Concerned - pacing, tired, high blood pressure,
I'm 72. I've had the Medtronics 2 lead PM in since May 29th. After a few early concerns, all seemed well. This past Monday I had a Lexiscan Stress Test and all was normal. On Tuesday, when I took my bllod pressure is was higher than normal. Early Thursday morning at around 1:00 AM I felt my heart POUNDING and went to the emergency room at the hospital. They took EKG's, blood work and checked the pacemaker and all was OK and we went home at 5:00 AM. While trying to sleep I thought I felt part of my heart fibralating and was scared.
Saw the cardiologist at 11:00 AM on Thursday and he said the high blood pressure was probably anziety but precribed a 25mg Lopressor generic (morning and night) and Xanax if I need it for anxiety. Thursday night into Friday morning I slept for 11 hours.
My concern right now is that I'm tired, a little dizzy and it seems the PM is pacing constanly at 60 BPM which is the lower setting, and so I'm concerned AGAIN.
In addition to lowering the blood pressure, does the Lopressor also lower the BPM?
Thank You ...
3 Comments
Thank you for your reassuring message .....
by MartyP - 2017-07-22 19:39:12
It was sort of a bummer as until this week everything was perfect. I felt fine, I named my PM "Sparky" bought some colorful medical alert wrist bands and was proud to be a survivor (I had a 31 second 3rd degree heart block while in the hospital, so I'm lucky to be alive and that I didn't hurt anyone if I was driving).
So when this happened this week, it just shook my confidnece.
I spoke with the on call doc today and he said it was OK to cut the pill in half, so now it's 12.5mg of Metropolol vs. 25mg, but I'm just so tired.
My cardiologist had also given me a prescription for Xanax for times of anxiety, I'm going to take one and see if that helps.
BUT THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR COMFORTING MESSAGE.
Next step on the journey.
by MartyP - 2017-07-27 22:53:11
So I went back to my doc on Tuesday and he stopped the Lopressor but did have the physiologist drop the PM from 60 to 55. The physiologist said it's working perfectly.
Saw my GP ordered a set of blood tests all came back normal.
I'm somewhat depressed so I asked and he agreed to start Zoloft.... I took it many years ago so I'm ok with doing that.
All was well till about 3 hours ago when my heart started missing a few beats and the pounding came back with a vengeance. Went to bed for about 1.5 hours and now it's gone.
I hate those episodes.
But I'm also thankful that "sparky" is always with me.
You know you're wired when...
You make store alarms beep.
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by Gotrhythm - 2017-07-22 15:27:59
To answer your question: According to Drugs.com Lopressor can indeed cause lower heart rate as well as dizziness.
But you said your concern is: "...it seems the PM is pacing constanly at 60 BPM which is the lower setting, and so I'm concerned AGAIN."
What's WRONG with the PM pacing constantly at 60? (assuming that it is.) For most people knowing that their PM won't let their HR go below 60 is a good thing.
I'm not a doctor, but the medicos have checked you out and say everything is fine. The doctor thinks what's going on is anxiety.
You're not the first person to run into anxiety issues upon getting a pacemaker. And you won't be the last. You are aware as you have never been before of everything your heart is doing. And everything you feel seems like a cause for alarm. And the more anxious you become, the more your heart seems to act up. Your blood pressure goes up and your heart pounds until you wind up in the ER at 1.00AM which is no fun at all. So you don't get enough sleep which makes palpitations worse and you become ever more anxious.
It is a vicious cycle.
All the symptoms that anxiety brings on feel awful, and completely outside your control, but there are methods of coping that will help you get past this. Relaxation techniques, learning to focus so that your fear doesn't run away with you,can help. Sometimes people find benefit from counseling.
Read through the archives. Lots of people have asked for help dealing with anxiety. You are not alone.