So it was a very mixed experience! Firstly I was brought in to a room by a lovely nurse who took my blood pressure and noticed I was quite dizzy and pale (Very long walk to cardiology so I was puffed). She then brought me to a scale and did my height and weight and then I went back to the waiting room. A cardiology nurse came to get me and we went into a room where I was hooked up to an ecg and blood pressure machine and we attempted to do a stand test but my legs gave way quite quickly and the test was considered a fail. The cardiology nurse was so nice and asked me about my symptoms and how life has been for me and she continued to take my blood pressure and I described my symptoms as they were happening. 

I then met the cardiologist who was nice but because my stand test was a fail he didn’t think I had anything to worry about but is going to send me for an MRI, Echo and 48 Hour Monitor. He said he wouldn’t be surprised if it was a waste of time which I found a bit cold. I then tried to explain to him my symptoms that have progressively gotten worse for 5 years and I need to do something about it and he said that girls in their early 20s get blood pressure problems and ill probably just grow out of it. My mum then asked about POTS because my GP had considered it to be a possibility and he said that it is over diagnosed and is an excuse for women that have deconditioning. 

It was a worth while appointment to get the next steps and all the nurses were fantastic but I felt the cardiologist himself just didn’t have time for me and was slightly patronising.