I have an untreated pfo, history of ministroke, but I’m confident I’ll get that fixed as I am only 24 and in otherwise good shape. However, I am really curious as to why I hear squeaking noises coming from my throat after my (exercise) heartbeat?

I am aware it could be p.tinnitus, but in that case it isn’t logical that another person could hear the sound. I believe it is coming from my vocal chords, because my girlfriend heard it after sex. It is a high pitched whistle after each heartbeat. How could an increase in blood pressure cause air to be pushed from my lungs with enough force to make a whistling sound, and is this something that I should be worried about?

Any educated answer will help me direct my questions to my cardiologist, I am by no means looking for a cure…thanks in advance.

We rescued our (now 6 months old) kitten, Hershey, 2 months ago from a local marketplace.
When we first brought him in, he had mange (a kind of skin disease) and a serious hairball problem. We took care of him, with frequent trips to the vet, cured the skin problem, had him vaccinated twice, even had him tested for FLV and FPV. Everything turned out negative.
We were sure that we’d done the best we could for him to be healthy.

Then we tried putting him up for adoption (something we do often, we rescue lots of kitts), but no one wanted him. And then we made the final decision, to keep him, as part of the family.

Things seemed fine until a few weeks back, when I noticed that his breathing was getting harder than usual. Took him to the vet, and they suspected a respiratory infection, and recommended antibiotics.
But as time progressed, Hershey’s condition only got worse. He started breathing HARD, with his mouth open…and his belly started to look bloated. Nothing seemed normal.

Two days back, we brought him to the vet again, and after an x-ray, our vet told us that Hershey had fluid all around his lungs and abdomen area.
To get a clear idea of what was causing it, we took him to another vet for a Ultrasonography test, after which they confirmed his current condition, HCM.

His ventricles were huge and swollen, pumping blood twice as fast. And a back-flow of bood was occuring, causing tension to the arteries and lungs. This in turn, was causing fluids to ‘diffuse’ out into his body and tummy, because of the extreme pressure to the walls.

The vet drained the fluids by getting a needle into the chest and tummy (no sedatives, and Hershey remained quiet…i’m not sure if he was in pain). And prescribed a few pills, which he’ll have to take twice a day, for the rest of his life.
He told us that the fliuds will keep building up, and that Hershey would have to keep coming back for needle draining (this is what bothers me the most, he’s got pierce marks around his tummy and chest…i can’t imagine how it would feel to have a needle stuck into your chest without sedatives etc).
And the last thing he told us was the possibility that Hershey may not live past the age of 1. That this condition was a birth defect and has taken over him at such a young age. His arteries are so small that chances of blood clots are high too.

Hershey returned yesterday. He seemed happy to be back, ran around for a bit, with his playmate of the same age. It almost made me cry to see him so happy, knowing that it was only temporary, and that the condition would return.
Today, I noticed him getting a little quiet and sedentary again. Not as bad as he used to, but it’s starting again…and his tummy’s swelling again.

This is all to painful for me to watch and handle.

People never wanted him because the other kitts were much more beautiful. But this fella had the sweetest personality out of them all. He even made the vet smile, kept rubbing his cheeks on the vets face while he was busy checking the ultrasonography results.

This is just HARD.

For me to handle the medical expenses on a long term…and to wait for him to eventually die. He hates meds, and it really bothers me to think he’ll have to go through the same procedures again with the vet.
The vets suggested that we’d probably want to consider putting him to sleep, to relieve him of this condition. But it was only a suggestion, and they said that the decision making was up to us.

Help me…do I wait for signs of him suffering before relieving him…or do I take action now, knowing what lies ahead for him? My heart feels torn in two.
Is euthanasia painful? What will he be feeling when they do it? I don’t want him to feel ao much as a needle prick on his body when they do it. Do they sedate kitts first before putting them down?

And will Hershey forgive me?

I need support from all of you, I need to know that I can forgive myself if I ever proceed with this decision…please help??

