Possible Heart condition?

[dottie87]

I am 23 I have had random intense chest pain for about 3 years, possibly variant angina, I went into cardiac arrest in October and then acute respiratory failure and was on life support, my blood pressure is generally around 96-105/48-66 (and always has run low/normal), and my pulse rarely dips below 100, this is new in the past couple of years about since the chest pain started, the range is about 96-133 beats/min. When I was in the hospital they checked for stroke and heart attack they did an EKG that was normal, but what could cause low BP and High heart rate? What could cause cardiac arrest and respiratory failure at such a young age without any symptoms at the time that it happened?
     furthermore I do not smoke, I am 5'4" and weigh 130, I am active, and i do not do any drugs

[ed34]

Yes it can. The body will want to get as much blood as possible to the area concerned, delivering t-cells etc to attack the invaders.

[dottie87]

yeah there were no signs of infection at the time..... unfortunately... bc that could explain it and they have tested my lungs and their function was normal....but I do asthma now... and I was on life support because my heart would stop but without using an emergency AED, but using manual cpr they could get my heart going again... they found everything to be very peculiar at the time and now... but my body does have infectinos all the time... does that explain the low BP and high HR?

[ed34]

Respiratory failure? Did you have a chronic lung infection? which would explain your asthma symptoms (scar tissue in lungs). When a lung infection becomes too much for the immune system, the oxygen level lowers too much and starts to deprive the brain and other major organs. It is common for family to be told to expect the worst until/if recovery is observed because it really is a serious condition. Depending on the initial cause, it is possible for some patients to get the same problems, I met a guy who had pneumonia for the third time and was  in a very bad way with his lungs. Many pneumonia cases are through traumatic surgery, where the immune system is too busy trying to make repairs than be dealing with infection, and the immune system is lowered by the stress anyway. Some infections can attack the heart and cause fibrillation, turning into cardiac arrest.
I'm not sure what reasons you were on life support, but it sounds more likely the lungs were the initial cause, not the heart. Have you had a lung function test? or even blood tests to see if are trying to fight off an infection?

[dottie87]

they dont know... i have had 13 neurosurgeries as well and am in constant pain fron trigeminal and occcipital neuralgias... so they arent sure... bc i did die i guess you could say I coded... my BP was at 48/18 at one point and they told my parents that i wasnt going to make it and that if I did they didnt know the brain function I would have... but as of this point they have no clue but no one really checked me out after being on life support and being discharged.... but they never did an echocardiogram bc no one has listened to me the past couple years about my pulse and BP so now they are checking it out... but I was just wondering what are possibilities??  I know low BP and high heart rate are not good... ive always had low BP but my pulse used to always be normal and now it is so high for me.... and never changes...because so much has happened with me with neuro they tend to look at that route and check those things out and have never really checked my heart... but I did go into cardiac arrest and acute respiratory failure...and they didnt think i was going to make and I was on life support for several days...and I woke up but was pretty sick for a while and I have really bad asthma now from the ventilator?? i dont know but what are possibilities?

[vienna13]

Cardiac arrest is a condition in which the electrical signals to the heart become abnormal, making it impossible for it to properly pump blood through the body. In over 90 percent of victims, death occurs as I understand.

What did your doctor say? They must have some idea. Maybe you were overly stressed out?