Autonomic dysfunction comes in many different flavors; it can be so mild that it is hardly noticeable and can be so severe that it can leave you bedridden. Also, it waxes and wanes in most people's cases. Some days I forget that I even have it, but then it can return without warning, and with a vengeance. Most patients with autonomic dysfunction that see neurologists are severely disabled, so when these doctors see someone with relatively "mild" symptoms that come and go, they totally dismiss their claims and send them home with a diagnosis of anxiety or whatever. There are two extremes to this disease: mild POTS, IST, or what have you are on one end of the spectrum, while familial dysautonomia, autonomic failure, etc., etc., ect. are on the other end. Most people fall somewhere in the middle. As for your blood pressure and a beta blocker, you need to talk to your doctor about this, because I don't know how much it may affect you. Good luck
I'm worried that a beta blocker would lower my BP even more. In the morning i run 96/60. Afraid I may pass out.
What type of doctors diagnosed you? I went to a nuerologist and he said "you do not have autonomic dysfunction, those people are really sick" . The cardiologist was willing to look at it....but by the time my tilt table test was scheculed symptoms had gone away and I cancelled it. Well now they are back! We also have a few new docs in the area who deal with heart rhythm's.
Yes. As a matter of fact, I develop shortness of breath from time to time; this is not unusual in people with a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system (which is responsible for POTS, IST, etc.) It feels as though my lungs do not fill up completely, like I'm not getting enough air into them. This is not asthma, but rather, stems from a wacky nervous system. And yes, the beta blocker has lowered my blood pressure, which is good for me because I'm borderline hypertensive due to all the adrenalin rushing thorugh my veins.
I did get some shortness of breath and a tightness in my abdomen when my heart was beating fast. The beta blocker didn't help me much and did not control my IST at all. I'm not sure what effect it had on my BP. I developed cardiomyopathy from the IST so the shortness of breath could have been from that.
did either of you become short of breath with this? that had just started happening recently. Resting HR today was around 104. Also, I have low bp. Did the beta blockers cause it to lower more?
Yes, I too suffer from POTS and an elevated heart rate (around 90-95 bpm while resting) but am on Atenolol 50mg which has lowered my heart rate back into the 60's. Ever since I was a young teenager, I would feel dizzy after standing up and would have problems with standing for prolonged periods of time. About a year ago, things seemed to get worse overnight. My resting heart rate went up about 30 points and I became exercise intolerant within a matter of months. After awhile, I started getting PVC's too, which really pissed me off. I have the hyperadrenergic form--I produce excessive amounts of adrenalin. Ever since then, my symptoms wax and wane, and I pray to God that they wane away some day, never to return. I could live with this, but I also suffer from terrible depression and anxiety, and my depression only responds to stimulants, which are completely off limits as of now. I basically sit around every day, hoping that I will wake up from this nightmare. I can no longer leave the house and have a beer with the few friends that I have (alcohol makes it worse), cannot drink coffee, eat too much chocolate(or too much of anything, as food can makes it worse), and participate in activities I once enjoyed. I'm only 22, so this really sucks...big time. I hope everything goes well for you, and lets all pray that we are healed one day. One positive thing that has come out of this is that I've formed a closer relationship with God; when life gets me down, I try to focus on eternity and the fact that I will see Him one day, and my suffering will be over. Sometimes God allows us to suffer because He knows it will produce positive changes in our lives and will take our minds off of worldly things so that we can focus on eternal things.
I developed IST right after giving birth. My heart rate went up to 150 and it took several hours of IV medication to bring it back down. After that, every time I stood up, my heart would race. My resting heart rate had always been high, but it went up to about 90. I would get a very tight sensation in my upper abdomen, and my heart would get tachy with very little exertion. Some times I would get tachycardia out of the blue, for no reason, but usually it was associated with exertion. Toprol XL did not control it at all, even though I eventually was at an extremely high dosage of it. I noticed after about a year of IST that I was getting more breathless and feeling worse and worse. A stress echo showed my EF had decreased from 65% to 40%. I had 2 ablations. The first was unsuccessful, and the second took my heart rate way down. My resting rate is now in the low 50's. I feel pretty good but with the lower rate I get many more PVC's and bigeminy. I feel better post ablation and can do more than I did before, but for me at least the ablations came with a whole new set of problems. I was hoping the ablations would "cure" me 100% and I would feel like I did before IST. If I could just get rid of these darn PVC's now!
Hi,
I am a 38 year old mom, too, and I had IST and POTS symptoms (although I was only diagnosed with IST) until I had 2 ablations in 2003. I no longer have the IST symptoms, but lots of PVCs and PACs. I know what you are going though. IST is a hard thing to live with. I hope that your stress test went well. When I had IST, the stress test was a very short process, since my heartrate went skyhigh only a couple of minutes into the test! Take care.