Solair
12-09-2005, 11:55 AM
I'm 26 and and was having some heart palpetations last year. Quite odd ones where my heart would pause between beats followed by some fluttering. These would go on for hours and would be triggered by sudden events such as a the house alarm going off in the middle of the night (neighbour's cat attempting a break in!) or, rather embarassingly, on climax which did nothing for my love life.
Anyway, I went to my family doctor several times and this was written off as stress / too much caffine for about 2 years. He eventually decided to send me to a cardiologist who ran ECGs, an echocardiogram and a 24 hour BP monitor.
The 24 hour BP monitor revealed that my Blood Pressure was extremely high, particulary the diastolic (lower) reading which seemed to sit over 100 quite a lot. He tried me on 8mg of Atacand for a few weeks then ran the 24 hour BP monitor again and the readings came out on the high side, but not quite as high as they were.
He then increased my dose to 16mg and since then I've been having rather odd symptoms. I feel really tired, my arms and legs feel "heavy", I have absolutely no energy at all. I also had a cold/flu which may have been contributing to this.
I'm also feeling really cold at night or while out during cold weather, something which I have never felt before. I was always one of those people who is comfortably warm.
My partner seemed to think I'd sunk into some sort of a depression or something over the last few days, but I feel "mentally" quite happy and positive. I just physically don't feel like doing anything.
I can only assume it's the effects of the drastically lower blood pressure?
Will these go away?
If not, I think i'd rather live with the risks of high BP. I don't think I could cope with this energy-less existance.
Other than that, I do quite a high stress job and have had to reclocate quite a lot in the last few months. The cardiologist however, didn't seem to think that stress was a major factor.
Also, I do get regular exercise and I eat a very balanced healthy and relatively low sodium diet, low fat diet, perfect cholesterol readings, and I don't smoke nor have I been taking anything illegal that might cause heart palpetations either!
Any help/advice / suggestions would be appreciated.
Anyway, I went to my family doctor several times and this was written off as stress / too much caffine for about 2 years. He eventually decided to send me to a cardiologist who ran ECGs, an echocardiogram and a 24 hour BP monitor.
The 24 hour BP monitor revealed that my Blood Pressure was extremely high, particulary the diastolic (lower) reading which seemed to sit over 100 quite a lot. He tried me on 8mg of Atacand for a few weeks then ran the 24 hour BP monitor again and the readings came out on the high side, but not quite as high as they were.
He then increased my dose to 16mg and since then I've been having rather odd symptoms. I feel really tired, my arms and legs feel "heavy", I have absolutely no energy at all. I also had a cold/flu which may have been contributing to this.
I'm also feeling really cold at night or while out during cold weather, something which I have never felt before. I was always one of those people who is comfortably warm.
My partner seemed to think I'd sunk into some sort of a depression or something over the last few days, but I feel "mentally" quite happy and positive. I just physically don't feel like doing anything.
I can only assume it's the effects of the drastically lower blood pressure?
Will these go away?
If not, I think i'd rather live with the risks of high BP. I don't think I could cope with this energy-less existance.
Other than that, I do quite a high stress job and have had to reclocate quite a lot in the last few months. The cardiologist however, didn't seem to think that stress was a major factor.
Also, I do get regular exercise and I eat a very balanced healthy and relatively low sodium diet, low fat diet, perfect cholesterol readings, and I don't smoke nor have I been taking anything illegal that might cause heart palpetations either!
Any help/advice / suggestions would be appreciated.
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Machaon
12-09-2005, 12:39 PM
Anyway, I went to my family doctor several times and this was written off as stress / too much caffine for about 2 years.
"Stress" is the canned response from most doctors. Most doctors haven't a clue as to what is causing their patient's high blood pressure and heart rhythm problems, so they blame it on the patient, by telling the patient that it is stress. It's an easy way for doctors to collect large salaries, without having to properly diagnose and analyze a patient's health problems.
He eventually decided to send me to a cardiologist who ran ECGs, an echocardiogram and a 24 hour BP monitor.
The 24 hour BP monitor revealed that my Blood Pressure was extremely high, particulary the diastolic (lower) reading which seemed to sit over 100 quite a lot.
Unless your blood pressure and heart rhythm problems are caused by some specific health problem, such as blocked arteries somewhere in your system, then your problems could be environmental problems, IMHO.
The key is to avoid the things that are causing your problems, which is a lot easier said than done. I've done it, but it's taken YEARS for me to finally find out what things I have to avoid to get my blood pressure and heart rhythm problems under control. And...... despite my efforts I still have to take small dosages of heart medicine.
