7th wk tx - anemia tachycardia

Have had a rough time for the past 3 wks with anemia knocking me down. Labs show hematocrit at 33.8 and hemo at 11.3. Doc says I am stable and do not need procrit yet. But I am getting tachycardias at 150 BPM and skipped heart beats, due I am sure, to the anemia. My heart doc wants to give beta blockers, which I have read coud be a death sentence when used where anemia is present. So what do I do?

The first 2 wks of the tx related anemia I had paleness, shortness of breath, faintness near collapse, weakness, headace, chest pain, complete exhaustion, low brain function and very destructive thoughts.

Now I have changed my lifestyle to almost complete inactivity for fear of trigering a tachycardia. This inactivity can't be good for my heart health either. I really don't know what the heck to do.

Any suggestions?

[sldb]

You are correct beta blockers can mask the symptoms of anemia, tachycardia.  11 and 33 is not  a bad hct and hbg... Could somethig else be going on?  Your heart rate is way too high and he should have addressed that, especially with sob and chest pain.  Sometimes you can get a false reading on a hct and hbg. from hemoconcentration.  I had an ulcer bleed and my 1st hbg and hct came back normal, but i couldnt stand up without passing out(orthostatic), i had dark circles under my eyes and looked like a ghost. a few hrs later another one was done and i had to have 4 units of blood. (7&18).  I had a heart rate in the 140's.  Good luck and get this checked again.....    

[sldb]

forgot to add get it checked  SOON!!!!

[maylilly]

Yes, I am going to a new heart doc this coming Mon. Thanks for your response. I just don't have a lot of hope that they know much about HCV tx patients, completely different than normal anemia...

I had tachycardias in the '90s, but have been over them since '01. HCV doc said tx would make any health problem I have get worse. I guess it brought back the tachy. The only tx they know is beta or calcium ch blkrs. Both of them supress the heart, which I think could be dangerous, considering the lowered oxygen from tx related anemia lowers/supresses heart function. I was on beta blks in the '90s and cannot imagine having my heart rate supressed any more than it is already from the anemia.

Thanks for your input.