Nausea and migraine like headache in my left eye

Hi again! I could use some help trying to figure out why I'm feeling the way I am. Today in the morning i woke up feeling very nauseous and my head had started hurting only in my left eye. I checked my blood pressure and it was at 55, could this be causing my symptoms? If so why isnt the pacemaker picking my heart rate up? Have any of you experienced this before and could it be my body had had a syncope and the pacemaker tried to help me? I appreciate your open responses it means alot.

 


4 Comments

You need to chat to your primary care doctor about this

by crustyg - 2020-12-26 15:42:14

It sounds a lot like trigeminal neuralgia (aka cluster headache), but your BP information is missing a lot.  BP isn't controlled by a PM, only your heart rate.  Heart rate is only one factor feeding into blood pressure.

There are several contributors here who know a lot about syncope from personal experience, and can share their experiences with the limitations of PMs under these conditions.

Remote diagnosis is always difficult and fraught with problems.  In your shoes I would be making an appointment with my primary care physician.

Headache

by AgentX86 - 2020-12-26 16:03:43

I second the suggestion to have your PCP have a crack at it.  If this sort of headache is unusual for you, it's likely a sinus headache and isn't serious.  Sinus pressure can push on the eye, causing a significant "dull" pain.  Again, it's worth checking out, either way, but I'd guess it's a "normal" effect of a sinus cold.

A blood pressure of 55 doesn't mean anything to me.  "55" could be a heart rate or an incomplete blood pressure reading, in which case "55" not meaningful.

Nausea and headache

by Persephone - 2020-12-26 16:20:46

Hi chatterbox - I hope you're feeling better.  Could celebrating the holiday with different foods than normal perhaps be a source of your nausea and headache?  Rich dishes, cheeses, wines, and cured meats could be potential culprits.  Eating salty stuff can result in dehydration pretty quickly, which can cause nausea in and of itself.  Drinking water on an empty stomach to compensate for the dehydration can also cause nausea.

Post procedure headaches are common but can be significant and point to a serious cause

by Gemita - 2020-12-26 17:21:48

Hello Chatterbox, in view of your recent implant, I agree I would ask to see your general doctor for some checks and to rule out anything serious if your symptoms continue.  Post procedure headache is not uncommon following pacemaker implant or other heart procedure like an ablation and hopefully it will resolve without intervention.  

Have you by chance had an ablation in the recent past for an arrhythmia?  I recall a friend of mine had occular headaches following a catheter ablation for AF.  Her doctors told her that this was probably due to the procedure/atrial septal puncture.  She also reported similar symptoms to those you describe following her implant procedure;  actually so did my husband, except hubby's turned out to have a more serious cause - a mild stroke.  My friend's headaches eventually disappeared without intervention and my husband made a full recovery too.

It could be that you have developed a rhythm disturbance (or ectopic beats) following your pacemaker implant (very common) and this may be causing surges and falls in blood pressure.  Blood pressure cannot be controlled by our pacemakers, only our heart rate can be prevented from falling (although not from increasing).  Are you on any medication?  For me any sudden changes in either blood pressure or heart rate can lead to headaches as well as breathlessness and syncope.  I can suffer migraine type headaches, sometimes one sided during an arrhythmia and prior to, or after experiencing a syncopal event.  Sometimes my headaches linger, at other times they quickly resolve as blood pressure and heart rate normalise.  

Your reading of 55 I am assuming is your heart rate and if you are recording this on a home monitor, it may not be completely accurate during an arrhythmia or during ectopics beats.  Ectopic beats can trick our home monitors into thinking that our hearts keep dropping beats, beats which cannot be felt by our home monitors, but which can be felt by our pacemakers.  That is one possible explanation for a drop to 55.  What is your pacemaker lower minimum setting?

Can you check your blood pressure/heart rate?  Do you have a good blood pressure monitor?   Check it a.m. mid day and p.m. over a few days and show these readings to your doctors when you see them.  That would give you and your doctors some valuable information.  Alternatively send a transmission into your clinic if you have home monitoring for them to look for any signs of an arrhythmia, or go to the ER if you are in any way concerned.  But above all, try to rest, breathe slowly and deeply. get adequate fluids.  It will help with controlling syncope and in calming any heart rhythm problems if they are present.  

Persephone gives good advice.  I certainly cannot take wine or any alcoholic drink, processed meats or high fat cheeses without suffering headaches and heart rhythm disturbances.  Dehydration will make things worse too..  Perhaps try also to reduce caffeinated drinks and also chocolate, Pepsi, Coke (which all contain caffeine) until your symptoms stabilise.

It will get better, I am sure 

 

 

 

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