Best of luck getting your blood pressure under control! :wave:
"Stress" is the canned response from most doctors. Most doctors haven't a clue as to what is causing their patient's high blood pressure and heart rhythm problems, so they blame it on the patient, by telling the patient that it is stress. It's an easy way for doctors to collect large salaries, without having to properly diagnose and analyze a patient's health problems.
He eventually decided to send me to a cardiologist who ran ECGs, an echocardiogram and a 24 hour BP monitor.
The 24 hour BP monitor revealed that my Blood Pressure was extremely high, particulary the diastolic (lower) reading which seemed to sit over 100 quite a lot.
Unless your blood pressure and heart rhythm problems are caused by some specific health problem, such as blocked arteries somewhere in your system, then your problems could be environmental problems, IMHO.
The key is to avoid the things that are causing your problems, which is a lot easier said than done. I've done it, but it's taken YEARS for me to finally find out what things I have to avoid to get my blood pressure and heart rhythm problems under control. And...... despite my efforts I still have to take small dosages of heart medicine.
Best of luck getting your blood pressure under control! :wave:
Solair
12-09-2005, 12:46 PM
The only foods that have triggered weird cardiovascular symptoms for me have been a combination of chinese foods and red wine.
Some red wines on their own will cause my face and neck to get slightly red but for some reason in combination with certain oriental foods they cause all the veins on my arms to stand out and my heart to start beating very fast.
I avoid chinese food and only drink good wine thesedays :)
Some red wines on their own will cause my face and neck to get slightly red but for some reason in combination with certain oriental foods they cause all the veins on my arms to stand out and my heart to start beating very fast.
I avoid chinese food and only drink good wine thesedays :)
Machaon
12-09-2005, 01:54 PM
The only foods that have triggered weird cardiovascular symptoms for me have been a combination of chinese foods and red wine.
It's good that you found this out.
But..... with problems of blood pressure and heart arrythmias, finding the things that cause the high blood pressure or heart misfirings, are often complex and not easily determined.
Some red wines on their own will cause my face and neck to get slightly red...
You have found a connection between red wine and your face getting red. You connected the dots and determined that your problems were coming from "cheap" red wine. Finding out what is causing high blood pressure is much more complex, because your body doesn't usually announce when the blood pressure goes up, and most of the time, the average person doesn't know their blood pressure. It took me years to connect the dots and get my blood pressure under control. But...... I had to. I have heart failure, and unless I got my blood pressure under control I would be dead or worse. After many years of fighting against high blood pressure, I have finally gotten my blood pressure down to a healthy level, I feel great and I have more energy, and my symptoms are improving.
... but for some reason in combination with certain oriental foods they cause all the veins on my arms to stand out and my heart to start beating very fast.
I avoid chinese food and only drink good wine thesedays :)
How long did it take you link the red wine and the oriental foods, as a cause of your problems? Do you think that it could be because of the sulfites in the wine? If so, you might try an organic wine which contains almost no sulfites.
It's good that you found this out.
But..... with problems of blood pressure and heart arrythmias, finding the things that cause the high blood pressure or heart misfirings, are often complex and not easily determined.
Some red wines on their own will cause my face and neck to get slightly red...
You have found a connection between red wine and your face getting red. You connected the dots and determined that your problems were coming from "cheap" red wine. Finding out what is causing high blood pressure is much more complex, because your body doesn't usually announce when the blood pressure goes up, and most of the time, the average person doesn't know their blood pressure. It took me years to connect the dots and get my blood pressure under control. But...... I had to. I have heart failure, and unless I got my blood pressure under control I would be dead or worse. After many years of fighting against high blood pressure, I have finally gotten my blood pressure down to a healthy level, I feel great and I have more energy, and my symptoms are improving.
... but for some reason in combination with certain oriental foods they cause all the veins on my arms to stand out and my heart to start beating very fast.
I avoid chinese food and only drink good wine thesedays :)
How long did it take you link the red wine and the oriental foods, as a cause of your problems? Do you think that it could be because of the sulfites in the wine? If so, you might try an organic wine which contains almost no sulfites.
Solair
12-09-2005, 07:01 PM
I'd usually have red face / neck / chest within about 5 to 10 mins of drinking a glass or any part of a glass of cheap red wine.
Good quality traditional French and Italian wines cause no problems whatsoever. It's the new world stuff, particuarly chilian that does it.
Good quality traditional French and Italian wines cause no problems whatsoever. It's the new world stuff, particuarly chilian that does it.