High Diastolic and Rapid Pulse

I had occasional tachycardia from anxiety before becoming pregnant. During the last 4 months of pregnancy my resting pulse stayed between 90-120 bpm, but I did not have hypertension until the last couple of weeks and it was only 144/85 and 135/91. In the couple of days after giving birth I got a UTI at the hospital and my blood pressure rose to 155/106. I was watched for postpartum pre-eclampsia a few days and released only to be admitted to a closer hospital that evening with a bp of 166/115. My pulse had dropped into the 70-80's after birth, but I began taking Lopressor to lower bp. My cardiologist added Norvasc after the 166/115 trip to the hospital. My bp soon came down to 90/70s. I was told to stop Norvasc and then Lopressor. I watched for a rebound but my bp and pulse were within a normal range for a few weeks without them. I continued to check my bp about every day. One day a relative said something very cruel to me at the exact moment I was taking my bp. My diastolic was 110, but systolic and pulse were normal. My diastolic wouldn't come down so I took Clonidine (as my dr had prescribed for an emergency.) I almost fainted numerous times and was very frightened for my daughter because we were then alone. I never wanted to take it again. My cardiologist told me to take Norvasc again. My bp has been under control since then, but the diastolic always rises dramatically instead of my pulse when there's a lot of stress. My resting pulse has remained lower than 80, sometimes dropping into the 50s. I gave birth 9 months ago. My bp has been dropping into the 90/70s for over a month so I was cutting down the Norvasc slowly. My daughter is recovering from RSV and bronchiolitis. I've had a cold for about a week now. A few days ago I checked my bp and pulse before sleep and they were normal. When I awoke my bp was as expected but my pulse was 104. My pulse has been consistantly elevated since then. I went to an urgent care that evening and my pulse was 111. I had a normal EKG except for tachycardia, but an xray of one of my lungs showed infection. He didn't know if it was viral or bacterial so he gave me a script for a Zpak. I'm feeling much more energy and am drinking a lot of water. My pulse is still really high, mostly when I wake. My bp is still 90/70s when waking, but rises to 104/80(ish) in the evening. My cardiologist is on a month long vacation. I don't know if I should be concerned about the sudden tachycardia or anything I mentioned before. I don't feel sick except feeling my heart beat so fast at rest. I've also lost 4 pounds in the last week. Years ago I was diagnosed with 3 leaky heart valves, but an echo months ago said there were no leaks. I've previously worn a heart monitor that recorded tachycardia and PACs or PVCs but nothing significant to the dr. I'm 33 years old.    

[justanumber]

i'm kind of in the same situation as you,but i am 31 and a male. i will get a heart monitor soon. my blood pressure is worse than yours. you have a good hospital,about 3 months ago i had a reading of 183/118 and was told to wait 4 hrs in the waiting room to see a doctor. just recently when i went to the clinic,it was 203/95. i take atenolol and it really helps with the bp and i also have sinus tachycardia,like you. i have to take 100 mg a day now to get my resting rate in the 70s. you can ask your regular doctor about a beta blocker for the heart rate.

[is_something_wrong]

Well, this is up to you and your doctor. I don't think we can give you any useful advice regarding how to treat this.

One comment I would like to add, is that I can't understand why you are so afraid of short events of high blood pressure? High blood pressure is not a disease, it's a risk factor for future heart problems.We all have different blood pressure response towards stress. Usually the spikes in the blood pressure will decrease with better physical condition levels and of course with living a healthy life without anxiety and with minimal stress.

Further I can't understand why you keep measuring your blood pressure during stressful events, like if someone say something cruel to you. What do you expect? Of course your blood pressure will be elevated. Mine would too. Your blood vessels constrict when facing something threatening, scary or uncomfortable. That's how the body works. A disease is stressing the body and your blood pressure will be higher.

If your blood pressure is 90/70 when you wake up,  the body will of course compensate by increasing the heart rate. The fact that you are fainting with a blood pressure in the 90/70s is a sign that your blood pressure is far too low. You may have some autonomic dysfunction but this is something you should talk to your doctor about.

What I would do if I was you:

1. Make sure all the infections are treated and get it verified by your doctor.
2. STOP measuring your blood pressure during stressful events. It will always be elevated. If you measure your BP when running, you would have at least 170-180 systolic. Again; stress WILL increase the blood pressure. That's one of the reasons why chronic stress should be avoided.
3. Ask your doctor for proper medication if it's necessary. It seems somewhat unacceptable that your medications make you faint just when the stress goes away.
4. Learn how to handle what seems like slightly obsessed thoughts about your heart rate and blood pressure.
5. Get ANS disorders ruled out if necessary

[ProverbsRose]

Hey there! I'm surprised they made you wait so long at the hospital! Ok, kinda. I waited a long time too, but not that long. At the local hospital I was about to leave because I wasn't dead yet and told the nurse I thought I was going to be ok. He convinced me to stay because my blood pressure wasn't coming down and it was very dangerous soon after birth. They were watching for seizures and kidney failure.

