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Heart Disease (Expert Forum)
Bradycardia & Fibromyalgia
This forum is for questions and support regarding heart issues such as: Angina, Angioplasty, Arrhythmia, Bypass Surgery, Cardiomyopathy, Coronary Artery Disease, Defibrillator, Heart Attack, Heart Disease, High Blood Pressure, Mitral Valve Prolapse, Pacemaker, PAD, Stenosis, Stress Tests.
Bradycardia & Fibromyalgia
by Jan-B, Nov 08, 1998 12:00AM
I'm a 47 yr old female with a very stubborn case of fibromyalgia, which has chronic fatigue as one of its symptoms. Six months ago I had surgery for GERD--a nissen fundoplication. I'm now having esophageal spasms as a result of surgery. Dr. put me on Cardezem for 1 week, then tested my blood pressure and said my heart rate was only 42. I had felt dizzy and weak and awful that entire week. Now I'm seeing another specialist for the esoph. spasms and he noted in my records that during my surgery my heart rate was also 42. Everyone who has ever taken my pulse has always said what a nice slow heart rate I have and assumes I'm some kind of athelete. Nothing could be further from the truth! Is this an underlying thing that is being overlooked? (I had a heart murmur as a child and I now have palpitations quite a bit). I've had Holter monitors and thallium stress tests and am told that things are essentially normal. I'm on all kinds of medication for fibromyalgia--could my fatigue be due to a slow heart rate instead? Thanks, Jan B
Doctor's Answer
by CCF Cardio MD - MTR, Nov 08, 1998 12:00AM
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Dear Jan, thank you for your question. Your fatigue could be due to a chronically slow heart rate, which the cardizem may have exacerbated, but I suspect there are multifactorial causes. Since you had normal Holter Monitor and thallium stress test, you probably have a normal heart with just a tendency to have a slow heart rate. Thus, you should avoid medications that slow down the heart rate. In the future, always mention your slow heart rate to any physician who will prescribe a new medication for you to avoid this problem. Good luck!
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.
Dear Jan, thank you for your question. Your fatigue could be due to a chronically slow heart rate, which the cardizem may have exacerbated, but I suspect there are multifactorial causes. Since you had normal Holter Monitor and thallium stress test, you probably have a normal heart with just a tendency to have a slow heart rate. Thus, you should avoid medications that slow down the heart rate. In the future, always mention your slow heart rate to any physician who will prescribe a new medication for you to avoid this problem. Good luck!
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.
