I was diagnosed with an ASD in 2009. They said it was small and didn't need any treatment. I was tired all the time. Let me give you an idea of me. I am a very active person. I am a personal trainer, workout at a gym at least 2 hrs, 6 days a week. My family and I enjoy outdoor adventures and sports. I am a healthy eater, kinda nuts about it. Anyway, when a 29 year old female walks into a Dr. office that is in shape and has a healthy life style they shrug EVERYTHING off and say you must be fighting a bug. I was constantly tired, short of breathe, and have arrhythmias. I wore halter monitors they proved I has Bradycardia and low blood pressure. Dr. said that must be it. Symptoms continued to get worse. My recovery after a workout took everything out of me. Being a mom of active kids and just a self driven person, slowing down was not an option. Then the spring of 2012 I got on the freeway after the gym and started having arrhythmias, short of breathe, my hand and face started going numb/tingling, then I started to loose vision. I was scared to death! I have never prayed so hard in my life to get me off the freeway. I barley made it to the next exit and pulled over. I did everything I knew to try and get my heart to recover. Baring down to slow my heart, taking slow deep breathes, and a recovery drink with potassium and electrolytes. I did make it home. I had a yearly exam scheduled a few weeks later so I decided to wait and talk to my Dr. about it then. I know BAD to wait. But when you have been to the doctor, a million times you kinda give up. Anyway, my Dr. scolded me for not calling 911 or going to the ER when this happened and said go back to your cardiologist! I did. :) We then started the line up of tests. All of them came back with info we already knew. FINALLY, did a bubble echo and lets just say the bubbles were equal on both sides of my heart. My Cardiololgist refered me to another cardiologist who specialized in ASD closures. He sent me in for a Transcranial that was a 4+ on a scale of 0-5. After that it was not a matter of if we were going to close it was when. I had it closed Oct 17, 2012. I had a 10 mm hole along with a valve that is supposed to dissolve after birth shunting my blood straight across my heart. My life now is amazing! Recovery was fast.
Now the side story. My husband(and Love) started his masters program in radiology the spring I started having symptoms. He needed to pick a topic to do his research on and write his thesis. He choose to study the effects ASD's have on people before and after closure. His point is to get Drs. to see ASD's ARE SYMPTOMATIC! and having them closed does improve quality of life. After watching me go thru everything it was clear more research needs to be done. Early detection and preventive screenings need to be put in place. He has a survey online that is completely confidential. NONE of your personal info will be shared. He does not even receive names. The only info he gets is the questions you answer.
If any of you would take this survey this will help his study and help us and loved ones suffering with ASD's. The link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LNFNXYX He and I would love to answer any questions you have about ASD's. I had many other symptoms and problems because of the ASD's I just wanted to keep this short. Thank you.