Horrible Day Yesterday With Heart Rate And B/p

[Rene S.]

Yesterday I went to have blood work done, 7 tubes total. I felt awful afterwards and usually after having blood taken, I'm tachy. I also didn't have much in the way of breakfast and skipped lunch but did have water. When I left I had an appt. with a new therapist. I don't know if I was nervous but I felt my heart rate going a bit fast. When I got to her office, she listen to my heart and took my pulse which was 110 (I'm not on beta blockers). She was easy to talk to, but I felt the whole time that my b/p was up. While driving home after the appt my heart started racing out of control and the palps were non stop. I had run out of water. I thought I was going to pass out at the wheel. I pulled into the ER where unfortunately, I've become a frequent flyer. I opened the doors and screamed my heart is pounding out of my chest. The nurse took a listen and he said you are having a panic attack. I told him that my heart rate and b/p had been high and he took it and wasn't impressed. He said dry mouth is a classic symptom of a panic attack! He handed me a turkey sandwich and said go home. You are on the cardionet monitor and that would pick anything wrong up.

I walked to my car and having my b/p monitor took my pressure. It was 171/114 with a h/r of 122. I freaked out headed back inside and told the nurse. He said that home monitors are not accurate. He re-took my b/p and said he wasn't concerned. That I should just go home. I was crying like a baby (pretty sight) but knew that there was nothing that could have been done for me. ERs are a joke.

During the day my pressure was high but not like the last reading I got. I'm just scared that some of the readings were high coupled with the tachy. I had 164/88 ad 162/87 prior to the incident in the ER.

Has this ever happened to anyone before? Both the high b/p and h/r? I had no chest pains, just palps. The drive home was torture and it was during rush hour. I just kept chugging the water.

I got in the house and composed myself and my pressure was 124/72, hr 99 and that was standing.

Today, I feel as if I drank 20 Red bulls and that's while on klonopin. The panick feeling is overwhelming. Plus I feel like a dishrag. No strength. Everything aches and I feel as if a truck ran over me or I had ran the marathon.

Would the cardionet have picked it up if it were a heart attack? Also since I was driving I couldn't hit the button when I was having the runs of palps

I have never felt so drained in my life.

And now I'm scared to drive! Could this have been just a fluke? My head is on fire today and I can't seem to settle down.

Has anyone ever experienced anything like this? Could I have injured my heart (which of course last week I had an normal echo and ekg!). Sorry I am under a lot of stress and this isn't helping.

Thanks!

Rene

[Lizzegrl]

HI Rue, Don't know if it will reassure you or not, but my bp and hr are always in that range or higher and it has never been a heart attack. ;0 If your monitor has automatic detection and there was something going on, it should have recorded it if it was within recording parameters. It all depends on your monitor type I would guess. Why not give the doc a call and let them know that you were feeling really bad at this time, so if something shows, they will now be aware? That way, you will feel better that someone is gonna look at it. I do understand that feeling, however. There are times you just can't tell what is the cause and that makes it even harder to deal with! What ever is the cause, it doesn't make it any less scary. Feel better!

[EarthMother]

When my blood sugar was out of whack last year I would get crazy episodes of tachy and high blood pressure moments as well. As I understood it ... when my body was depleted from all the stress etc. and I missed a meal my adrenals would kick in to high gear in order to produce the epinephrine to release the glycogen from the liver in order to restore blood glucose levels.

In my case the "panic attack" would have been brought on by a really low blood sugar level.

Did they check your blood sugar at the ER? Or during one of those 7 vials?

Sorry you had such a rough go.

[iheartcats]

I had about 20 vials of blood pulled once for an Endo (big mistake). I had crazy HRs, severe dizziness, and was really ill for about 3 days. I can't handle more than three, and that's only if it's really, really necessary.

Taking 7 vials is a lot - did you feel dizzy at all during the pulls? Are you feeling any better yet? Be sure to stay hydrated and I always try to eat something even if I don't feel like it.

[carinara]

I was in a 10 weeks rehab in 2007. I was hospitalized and one of my biggest concernes has always been my higher blood pressure (with and without tachy). (Because that was the only thing my doctors could messure prior to my POTS Diagnosis). MY BP went up to 180/130 at times. Other times it was too low but 90% of the times it was to high. Well. In the hospital I spent many weeks on discussing my BP Problems with many different doctors. They meassured my BP all the time, during standing, during stress and so on. Whenever i thought and felt that my BP must be really high, they meassured it straight away. Sometimes it turned out to be high, sometimes it was normal. They put a 24 hour BP test on me twice.

I asked them all the questions i always wanted to ask, like:

do i have to lay down when my BP is so high? Do i always have to meassure my BP and to make sure it stayes down, do i have to stop going to my limits?

What numbers are still ok and am i in risk to get a heart attak or a stroke???

Well, all kind of different doctors told me the same, they said, as long as the BP goes down (during the night when you sleep for example) its ok. Only if you have real high numbers ALL THE TIME and OVER A LONG LONG PERIOD OF TIME, (not days, but months and years) Then it CAN cause damage to you and only then you are at a higher risk for stroke and so on.

In my case the BP does come down during the night and sometimes during the day as well. If you look at the monitoring of the 24 hour test you can see how the BP curve comes down in during the night.

They said, that there is no danger and i should not avoid activities because of the BP because thats not necessary. They explained to me what BP numbers people reach, in during sports, lifting weights and so on. These numbers are not dangerous if they dont stay up there 24 hours a day! They even showed me their numbers and i could see, that they had higher numbers from time to time as well. The doctors and the hospital stuff really wanted to try to help me get rid of my BP fear and did everything to help me not to worry about it anymore. Day said, that everybody has episodes of high blood pressure in during the day. Thats normal and ok. They also told me not to meassur my BP anymore.

Iam so thankfull that i made this experience and that they helped me not to focus so much on my higher BP. Now, i still meassure it before i go to bed at nights, but thats it.

Iam not worried about it anymore!

Maybe you can make all the necessary tests on what can cause high BP, and if they all turn out ok and if your BP does come down as well, then i wouldnt worry about it too much. I do take a BB as well.

All the best

carinara

[tinkerbella]

sorry rene for what you going through. my pressures are way higher than your's . i can't even walk across the room without dropping and heart rate 171. doc wants me at least 140 standing so i won't faint. wearing the monitor is stressful enough and i always get stressed and have high pressures.