I was born in London,England in October 1926. With the exception of chronic migraine I enjoyed good health until 1986 when I was diagnosed as being hypertensive. My doctor prescribed Indapamide which not only corrected my blood pressure but also marked the end of my migraine headaches.
Early in 1997 I moved to another village and had to register with my new primary care M.D. When he checked my blood pressure it had soared to 240/110. He decided to change my medication to an A.C.E Inhibitor (Perendopril). It took several weeks to get the dosage adjusted. During this time I mentioned to my doctor that I was experiencing a nagging pain in the right side of my chest. The doctor suspected gall stones and arranged an Ultrasound scan at the local hospital. The scan failed to detect any stones but did indicate an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm of approximately 4cms. situated just below the Renal Arteries. My Primary Care Physician explained this condition to me but admitted that his only experience of AAA was as an intern when he assisted at an emergency operation to repair a ruptured Aneurysm. He agreed that it was important to get my Labile Hypertension under control but also to adopt a 'Wait and Watch' programme which would consist of Ultrasound Scans every 6 months to monitor the growth of aneurysm with no action to be taken until it had grown to at least 5cms.
Eventually my medication was adjusted to the satisfaction of my doctor and now consisted of a daily intake of 8mg Perendopril, 20mg Frusemide and 2mg of Doxasosin. Blood tests indicated a cholesterol problem and so a further intake of 40mg Fluvastatin was prescribed.
A desire to find out more about my condition and the type of surgery that would become necessary to repair the artery was eventually satisfied by one of my sons who brought sheets and sheets of printed paper that he had downloaded from the Internet. To discover that so much was known about the condition and that alternatives to major open surgery were a distinct possibility was very uplifting.
The success of Endovascular techniques and Laparoscopic repairs offered real choices but the amount of research into a pharmacological treatment for this condition was really impressive. I tried to discuss these various approaches with my doctor but he did not seem to share my enthusiasm.
I was concerned about what my first scan under the 'wait and watch' programme would reveal and was quite relieved to hear the aneurysm had not increased in size. My dear son continued to monitor the Internet and produced lots of abstracts from medical journals reporting on research into non-surgical methods of managing AAAs. One particular method being researched at Leicester University by a team that included Vascular Surgeons among their number was the use of Doxycycline as a M.M.P inhibitor Their in vitro experiments on human tissue appeared to indicate the ability of Doxycycline to inhibit the production of M.M.Ps. 2 and 13 which had been shown to contribute to the breakdown in the elasticity of the artery wall where an aneurysm was formed. They even extrapolated from their research, a dosage sufficient to effectively manage the condition in humans. I showed the report on this research to my long suffering doctor who seemed quite impressed with the quality of the research. He then surprised me by asking if I would like to try Doxycycline in the dose suggested (200mg initially then 100mg per day thereafter) I jumped at the opportunity after confirming that it would not interfere with my other medications.
It is now 26 Jan 2001 and it is 3 years since my AAA was discovered and almost 3 years since I began taking Doxycycline. Last week I had my twice-yearly scan and was advised my aneurysm had not increased in size and was in fact the same size as when it was first diagnosed. My doctor and the Radiographer are reluctant to discuss with me the possibility that Doxycycline is responsible for the suspension of the growth of the aneurysm
Is there anyone out there who could offer an opinion or even a guess as to what is the most likely reason for my aneurysm remaining dormant for 3 years.
If anyone has a question about my treatment for this condition I will be happy to reply.