Getting ridiculous - tachy at night

[TatiSD]

I've complained about this before but I need reminders.  Nightly now, I fall asleep and 20-30 minutes I awake alert, feeling like my heart's not right, take pulse feel it going fast and strong, Either I change position slightly or sit up slowly, feel a couple of hard blips, then immediately it goes into tachy racing at an average of 120 for 3-5 minutes then subsides.  Blood pressure always very high at this point, and after it subsides (160-170/80-85).  So I tolerate this as best I can, finally fall asleep again only to have a repeat 20-30 minutes later.  Night before had 4 episodes, last night two with the last coming 2 hours after Ativan!  
Is this repeated nightly tachy events harmful to my heart?

[RNRita]

Ativan has a shorter half life than many other benzos, so if you must take one, I guess it's as good as any.  However, some people do not react to Ativan in the correct way and it can have strange side effects.  

[TatiSD]

@Tom, My husband tells me I breathe deeply in the early morning, sometimes with a snore, but he's only noticed that when I was on SSRI's or the BB or occasionally on Ativan.  SO I think these drugs are all similar that they depress the system, making me sleep heavier.

All these episodes happen in the beginning of the night right after I fall asleep, so I never recall dreaming anything.  I feel just when my body goes into heavier sleep, at that point it reacts with adrenaline.  It's weird how it's always exactly within 20-30 minutes, so something happens to me within a certain cycle of sleep.  I did consult  a sleep expert and he basically told me it is adrenaline drive, but a study must be done.

@Rita,  I take Ativan when I need it badly, so that amounts to about 4-10 pills month. Some months, zero.  I'm not keen about it, so I hesitate when taking it.  I'm not sure how long after taking Ativan does it still show effects on the body.  I started using Ativan as a just-in-case drug about a year and a half ago.

Last night I took 10mg. of BB.  Still woke up but only vibrating and did not go into tachycardia like the previous nights.

ps. My BP is usually normal to high normal.  I only get short-lived tachy during the day after some intense pvc's.  

Thanks all for the time to answer.

[RNRita]

Also, how long have you been on Ativan?????????  Sometimes benzodiazepines have a really weird effect on some people.

[Mom2four85]

yikes! that's alot of money :(  luckily for me my insurance paid for mine since I had paid my yrly deductible already.

I didn't snore or stop breathing before I had my sleep study and very few snores were recorded on it...I even stopped breathing sleep propped up on 2 pillows on my side.  My 195 tachy at night really bothers me because @210 my ICD shocks me...scares the daylights out of me

I think mine is what Rita says - I have VERY vivid dreams sometimes; but I don't know how I go into REM sleep when I wake up 70+ times a night, also I think sinus problems and a broken nose that didn't heal correctly when I was in 7th grade makes it worse.

what about asking for something else for your HR at night, maybe the Ativan needs to be changed?

[RNRita]

Do you remember any dreams?  Having a physically active dream can cause both high blood pressure and increased HR that diminishes as you stay awake.  If your BP increase, your HR usually decreases and vice versa.  There is an inverse relationship, most times.  So, because I am hearing that both are going up, it seems that something is telling your body to react to something.  Maybe the first time it originated with a dream and you don't remember.  This may have cause some anxiety or fear of it happening again, in which case, it does.  I would try to not let it bother me for a few nights and see if it doesn't disappear on its own.  If the pressure goes up over 200/100 for longer than 30 minutes, the entire episodes continue or get worse, or your HR goes up over 250 for 30 minutes, then I would seek treatment.  

[tom_h]

Do you have a sleep partner present to observe whether you are snoring, or if you appear to stop breathing?  Sleep apnea really messed up my HR and rhythm.  CPAP helped immensely and no doubt saved my life.

[TatiSD]

Thanks guys for the input. My BP is that high during or right after the tachy event.  5-10 minutes after the episode of tachy subsides, BP goes down to 130-'s/70's.  It appears to be in relation to the tachy and the adrenaline rush, but whatever the reason, I was still concerned that my HR and BP should climb so quickly in the middle of the night waking me up from sleep.  I'm going to pop a betablocker tonight and see how I do.
@Lisa, i'm torn abut the apnea study since it costs 2000+ for one night of testing and it's very possible that I may not display this problem during the actual testing, so it's a hard one to pin point and schedule.
While I was on beta blockers regularly and on SSRI's I hardly ever had these episodes, making me think that my adrenaline is acting up inappropriately now that I no longer take these. Weird though how last night just when I should have had the full effect of the Ativan, my heart still went into tachy.  I'm so effing sick of all this crap. Guessing, wondering, obsessing, afraid to go to sleep, walking on eggshells while awake.
I guess I could control the sleep tachy with BB but then I have to deal with extra pvc's, etc.  There's never a clear cut workable answer that just handles the problems completely.

[Mom2four85]

please ask your dr about this, I do know when I attended a semiar with Dr Park on sleep apnea they said night and bp and hr's are completely different with night time being lower.

My new primary wanted to put me on a BP med to lower mine with a 145/115 but I said no and asked my cardiologist about it and he said - no he wanted my bp a bit higher =) but yours may want to try and control it.

I have NSVT runs at night that are frightening at hr's of 195 during sleep, but I wonder how much of these runs are during the dream phase of sleep; which could be attributed to REM phase but still needs to be checked =)

[is_something_wrong]

Well, a BP of 160/80 isn't very high, I think it's still defined as mild systolic hypertension, and the diastolic pressure is fine. It's a MAP (mean arterial pressure) of 107, exactly the same as a blood pressure of 140/90 would.

Of course, if your BP is constantly this high, it's too high and something should be done. But I need to say, everytime I exercise at peak level, my systolic BP is above 200 and it's natural and normal. My BP at rest is 105/60. Your body will usually tolerate an elevated BP at times if the average is normal. Is it?

The same goes for your tachycardia at night. Does it slowly normalize? I had some tachycardia events after waking up just after falling asleep, they are really annoying, but it it normalizes with time it's sinus tachycardia and I guess you know the reason. Again, same as for exercise, no problem having a HR of 120 at times but it's not good for you if it happens all the time.

I think, possibly speaking against better knowledge, that a beta blocker should fix this. But you know who to ask concerning that and it's not me :)

[cindy707]

Tati your blood pressure should not be that high under any circumstance...it pulls you into the red zone so in asking if it is harmful to your heart...yes it is ....you need to see the doc and if it isn't happening you need to be put on a some sort of blood pressure medicine that would be my main concern if it were my body...altho a pulse rate of 120 is on the high side if the doc puts you on some sort of beta blocker it takes care of both the b/p issues and faster pulse...just a thought.