm. the longest attack to date was 5 hours.

it took so long to diagnose my condition because they could never catch it on ecg. every time it happened at school, they'd ring my mum, who'd then pick me up, and rush me to the doctors. but by the time they were ready to hook me up, seeing my mum had calmed me down and it stopped (i blame the receptionists, always made us wait far too long!)

your bp does sound very high though, i know with mine, one thing they are always looking for is how my bp behaves during an attack. if it stays normal, then heart is healthy enough to cope with it, it's when is goes up during one that it's having trouble coping.

if it does turn out to be something like svt, it is manageable and not life threatening. fingers crossed you get some answers soon, x.

"when mine does it, it starts going fast almost instantly, and stops instantly" opps, what i mean is this is what happens when it stops by itself, no intervention.

the beta blockers have no effect at all tbh. The horrible one was in resus, very odd feeling, thought i would pass out!
the only thing the ecg has shown so far is that my heart runs quicker than it should. BP had been fine, but last 2 times has been high.
Yes fingers crossed its nothing too bad, i think im falling apart in my old age (27!!)