VERY WORRIED PLEASE HELP!!

[ajmommy]

Hi everyone. I have not been feeling very good for a couple months and only getting worse. Yesterday I was at the doctor's office and when the nurse took my pulse and bp she looked very concerned, left the room and came back in with the doctor, who I have never met before as this was a new appointment with a pulmonologist due to my cough and shortness of breath. They said my pulse was 140 and my bp was 140/90something. I have never had blood pressure problems and it is normally very low at 96/68 give or take a few and my pulse has never been above 80 ever!! They immediately wheelchaired me to the er and they hooked me up to ekg and an echo along with blood work. The doc at the er said that was all normal and I was not having a heartattack but to follow up with my regular doc due to the high bp and heart rate. I went to my doctor today and my blood pressure was 168/99 and pulse was still really high around 130 I think. She said to come back on monday and we will check it again and then possibly due stress test. I have been complaining of extreme fatigue and shortness of breath that is only getting worse, dull chest pains, tingling in my fingers once in a while, nausea, and I break out in sweats for no reason, and once in a while I can feel my heart flutter or something. I am a 32 year old female, I had a total hysterectomy in 2007(took ovaries too and I am not on hormone replacement therapy) and yes unfortunately a smoker since I was 12(please don't judge if I could go back I would). My father suffered his first heart attack very young, 29, and has congestive heart failure as well as coronary artery disease, I can not count the number of surgeries he has had. 3 of his 5 sisters all have heart conditions and have had open heart surgery as well as my grandmother and 2 of her sisters, so heart disease runs very high in my family. The doctors dont seem to be too concerned and just keep telling me that all the tests were normal. Should I not be concerned about my sudden increase in heart rate and bp? Should I not be concerned about all my symptoms? Can it be my heart even though those tests came back normal or is it something else. I would think with my family history on top of my symptoms and risk factors would warrant being checked by a cardiologist. Any advise or information would be greatly appreciated. I have two beautiful little boys and a great husband and I am scared to death that something is seriously wrong and they are missing it. Thanks in advance for all your support and help.

[Mom2four85]

hmmm part of the quote didn't copy over, what I found interesting was this:

"I go with the literature suggesting white coat hypertension can lead to true hypertension and I think if it is a person who consistently struggles with anxiety, stress, panic attacks, I would treat them."

[Mom2four85]

we just had a conversation about white coat syndrome in another forum because my BP was 145/115 when it's normally 90/60....someone from the rhythm forum posted to one of the dr's in the expert forum which the dr explained about it and some info in there is great

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Disease/Hypertension/show/1445465

"The guidelines here in the US for blood pressure are <140/90 or if you have diabetes or chronic kidney disease <130/80"

[erijon]

My guess is their biggest concern is your heart rate, that's fast, although it is not dangerous. Both conditions, pulse and BP, are easily treated with meds and may have been high due to anxiety at the doctor's office known as white coat syndrome. I myself will see my BP spike when I'm getting it done at the doctor's office, don't know why because I am very comfortable there.

As Ally said, make sure they explain all test results to you, don't let them just tell you they are normal. They owe you that.

Keep us informed and good luck,

Jon

[ChatterAlly]

Definitely follow up on this.   With your family history and symptoms, I would certainly want to dot every I and cross every T before stating that all is Normal.  Take care, Ally

[catbird2]

Definitely go see a cardiologist, your bp and pulse are cause for concern.