Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome (MVPS) took medical journalist Joan Anderson on the most frightening ride of her life. A mild flutter in her chest escalated to a living hell. Sick, scared, confused, and alone, she battled a wide range of symptoms. Faced with chest pains, arrhythmias, migraines, stroke-like symptoms, irritable bowel syndrome, blood pressure spikes, fibromyalgia, anxiety and extreme fatigue, Anderson ultimately took matters into her own hands.
Determined to regain her health, she developed a personal action plan after receiving little to no help from the medical community. Rather than accept drugs that would mask her symptoms and elevate her health risks, Anderson faced down her fears and took control. Searching outside the usual protocols, and leaving uncaring doctors behind, Anderson unearthed new information and better, more effective treatments not only for her MVPS symptoms but also for her symptoms from what she calls the MVPS "Sister Syndromes," Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME/CFS).
In My Personal Action Plan for Stopping the Symptoms of Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome-Dysautonomia, Anderson shares the methods that changed her life. The text details her research and provides helpful resources for others taking the same journey. Anderson, an award-winning medical reporter and healthcare system administrator, recounts the 5 Patient Principles she developed to help her effectively navigate the medical system.
"Even though I have had experience researching medical issues in the past," she writes, "I am still an MVPS patient, not a medical professional. If I can research and find answers that helped me, anyone can."
Please Note: The author has no underlying structure or functional problems with her heart. She was diagnosed with Mitral Valve Prolapse when a physician noted a benign click as her heart's mitral valve closed. The author has what is called Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome-Dysautonomia, a problem with the autonomic nervous system.
"In this book, Joan Anderson shares her action plan for dealing with health choices. A few years ago, my wife Marie had a stroke. Initially, the right side of her body was paralyzed. Now she can get around with a walker. Her stroke was completely preventable. If she had had the information in this book, My Action Plan-Stopping the Symptoms of Mitral Valve Prolapse Syndrome/Dysautonomia, she could have avoided the stroke, and our life together now would be very different. Read this book." Captain Tom Bunn, L.C.S.W, Author of Panic Free, The 10-Day Program to End Panic, Anxiety, and Claustrophobia and Founder of The Soar Program for Nervous Flyers
