you folk seem to know more than the docs please help!

I have recently been sufering with sleep syncope ( didn't know there was such a thing, a doctor told me years ago that i couldn't possibly faint when i was asleep so i believed her and thought i was going nuts). I am just on my 7th night of no sleep. I go to sleep and minutes later wake up fainting with pains in arms and dizzyness, go to sleep happens again and again, (ecg normal) I also take beta blockers for as the doc said (different doc) 'more than is normal eptopic beats'! but no evidence as they never see me in the middle of the night! Am fed up of feeling like this and worried i might die!!!! then abracadabra(never was the best speller) i'm alive in the morning. Any comments or opinions would be very helpful. thanks

[dolfnlvr]

Have you ever had a sleep study to monitor your heart rate while sleeping?  Or even an overnight monitor at home?  It sounds to me like your BP plummets when you sleep and it is likely that your heart rate drops so low that you lose consiousness.  

Using Beta Blockers to treat syncope is not wise.  Syncope is caused by low BP and low HR.  Beta blockers lower the BP and the heart rate, so I'm not sure I understand your doctor's choice there.

Have you ever had a tilt test done?

This is really an odd situation, can you give me more information?

[maggiemag]

Ditto, although I think the too low heart rate precedes the low BP.  You definitely need a sleep study ASAP!  Call your PCP and beg for one as soon as they have an opening.  I certainly agree with you that this is nothing to fool around with.  Your EKG could still be normal at rest, so you could use a 24 hour one plus an echo to look at your valves.  Let us know what happens.

[da75]

i agree , this seems odd

[tivvy]

thanks to everyone for comments and supports it helps. I often feel the GP's think you are making it up! if only the could see you at 3am(mind you perhaps not a pretty sight) I have had 2 reasonable nights sleep since last posting and am feeling more normal. I saw gp on Friday and am getting a referal. i did have a echo and over night test done some years ago and they were fine. It doesn't happen all the time which makes it more difficult to get attention for it. Some one has suggested it is hormone related and menapausal, i am alway unsure about this as it seems a nice easy answer. Thanks again for taking the time to comment it helps x God i've just clicked on the spam abuse by mistake hope i haven't created trouble anywhere!!!

[tivvy]

well i've had a few nights good sleep and started to think i'm moaning about nothing when it all starts again! The doc has changed my beta blockers to 40 mg just at night. I have got myself a blood pressure machine. My silly heart no longer does it's own tune but has decided now that my pulse will stay regular but at only around 50 to 60 bpm i'm usually about 70 to 80. i also read about people saying it could be related to a womans age well if it is bring on the menopause i say! and we'll all be cured,(sorry to the men who are having similar probs). i think i'm peri-menapuasal and when all this started years ago a young lady cardiologist said the same and the pattern did seem to match and then i had my slow release beta blockers and never gave it athougt until now. I am still waiting for my hospital appointment, things seem to go slow here in staffordshire, england. I hope its a good sign that i've not been seen urgently! take care everyone x

[dolfnlvr]

40mg of beta blockers would easily lower your heart rate by this much.  

Syncope occurs when your BP and/or heart rate are very low and results in a lack of oxygen to the brain---voila you pass out.  I still don't understand why a doctor would prescribe blood pressure and heart rate REDUCING medication in the evening for someone who is suffering syncope during sleep.  

[tivvy]

hi, no me neither but you think they know what they are doing! my gp at present is very nice and at least doesn't make you feel like you're telling stories. i am waiting to see speicalist and so until then i do my own thing. i take my blood pressure last thing at night and if my pulse is already 50 then to me its logical not to take medication to lower it futher. so we'll see. also mine does seem to be related to hormones and so i just dread that time of the month - although things are a bit hit and miss with that at my age. i don't really see the conection but i suppose its because it's never explaned to you. thanks for reply take care tiv x