Here a picture of him from back when things were alright:

http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz1/Vee20/DSC02070.jpg

Considering that my symptoms originated as a hereditary condition and I’m in need of continuous medication. My diet and exercise are quite adequate and I’m in fact an active person but my high bp can bog me down at times. I do my daily prayers and meditation but it just seem to ‘remain’ there lingering and sudden stress can cause my pressure to rocket pretty high (which is bad for my heart).

Regular symptoms includes headaches, sleepiness (I can understand as I lack sleep sometimes), feeling of fatigue, stress, shortness of breath (as if the intake of ‘fresh air’ is not enough to fill my lungs) and swelling of glands behind my neck.

Thanks in advance

Have you ever heard of scleroderma? This is a rare condition that is increasing in frequency. It causes progressive fibrosis of the skin and internal organs. It is 3 to 4 times more common in women than men, particularly younger African American women, but it can affect anyone. The cause is unknown, but researchers suggest that environmental and genetic factors play a role.
In typical cases, patients first develop skin thickening on the fingers or elsewhere. Patients may complain of cold, swelling, and puffy fingers and hands. Arthritic symptoms are also common throughout the body. As the disease progresses, additional organs are affected such as the heart, esophagus, joints, muscles, and lungs. Patients can develop sudden severe high blood pressure and even kidney failure. There is no specific blood test for the diagnosis, although many different tests will be abnormal. There are several treatments but no cure as yet..If you are looking for a Charity, Please give to Scleroderma.

I am a FTM as if you wouldn’t be able to tell by this question. Well anyways I just wanted to say I did plan on breastfeeding, I got to do it for two days at the hospital and then my blood pressure stayed REALLY high and so did my pulse so they had to do cat scans and nuclear medicine to make sure I didn’t have a blood clot in my lungs, I don’t phew but they kept me on a blood pressure medication that isn’t the best for a baby to have. So I opted out and decided that I will give up breast feeding because there is no way I am going to have my poor son sucking down on some medicine that "may" have side effects on him as I was told. Ok now that I have probably bored you to tears here is my question, he is 2 weeks old today and has been eating 2 ounces of formula every 2 to 3 hours for me for the past 2 weeks. Now today it seems as if it just isn’t enough for him he grunts and fusses and whines and I am wondering if it is ok to give him a extra ounce. The pediatrician scared me at his first appointment saying that if I "HAVE" to feed him more to just do a extra half a ounce because he could get a upset stomach yada yada. But that was when he was 3 days old. So with that all being said what do you think a extra ounce is ok or no way? I go to see his doctor again next week but I just wanted opinions from the mommies out there that have gone through this. Also is there a feeding chart online I could glance at. I can’t find anything. Thanks lots ladies and gentlemen!

Yesterday my husband was fine and then he started getting a dull ache in his chest (not in the center but more on his left side near his armpit). Then it got worse when he would breathe in, move suddenly or raise his arm.

He was in serious pain last night to the point of wanting to cry. His mother (respiratory therapist) came over and his lungs sounded good, heartbeat fine, blood pressure was good. He took advil and the pain went away. Today the pain is back, though not as bad as last night!

He mentioned it to someone he knows, and the guy said once he strained a muscle or something in his chest once and the pain sounded exactly like a broken blood vessel, which was what his friend was diagnosed with. So I am trying to find info about broken blood vessels and so far = nothing.

I just want to find out symptoms of a broken blood vessel, and treatments. Anyone know??

I grave ciggiretts all day long. I get up and need one, I even wake up in middle of the night to smoke. Sometimes I will smoke two packs in two hours. There will even be times when I am caughing my lungs out and I will still put a ciggirett in my mouth while I am caughing. What is the best treatment option.

well my sister smokes(like a chimney!)and i love her dearly i would just die if anything happened to her(no joke)so i know smoking is really bad for you and stuff because it damages your lungs and so,but she just won’t listen to me what can i do/say to convince her to stop smoking?!?!

thanks in advance and happy new year!