Blood Pressure Spikes, Rapid Pounding Heartbeat???

[ddaybrat]

Has anyone had problems with their heart beating really fast, feeling like it's going to jump out of their chest?

I'm 11 weeks out from surgery.  My blood pressure has always been in the normal range.  I do take medication, but nothing really strong. The morning after my surgery, my blood pressure shot up to almost 200/140, but with IV meds, they were able to get it down rather quickly.  It's continue to run higher than before surgery, but still low enough that the doctor has not been concerned.

Last night, as I was getting ready to go to be, my heart starting pounding.  It seemed to be beating really fast so I grabbed my blood pressure monitor to check my pulse.  What I saw scared me to death.  My blood pressure was 185/115 and my pulse was 134.  I took some aspirin and sat down for a few minutes.  I tested it again about 10 minutes later and it was 155/87 and my pulse was 74...back in my post-surgery 'normal' range.

Has anyone else had this happen to them?  I'm definitely going to call my doctor today, but just wondered if anyone else had experienced blood pressure problems.


 

[Lizard]

I personally have not had any issues, but I remember seeing a thread I would do a search on blood pressure and you should be able to find it.  Hopefully your Dr can get to the bottom of this quickly.
Please keep us posted.
Liz

[staypoz]

These symptoms may have nothing to do with your AN, but I would definitely call my doctor if I were you.  High blood pressure readings are something you don't want to ignore.

Best to you.

staypoz

[ddaybrat]

Haven't reached my doctor yet...out of the office for a couple of days.  I'm watching it real close, if it happens again and doesn't come down, I'll go to the ER.  I'm only a few blocks from there.

I started taking zinc yesterday for the metallic taste in my mouth.  I wondered if that might have caused it, but everything I've found on the internet leads me to believe it would lowermy blood pressure, not raise it.  Just took my BP again...134/74...lowest I've seen it since surgery.

Will keep you posted.

[Dan]

I always had boarderline blood pressure until surgery and then in ICU it went up to 175/120 and stayed over 150/105 until I had started bloodpressure meds. My pulse though was as low as 38 and never over 70.  My mother didn't have an AN but she had problems for years, her heart beat would race up to 160.  At first she said it was only 1-2 times a year and then it got more and more frequent until it was 1-2 times a day.  The Dr said it as a heart valve that wasn't working properly,  She had a small OP almost like when they put a shunt in, she didn't even have to stay overnight she only had to lay still for 4-6 hours after the OP.  Since then she hasn't had the problem any more.  The best thing to do though is ask your Dr. because only he can tell you for sure what it could be.

Dan in Germany   

[sunfish]

I've struggled nonstop with blood pressure issues since Cyberknife in mid-March.  Initially thought it was the steroids.  Now I'm on blood pressure meds.  However, looks like the problem is subsiding.  My doc hopes to get me off the meds this summer.  They don't know why this happened.

[jazzfunkanne]

you really should see the doctor about this

[ddaybrat]

Thanks everyone.  I saw my gp today.  She was concerned, but had no idea what had happened or what caused it.  She put me on an event monitor for 30 days just in case it did it again.  She did tell me to go the ER if it did happen.  The main thing was to identify what was happening.  She didn't know if it was arrythmia or defib.

[staypoz]

Glad you saw the doctor and are being followed.  I hope you have no further recurrences! 

staypoz

[CHD63]

Pat .....

I'm really glad you were able to see your doctor and she put you on an event monitor.  That should eliminate the stress factor and it should determine if you have a cardiac problem.  This doesn't sound directly related to your AN surgery.  Hopefully you will find the cause of the problem quickly and start on any needed medication or treatment for it.

Best thoughts and many prayers.

Clarice

[ddaybrat]

Thanks everyone...I appreciate your concern and your prayers.  It was really scary, but until the doctor knows exactly what happened, it can't be treated.  The event monitor is a great solution.  If I do have another episode, I can record it and 'send' it for evaluation.  Even though my doctor said to go to the ER next time it happened, she also said to turn around and come home if it resolved itself in route.  If I continued on to the ER, they would simply check me and find nothing wrong and send me home.

It's so easy to blame everything on my AN and it's removal that I find myself ignoring things that I shouldn't.  Thanks to everyone for encouraging me to go to my doctor.  I feel like all I do is whine and when I do go to the doctor, it's like I have a shopping list of symptoms.  I'm sure I'm not alone among AN survivors, but I feel very alone around others.  They simply don't have a clue what we are going through and how it has affected our lives. 

[Rivergirl]

Those kind of blood pressure and rapid heart beats are serious events, go to the ER with those, nothing to fool around with.  Glad  you are under a Dr's care.

[uvawfu]

Following my surgery (3/11/2010), I too had high blood pressure and very high pulse rate (resting ~ 115).  My GP put me on blood pressure medicine and then extended release blood pressure medicine.  It is under control now.  My doctors believe that my high blood pressure is due to my tumor pressing against the brain stem so much.  Blood pressure and heart rate are autonomic functions that are controlled by your brainstem.  They believe that I will only need to be in the blood pressure medicine for 4-6 months.  Good luck.

[CHD63]

Welcome uvawfu .....

Noticed you are a Fukushima patient, as well as I ..... you were in good hands.  Tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Glad your BP and heart rate are under control now.  You had a whopper of an AN so it makes sense that it could have been causing all kinds of problems.

Again, welcome to this forum of caring, supportive friends.

Clarice