My Life With Fibromuscular Dysplasia: A Sword of Damocles.

Abstract

My story begins in December 2007 when I visited my general practitioner (GP) for one of the first times since the birth of my third son in 1992. At the time, I worked as a GP myself and had been at the same busy Scottish practice since qualifying in 1986. I also led an active life outside of work, ran a youth group at church and enjoyed regular gym workouts and several sports. Being a mother of 3 boys kept me constantly on the go! I had never suffered any major illness, was on no medication, and had no obvious risk factors for heart or vascular disease. Having suffered 3 months of morning headaches and some elevated blood pressure readings (around 170/100) taken at my office, I felt I should seek medical advice. I was also experiencing extra heart beats (ventricular ectopics) fairly frequently and some mild left-sided upper back discomfort. Some basic blood tests were done, along with another blood pressure reading, and I was referred to a cardiologist. The cardiologist performed an EKG, which showed normal patterns other than frequent ventricular ectopics. My blood pressure readings were mildly elevated at 158/100 and later 142/95. No heart murmurs were found, and an echocardiogram was normal. An appointment was arranged for me to have ambulatory blood pressure recordings to see how my blood pressure behaved over a 24-hour period, and an initial diagnosis of white coat hypertension was made. This is defined as blood pressure that is raised when measured by medical professionals but normal outside the doctor’s office. My ambulatory blood pressure recordings were within normal limits, and no further action was taken. My morning headaches and occasional palpitations continued, but I was able to manage the headaches with simple analgesics. In September 2009, at age 49, I suffered …