effect of pacemaker on blood pressure

I have had a PM for two weeks and my blood pressure, with medication, which was still high has dropped quite a lot. I am wondering if a pacemaker has that effect. If so I will need to get my medication adjusted. Meb

7 Comments

Blood pressure numbers

by #1grandma - 2010-11-22 06:11:48



I know that some of the people on this site say that the PM does not affect your blood pressure but I had my PM implanted on the 12th of October and my blood pressure has definitely dropped. Because of this I keep a record of the numbers in the AM and PM to show my doctor, and the numbers are 20 points less each time I take them and sometimes more. Accually, I'm happy to see those numbers as my Bp has always been a little high.

Sally



BP

by ElectricFrank - 2010-11-22 11:11:21

There does seem to be some sort of effect on BP. Some of it could be due to a change in HR.

If the numbers are changed enough you may need to adjust meds.I find that I feel low energy when my BP drop down into the 90/50 range. This only happens when I'm relaxing in my recliner. All I need to do is get up and move around to bring it back up.

The other thing to consider is whether you have serious hypertension or just Pharma Marketing hypertension.

frank

medication

by Charliew - 2010-11-23 06:11:16

I had my PM fitted in February 2010, at this time I was told to stop taking BP medication, I have had no high BP readings since, previous to this I was taking 4mg of medication a day.
I am sure your doctor will advise if you need to change your medication.
Take care

Charlie

Don't be too sure

by ElectricFrank - 2010-11-23 07:11:23

It's rare to have doc reduce BP meds once started unless pressed to do it. The worst situation is when different docs deal with the pacemaker and the BP.

The only reason I'm still alive and healthy at 80 is that I keep a constant watch on the medicos. Some appreciate it and others are threatened. I don't care. It's my body.

frank

effect of pacemaker on blood pressure

by gvanscoot - 2010-12-03 08:12:29

This is interesting as in my case my blood pressure increased since being implanted on 11/30. My normal range prior to PM was around 105-110 over 65-70. Now it has rocketed to 140-160 over 100-110 which is alarming. I still take the same BP meds?

Thanks,
Greg

Effect of Pacemaker on BP

by seniorgolfer - 2011-10-08 11:10:23

I had a demand pacemaker implanted Sept 2006, and recently the battery declined to the point I recieved a replacement pacemaker two weeks ago,.The Doctor said this one should last about 13 years.

Here is what I noticed with the new pacemaker and the increase in heart beats my blood pressure has gone up. Like others in this group I keep a record of my BP, and I have for many years now.

First of all I was having trouble maintaining BP, it would drop to as low as 71/40 my Doctor changed my BP meds about the time I noticed my battery was weak. taking BP pressure regularly I notice my heart rate at 65, and my pacemaker is set at a higher level. Also my heart rate would NOT increase when I walked around and even climbed some stairs to get it to elevate, but it would not elevate. The reason, probaly, the day before I had tired to play golf and after only one hole I had to leave.

This may (guess on my part) have been the reason for the big drops in blood pressure, my heart was not elevating properly, and I would try to play through the tired feeling. The Doctor took it to mean soemthing different and adjusted my BP Meds..

Still, at that time, I did not know why my beats were low so I used my "Medtronic Carelink Montior" to send a reading to Medtronic they in turn gave me a call to let me know my Doctor had been notified my battery was going out, and a replacement surgery was being ordered.

They waited a couple of days for my blood thinner to wear off, and then prceeded with the replacement surgery. A piece of cake, it only took about 45 min, and I was released to go back home.

Now that I have had it a couple weeks I can say I see a big difference. Part could be the newer features of this pacemaker over the older one. However I am concerned about my BP, it is higher than it has been for years. Today it is, as example, 147/102.. the highest over the past two weeks was 168/111.

This suggests, to me, a pacemaker can impact our BP and we may need to have our Meds adjusted accordingly.

OK, you have a fully story of events, and I am relaying this information to a Pacemaker Club in an effort to exchange information that may be helpful So be patient if it appears I am rambling on because that is part of the aging process.. we ramble, or so says my wife.

Effect of Pacemaker on BP.

by fwerny1 - 2015-03-06 04:03:03

I have the same experience and I have read several comments from people with the same experience. I also read that some people with low blood pressure fix the problem with a PM that raises the heart rate,and blood flow and trhe BP.Yet, there seems to be very little information on the effect of a pacemaker on blood pressure.
Has anyone run across a study of thios effect?

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