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- A 30-year-old pregnant woman with no family history of heart disease was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy.
- The woman was treated to return her heart to a normal rhythm.
- Experts say women should insist on seeing a specialist if they think something is wrong.
- Visit the Insider home page for more stories.
As the mother of one with another baby on the way, Jessica Diede, 30, of Phoenix, Arizona, exercised regularly and ate a healthy diet. But 20 weeks into her pregnancy, she found herself in an indoor playground with an extremely fast heart rate. When Diede lay down next to him, his heart rate returned to normal.
“It was one of my red flags. I thought to myself: ‘Okay, if I just posed like that and it became normal, it’s not good'”, “Diede, volunteer for the American Heart Association’s “Real Women” campaign, Insider said.
This incident was the start of Diede’s long journey to find a correct diagnosis. She now advocates that other women see a specialist if they feel something is wrong with their health.
After the fear, Diede followed up whenever his heart rate increased and brought this diary to his next OB-GYN date. Diede’s doctor believed the anxiety was causing his heart problems. Diede knew that was not the problem and insisted on seeing a cardiologist.
“If I hadn’t asked him to give me that reference, he never would have given it to me,” she said.
She was shocked by the cardiologist’s diagnosis: “You actually have cardiomyopathy and your heart is failing” and I said what, I wasn’t expecting it, ”Diede said.
Cardiomyopathy is a disease in which the heart is unable to pump blood efficiently.
By this point, Diede’s heart episodes had increased to about three to four times a day, lasting at least five minutes each time.
Diede needed two procedures after giving birth to restore normal heart rhythm
As Diede’s pregnancy progressed, her oxygen levels dropped and her cardiomyopathy medication stopped working. “The bigger I got, the worse it was for my heart,” she says.
Due to these issues, Diede had to start labor at 34 weeks. She had a forceps delivery, in which doctors must use a forceps-like tool to remove the baby.
Diede’s heart episodes did not end after the birth of her child. After meeting with different cardiologists, one of them finally diagnosed him with another heart problem: AV-nodal reentrant tachycardia (AVNRT), which is a type of fast heartbeat. She has had two procedures to restore her heart to a normal rate.
Since then, Diede’s heart episodes have subsided. She must now take a beta blocker to keep her heart health in check for the rest of her life.
Diede advocates for women to fight to see a specialist if they feel something is wrong
This experience inspired Diede to educate women, both before and during pregnancy, “to listen to their bodies and then take charge of their own health,” she said. “I want women to just push for referrals and fight for your health if something goes wrong.
Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum, a volunteer medical expert with the American Heart Association Go Red for Women, said pregnant women should speak up for themselves if they suspect they have health issues. “The worst case scenario is that you are wrong, but it is the best case scenario,” she said.
Steinbaum said pregnant women should speak to their doctor if they experience shortness of breath, chest pain, or ankle swelling.
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