Totally Confused ?

[miranda]

Hi , I have been diagnosed with orthostatic hypotention by my neurologist.

I also take near fainting episodes when stressed and she said its my blood pressure dropping fast .

A few weeks ago I had to wear a montitor for a week , hoping to catch a very bad episode ,

however I ony caught some mild episodes .

But I felt the palpatations as normal.

Today I got the results and it was all normal, which I am delighted with , however it doesnt explain why I felt so bad at times.

So it seems although I get the drops in blood pressure , my heart copes well with it.

can anyone shed any light on what this result actually means for me please.

I am confused.

[janiedelite]

Be sure to get the actual report of your test. Mine recorded heartrates regularly in the 140's, and the cardiologist commented that they must have occurred while I was exercising (except the only exercising I did was walking).

[miranda]

Thanks all i was told was no abnormal rhythms were picked up.

So would this rule out brachy or tachy episodes ?

I often have a heart beat of 52 so dont understand why nothing showed.

[nmorgen]

I agree. Try to get a copy of the test results. I have PVCs, but not that bad according to my cardiologist and I can't Beta blockers. It showed tachycardia, but the dr didn't mention it b/c he had already diagnosed me with POTs and knew this would show up. It could be that your dr isn't mentioning the tachycardia b/c it isn't new and you both already know about it. I think they consider throwing some pvcs and pacs normal for everyone. So maybe he/she meant normal considering what you have.

[dianne.fraser]

Mirry

Did your monitor also capture changes in blood pressure?

My heart rate stays perfectly stable as my blood pressure collapses - you might be having a similar experience. I think my cardiologist only knew about POTS and cardioneurogenic syncopy - it clearly wasn't POTS, so she diagnosed me with the other one. There are many types of dysautonomia - just knowing that you sit somewhere on the spectrum will provide you with lots of basic management tools that seem to be standard (eg increased fluids and salt, and compression stockings).

Good luck and best wishes

Dianne

[houswoea]

They said my heart monitor was normal too, but it wasn't. When I inquired further, I had a heart rate range of like 50-190, and all I do is lay down. So... I guess my advice is to really push for answers? At first, they said I had OI instead of pots, but then I talked more about my "episodes" and they gave me a tilt table test. Maybe you should get one of those?

[lieze]

I have normal rhythms too.

I felt palpitations yesterday at a heart rate of 113 and it was basically uneventful.

It's difficult to really know what's going on with your heart.

There are many times when I feel things and I run and check my bp and heart rate and it is perfectly normal.

I wish I had some good advice for you but all I can say is it's good news I guess that they didn't find anything.

Maybe try a heart monitor like some of us are wearing. You can record events on it too I guess or catch them. My husband was able to catch my spikes in heart rate and report them to my doctor and it also helped him to realize something odd was happening that I wasn't just exaggerating.

[miranda]

Thanks for the replys , it's nice to know I am not alone with this.

My only regret is ,I did not catch a near syncope episode , because when this happens I am convinced my heart stops , so I have decided to get myself a small heart monitor to wear on my wrist and next time it happens I will record it.

Cany anyone advise me of a good monitor please ?

Thanks

[lieze]

I'm wearing the polar FT6.

I get that feeling too that my heart stops and I think this is anxiety.

I either get the feeling that it stops or that everything is going to stop.

I have gotten the feeling with the monitor and it is still beating strong.

My heart was stopping with the SVT's and I could not feel that-that's the difference.

So sometimes what we are feeling is false and sometimes things we are not feeling are occuring and we are not realizing it.

I had found a whole site on the internet with loads of people with these same sensations with their heart. Some had been living with it for years and I mean like 20 years so this fear that we are just going to go into cardiac arrest I think is false.

Another tip as you wear your watch you will be able to see where your heart rate is but if you get tachy I have found it is better to bring the heart rate down slowly meaning sit do not lay down. Let your body adjust to that rate first then lay down.

My first day with the monitor I got up to 130 just getting up and bending over to get in a drawer.

I laid down my pulse went down too fast from 130 to 90 and I got the lightheaded feeling that felt like I was going to pass out. My heart was beating strong the whole time but I think I had decreased the heart rate too rapidly and my body was almost in a type of shock.

Also when your heart has been beating very fast and it slow down it does feel like it has stopped. I notice this too.

Hang in there.