38wks pregnant with sinus tachy and scared of birth

[venusi]

I'm now 38 weeks pregnant, been given the ok to have a vaginal delivery as they STILL after over 3 yrs cannot find the cause of my sinus tachy.  It is pretty much like IST but it presented with high bp with normal thyroids etc.  So I was put on beta blockers (Atenolol) which worked perfectly for both bp and heart rate in the first year, then in the summer of the second year my heart elevated again but my blood pressure remained normalized.

(1st yr Heart rate on  beta blockers was about 60 max except with bouts of SVT during anxiety attacks, 2nd yr it went up to between 70 and 80 at rest and has pretty much been like that since, but goes between 90 and 100 after meals).

I'm now due to give birth very very soon and I'm terrified!  I don't know how much the heart rate goes up by when you give birth but I hope to have an epidural so I don't feel the pain much, I've also heard that it lowers blood pressure so maybe it might help.  When I gave birth to my first child I was fine and my heart rate was normal, it was 4 months after delivering him that I developed the sinus tachy with hypertension.

Can anyone reassure me with the birth side of it though?  Im really worried about the pain and the exertion of the labour.  Also, my circulation is pretty poor (it was thought that it might have been the cause of the sinus tachy and hypertension as I developed really bad circulation over a few weeks just before they discovered the heart rate and blood pressure probs).  

I'm so scared as my local health care professionals don't seem to care, I'm in a small town in the UK and they just keep saying it's "anxiety" and that's the only answer I get!

I've been quite ill and exhausted with this pregnancy which I wasn't with my first, so you can imagine my fears at giving birth.

[cindy707]

Okay mom to mom here....i seriously wouldn;t stress it....you are forgetting a couple of really important things here.....one is say something did go sideways on your during the delivery which i seriously doubt it will especially if you are going to get an epidural.....and that is that your docs know your history will have everything that they need in the delivery room to correct anything that may pop up and as we are both aware the actual delivery once we hit 10cm only takes minutes...what better place could you possibly be if something were to go wrong and just to reassure yourself further tell your OB/GYN that you want to know that they will be ready if something were to happen .  That to me is one of the most important things.  I have two daughters and had some crazy stuff going on w. my heart before i was pregnant and i swear after i delivered my girls i didn;'t have any problems for like 10 years and swore up and down that somehow delivering them did the trick.  The second thing is that a womans body during our pregnancy builds up all kinds of extra hormones and vitamins to help us to help our babies grow safely inside of us so that is definately another plus...a little added protection.  This is not the time to panic altho i understand completely what you are going thru.....went thru it myself altho it has been years...i would hope that other members of the community that have recently or within that last 2 years will weigh in on how it went for them to help you out here..but the heart is the heart and time really isn;t a factor.  Its time Venusi to stop with the what ifs....could be's ,,,,,OMG's and get past this.  Sometimes we have to just let go and know that life will be good to us and that you let fate and destiny take care of you and your baby. Personally i would not worry a bit and as far as being ill and exhausted during your pregnancy....welcome to the world of motherhood my friend....if i had a nickle for everytime i threw up i would still be laying on the beach in Hawaii and i'll tell you if i didn;t get my nap each day while i was pregnant at 2:00 i was horrible to deal with.  Relax a little my friend and have a little faith....so far so good and you are almost there and need to keep your eye on the ball here with that little face smiling up at you once they wrap him/her in that soft blanket and lay your new baby on your chest......stress is not good for you or the baby....and there is nothing here that throws  a red flag out at me.....congrats too...

[is_something_wrong]

Hello,

I believe I can relay to your situation. In lack of a better expression (my English is not perfect as you can see) we feel that our anxiety disorder is drawn "out of the hat" a bit early sometimes. Like doctors refuse to examine our problem, it's just "supposed to be anxiety".

It's close to impossible to get the IST diagnosis "right" because it's extremely similar to anxiety disorders. IST is not a heart disease, it's an autonomic nerve system disorder. Several anxiety/hypochondriac diseases sort under "autonomic dysfunction" or "somatoform autonomic dysfunction", and are categorized as psychosomatic diseases. Lines between "physical" autonomic disordes and psychosomatic ones are extremely difficult to draw.

On the other hand, would you be more happy with an IST diagnosis? Anxiety can be treated (though it's a long process sometimes). You should also know (you probably do) that anxiety can manifest in so many strange ways it's almost incredible. I can't list them all, but high BP, low BP, tachycardia, bradycardia, gastrointestinal problems, ectopic beats, sweating, freezing, exercise intolerance, high heart rate variability, chest pain, angina symptoms, you name it. I think the Matrix movie really has a point. Your mind can make up and mimic almost every physical disease you can find in the book.

Much depends on the balance between sympaticus activity (the gas pedal) and parasympaticus/vagal activity (the brake pedal). In "freeze" anxiety reactions, fainting is possible. Many get this reaction by seeing blood.

Are you sure your tachycardia during anxiety attacks is SVT and not sinus tach? (as sinus tach sorts under SVT's this was a stupid question but I guess you understood it).

I don't know how your reactions during birth will be. What I think, though, is that you at that time, will focus on the little miracle a birth is, and forget tachycardias and hyper/hypotension. If you don't, there is a battery of medications to be administrated. I wouldn't focus on this so much, but we anxious people tends to have a positive attitude towards worrying. I know it's easier said than done.

Mild tachycardia after meals is completely normal (I get it all the time). A little worrying and expectations of tachycardia doesn't make it easier.

Good luck!