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Sinus Tachycardia and low BP

I am 36 year old female.  I have suffered with tachycardia over the last 21 years together with Anorexia Nervosa.
It has been said the cause of tachycardia is from the stress that has been placed on the heart due to Anorexia.

I recently had a scary moment.   Heart rate shot to 216 for about 10 minutes.  Moments before I had severe pain in my left shoulder and in my upper arm.  It was so painful that I could not use this arm and it felt extremely sore and weak thereafter and then it was fine by the by the next day . l  I do not know if the two are connected????  I had not done any strenuous exercise besides hanging up washing and ironing that day.

I know that I have premature P waves by 1.8.  I have prolonged or no QRS waves (just shows a base line).   I have an AV Block second degree Mobitz type 1.  I am on Isoptin 40mg x 3 per day.  I still have a high heart rate that with no exercise at all reaches to 151.  Is this medication effective enough with the above mentioned knowledge??  I also suffer with low BP, last reading 90/60 this week.

Please explain all this in layman's terms.  Like it is a lesson for a dummy.  My cardiologist is a fast talker, all facts and I battle to understand her as she is a foreigner from Europe and her accent is difficult for me to understand her.

Please any advice or help would go a long way for me.

A pacemaker is on the cards but doctor wants to try avoid it because it would mean removing my primary pacemaker.  A catheter ablation has been taken off the table.  Please explain the facts of removing the primary pacemaker??

Thank you for your time.
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Avatar universal
Thank you Jerry.  The advice and descriptive picture of "hit' the heart was a laugh.  I take 40 mg Isoptin three times a day to reduce HR but BP goes down.  I have been on Coralan 7.5 mg twice daily but it had very to no effect on my racing heart.  

I will give the medication a month and take it from there.  Pacemaker is not idyllic and yes it is a big step to take and not to be taken lightly.

Insurance is not an issue, I am fully covered.

Is all going well for you?  Hope so.

Thank you and take good care
Helpful - 0
612551 tn?1450022175
COMMUNITY LEADER
A defibrillator is what I was thinking about when I mentioned a ICD.

See: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Heart-Rhythm/VT-defibrillator-Implantation-and-future-removal/show/1978806
where you may find more information and perhaps a fellow patient who you can share experience and questions with.
Helpful - 0
612551 tn?1450022175
COMMUNITY LEADER
I'm not a doctor, just a fellow sufferer, so my comments will not be complex, likely not even helpful.... but here goes.

I believe the best medications for lowering HR/Tacy are beta blockers and calcium channel blockers.  Unfortunately they also lower blood pressure, that's a plus from some of us, but not for you.  Still I think it worth discussiong with your cardiologist..it may be a low dose BB will help control your HR and your body will adjust to it an not lose too much BP.  I have had problems with low BP due to high dose (up to 200 mg a day) of Metoprolol, but I now take 50 mg and my BP is about normal.  I may now in fact be dependent on BB for safe BP, not sure.

When you are made dependent on a pacemaker, that is it for life.  Who knows, maybe some new cure for your problem will be discovered in the next few years.  Did you mention an ICD, a shock to restart your heart?  I forget at the moment what those letters stand for, but I do not require disabling any of your god given heart functions, they just give the heart a "hit" if the heart rate starts to run too high - I think that's what it does.

I have no experience with your other health issues, so I can't add even a patient experience on those.

Good luck, maybe you need to find a cardiologist who can better communicate with you.  I don't know what your insurance concerns might be but most allow changing doctors and I think doctors who have not been successful treating a patient would be happy to see the patient try another doctor.  All your medical records are yours and they go from your current doctor to your new doctor, all you have to do is request the transfer of information.
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