Giving birth is typically a happy time for mothers, but for Erin Consuegra, it was a time of worry and health complications. In 2013, after giving birth to her second child at 28, Consuegra began to develop extreme fatigue, fluttery heartbeats and high blood pressure. Her high blood pressure was chalked up to stress and her doctor prescribed her medication.
However, the elementary school teacher wasn’t convinced that it was that simple.
“It’s like, you think staying home all day with two kids is causing these real medical issues?” she says. “It was offensive to just write it all off to stress and anxiety.”
Taking charge of her own health
Determined to get to the real root of her medical problems, Consuegra began doing her own research both online and through family members that are in the medical field. During her research, she came across a syndrome called primary aldosteronism. With aldosteronism, one or both adrenal glands (small structures that sit atop the kidneys) overproduce a hormone called aldosterone, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Aldosterone sends sodium and water into the bloodstream, which can increase your blood volume and blood pressure. Besides, the high blood pressure, Consuegra had something else in common with aldosterone: it lowers potassium, a mineral that Consuegra was deficient in.
Although her primary care physician agreed to run a blood test for the condition, she remained insistent that her results were normal. Once again, Consuegra was not satisfied with the answer she was getting from her doctor, so she decided to request a referral to a specialist.
“She took it as me questioning her,” Consuegra shares of her request. Getting a referral, she adds, “took a lot of fighting, a lot of tears, a lot of advocacy on my part.”
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Her diagnosis
Ultimately, Consuegra was able to get an official diagnosis through doctors at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. They diagnosed her with primary aldosteronism and found a small noncancerous tumor, or adenoma, in one of her adrenal glands, which is the cause of the condition.
After her diagnosis, doctors removed her gland in July 2014 and her symptoms disappeared.
Others aren’t so lucky
Unfoutanetly, for millions of other patients, they aren’t as lucky as Consuegra was to get a diagnosis. Although aldosteronism was first described more than six decades ago, less than 1 percent of cases get diagnosed and treated. This is troubling because evidence shows that aldosteronism is a common cause of high blood pressure or hypertension.
According to a study, aldosteronism can show up in people with mild, moderate and severe hypertension. It can also show up in people who have normal blood pressure.
“The prevalence of primary aldosteronism is high and largely unrecognized,” the study authors wrote, adding that it may account for high blood pressure that has no identifiable cause and is typically attributed to