Several years ago my boss told me if I didn't go the hospital he was calling an ambulance. I went to a hospital that charged on a curve. I waited for about 5 hours after they said I might be having/had a heart attack. The guy next to me for most of that time had been chewed up badly by a dog. They kept checking our vitals though. Once the dr saw me he tested and ruled out heart attack. He went with TB. They sent me to a room to sit for a few more hours before telling me it wasn't TB. A nurse was the one who finally figured it out: severe dehydration. I'd had bronchitis for about a month and guess I didn't really eat or drink much. They put me on IV fluids. The next day I wanted to leave so badly I asked them to give me Tylenol so my fever would drop and they could legally release me. It worked. I think my total bill was only about $400.

I'm guessing they waited so long because of our age. It was drilled into my head at school that those numbers are malignant and an emergency, but I guess not as much as the guy who just got shot down the street.

Was the 183/118 the first time you'd seen hypertension? What did they tell you at the clinic? Do they have any idea what's causing the tachycardia? Do you have any side effects with atenolol?

I felt very sluggish for the short time I took Lopressor. A doctor gave me propanolol a long time ago for performance anxiety. I still have the bottle, but never took any of it. Norvasc has controlled my bp pretty well, but my systolic gets very low. The 2 numbers get really close together. I wish I knew a way to drop only diastolic pressure. If there's a beta blocker that didn't interfere with systolic pressure that would be nice too.

[ProverbsRose]

Thank you so much for the advice! What numbers over what amount of time concern you?

I think I am overly concerned about bp sometimes. I used to thrive on adrenaline rushes; didn't sleep; and consumed massive amounts of caffeine and ephedrine. I got a lot done and had a lot of fun. I thought my heart was strong and that was it. When I got older I laid off the ephedrine and caffeine but started having bad chest pains. I was referred to a cardiologist. He observed PVCs and said they weren't normal, but didn't think they were too dangerous. He advised a beta blocker, but I didn't want it. An echo showed leaky valves too. Soon after a long-time close friend suddenly died in his sleep from a heart attack. He didn't seem "old enough" to have a heart attack. My views toward my own heart changed. I changed my lifestyle a bit.

I was more concerned about tachycardia until about 2 years ago. A nutrition teacher made me write a long report on hypertension because I had a diastolic reading of 84. I tried to argue that it wasn't hypertension but she said I was on my way to hypertension so I had to write the report. Anyone with a bp over 120/80 had to write a detailed report about all the horrible things that were likely to happen to them if they didn't bring their numbers down. I did take my numbers more seriously.

It wasn't until I was close to giving birth that I got a systolic reading over 140 and the doctor exclaimed "you could have a stroke!" He said anything over 140/90 during pregnancy could send my daughter into distress too. He ordered NSTs and I bought a cuff to monitor my bp and pulse at home. My daughter did go into distress in the last hours, but she has no permanent problems.

The high diastolic readings have really troubled me since then. I thought it was over when my bp dropped in the weeks after my daughter's birth. I thought the high diastolic might have been due to all the extra blood weight and fluids they gave me at the hospital. However since it came back, I don't know what's causing it. I don't eat much salt anymore and have lost much of the pregnancy weight. My work is exercise.

I didn't mean to take my bp when my relative snapped on me. I was in the middle of taking it when he unloaded all his negative assumptions about me. I had no clue what he was going to say, but seeing my bp so high put me in a state of fear. Then he and his wife casually left and continued their evening out. I was alone with my baby girl and didn't know what to do because my diastolic stayed so high. I took clonidine because I was afraid of "stroking out," but it brought my bp too low. After that the doctor recommended I take Norvasc again. He also recommended that I take my bp twice every day.

My bp and pulse had remained low the last month or so and I cut Norvasc down. Only this week did I suddenly get tachycardia. Its come down a little. I am so grateful for that!

I can't find a reason for the tachycardia and that troubles me. I've been drinking water and Emergen-C. I haven't had fever in a couple of days. Even though there's an infection in my lung, I haven't noticed real breathing difficulty. I've been much sicker than this, but without the galloping heartbeat all day.

I have previously done a stress test. My bp did not rise significantly at all. Only my pulse went up dramatically as expected. It seems to only be emotional stress or some unknown factor that causes my diastolic to rise and everything else to remain normal. I would think both kinds of stress would affect the heart's function in the same way.

Which ANS tests are you speaking of? I want to find out if anything other than stress is causing this and fix it if I can. I can't get out from under the stress right now. Literally, I'm losing almost everything I've worked my whole life for because of a business loss and promises broken. I've got no choice but to watch the train wreck. I'm trying to move on though. If I have my health I can rebuild it.