Subject: Re: blood pressure fluctuation during stress test
Forum: The Heart Forum

Topic Area: Arrhythmia

Dear Doctor,
I had a stress test and something happened that concerned me...Which leads to my ?'s..Is it normal for your blood pressure to drop to 130/40
during exercise? Not only that my heart rate was 192 and that was within 5minutes.... I have pac's which I understand are benign...But I do not smoke never have...I drink decaf sodas...And everything I have read points to those things being the cause of pac's...Is there another cause for them?
The reason I was having this test was due to lightheadedness and chest tightness during exercise...Just like usual after the stress test I got extremely lightheaded and ended up with a blood pressure of 144/94 and it stayed along with a resting heart rate of over 100 for over an hour after the stress test...The doctors made me stay in the office until after the lightheadedness went away........The nurse took my pressure before I left and it ws 120/80 perfect...But then she made me stand up and she took it again....100/54...I am confused it seems there are so many things going on at once.....Sorry so long winded but I am worried...Can you just tell me is all of this normal??
Thank You Trisha

Dear Trisha,

Dehydration is a potential causes of a blood pressure drop following an otherwise normal stress test.

I hope you find this information useful. Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only. Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies. Please feel free to write back with additional questions.

If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter. The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

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