[QUOTE=Cake;550164]Hey guys!
I thought I'd let you know how I'm going with my heart symptoms. Today I finally saw my GP (my regular doctor, you US RSDers call them PCPs) for the first time since wearing the holter monitor a few weeks ago.
She had a look at all the results and told me that within that 24 hour period, my heart rate went from 50 bpm pretty much straight up to 160 bpm numerous times for no apparent reason, such as in the middle of the night when I was asleep. That’s a fair range when you’re snoozing!
When I had the holter monitor on I’d had to keep track of when I noticed any palpatations etc but my GP looked at all that info and said there was no obvious pattern that linked my activities to what my heart was doing. So it doesn’t make much sense. But the good thing is there’s no arrythmia- even though the speed varies so much, the beats themselves are regular and I’m not missing any.
So the next step is to go on beta blockers. This’ll help even out my heart rate so it doesn’t go from one extreme to the other. I’ll start on 1/2 a tablet for a while and see if that helps.
Feeling like I suddenly can’t get a breath in, or feeling my heart thumping so fast it’s going to come out of my chest, is a daily issue at the moment and I hate to admit it, but it does worry me. I’m a tad over it already! I’m still dealing with the itching issue every night and it may be that the two problems are linked. But my doctor said it’s ok for me to keep taking the phenergan (antihistimine) for the itching until my pain specialist can take a look at me.
If all this (the itching and heart rate issues) is my body saying it doesn’t like the oxycontin anymore, I won’t be happy, as that’s the only medication I get any decent pain relief from, but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. We’ll just take it one step at a time and hope these beta blockers do their job.
Kate, you are describing symptoms very similar to mine.
Are you taking NSAIDS?
NSAIDS have been linked to cardiac disease and, after taking them for 23 years I did have a heart attack. When I stopped taking them (Anaprox), I had to realize that they had not done a thing for the pain anyway.
The heart pounding so hard that it seems to want to jump right out of the chest sounds familiar. My pulse, instead of going way up, goes way down to as low as 42 bpm (sinus bradycardia) and my blood pressure fluctuates from 200/95 to 116/63 within minutes sometimes.
The itching is, most likely, caused by chemo-sensors or, due to circulation issues. RSD or the combination of RSD and medication can cause all those symptoms but, I don't believe that the Oxycontin is the culprit here.
I didn't take any medication other than Anaprox and my lower left leg itched so much, especially at night, I scratched it bloody many times. The itching has, for the most part, resolved itself now.
I am driving my Doctor up the wall but, I refuse to take any medication for my blood pressure or colesterol and only take, for the last three years, morphine when the pain gets too bad; about 500 mg a year.
Medication has its own set of problems and, quite often requires more medication to combat the side effects of the first medication and that can become a vicious cycle.
For the most part I rely on physical activity despite the pain and grabbing as much joy out of life as I can get. It has worked for me quite well since I decided to make friends with the pain about 24 years ago.
Acceptance is a large part of living with RSD without suffering.
I know that you are probably scared Kate but, believe that you can still have a good life and your symptoms will resolve in time.
I wish you well.
woodsman