I'm wondering if anyone else has blood pressure issues.

My blood pressure has been all over the place for the last several months. Last week my primary care (family doctor) decided to put me on a water pill trying to get it stabilized.

I ended up in the ER (directed to go by my doctor) with my heart racing like it was going to jump out of my chest. My pulse at rest was 128 and my BP was 158/111. The hospital diagnosed low potassium 2.0. Some how in less than 5 days it dropped from over 5.0 to 2.0

She took me off the water pill and now I am on metroplol. Only 2 doses so far. I'm monitoring my BP and pulse at home. I'm having an ultrasound on my heart next week.

I'm wondering if this is common with RSD and what others experience has been getting it under control.

Hey there! Sorry about what you are going through, like RSD is not enough! I do have high blood pressure and am on Coreg for it, it works pretty well. I think mine is a result of genetics, but it is definitely exacerbated by the RSD. The pain alone will cause blood pressure to rise quite a bit

Good luck!
Nanc

I think its more that its exaberated because of the pain. I have had high BP since I was an infant, and well now im 23, so since the age of 12 i was then considerd a chronic high BP paitent. And as for my HR being to high, again its because of the pain. Now what does interst me is the low potassium. Ive been hospitalized after 2 seizures (im epileptic) and I had low potassium and low mag, and they could never figure out why. They also found out i had hypothiroidism and again there was no sympthomes and they couldnt figure out i have it. So its all very intersting. This again is why I want to try IVIG because i do think that RSD is an immune disorder, or at the very least it attacks the immune system.

One of the things that your sympathetic nervous system controls is your blood pressure...and with RSD your sympathetic nervous system is all out of whack. I know that I had issues with blurry vision and dizziness and this was caused by sudden spikes and drops in my BP. Since I went to wearing clonidine patches these issues have resolved themselves and I only have issues when I get bad pain flares.

I also have had many issues with my heart rate being ridiculously high...and they have concluded that this is because of the pain. I'm in so much pain so often that it results in a fast heart rate. When the pain gets REALLY bad I tend to also get chest pains. They have completely checked me out and there's nothing else causing it...so it's just the high levels of pain.

Hi fbodgrl. I also have hi blood pressure. BUT, I had it long before my RSD was diagnosed. I expect mine is from weight and poor condition. What does happen now is sporadic highs and lows even though I am on lisinopril. No rhyme or reason. I hadn't made the connection to RSD. It is something to consider. Have you done any research on the topic yet?

Lisnopril? Do you know that this family of drugs can cause drug induced lupus? (ANA testing does not reveal this). I just got over a TERRIBLE reaction to this drug. My BP was sky high because of it! (caused a huge stress reaction which made my BP higher than ever). I was on 3 drugs to control BP and now I am on only one small dose of beta blocker! The ACE inhibitors cause an increase in a biogenic amine called bradykinin. This causes swelling, and pain, and redness of the affected areas. I had been on that drug for 10 yrs before this critical attack!

I strongly suggest anyone who is having major swings in BP and also taking an ACE inhibitor like lisinopril (or vasotec, altace, etc) to ask your doctor for a switch to another type of drug.
You might be shocked to see the changes!
Lisinopril is also not metabolized by the liver and is excreted in the urine whole. It inflamed my bladder and caused the most horrible pain imaginable. Once it was discontinued, this pain went away. It could be misdiagnosed as a bladder infection.

If a bradykinin reaction is severe enough it will affect your breathing and can lead to angioedema of the larynx and an emergency. Antihistamines and steroids do not change this and it is not a true "allergic" reaction.

http://www.uptodate.com/contents/ace...ced-angioedema

http://www.americannursetoday.com/article.aspx?id=7692

Some of the symptoms of RSD are similar to angioedema. So if you are on an ACE inhibitor, I strongly suggest you discuss a drug change with your doctor, to see if some of your symptoms resolve. Don't let this sneak up on you...like it did for me!

And if you have HAE and don't know it...you are in serious trouble. I am going to have this evaluation done, as soon as I am fully recovered from this lisinopril reaction! My doctor suspects I have HAE based on my medical history.

http://www.haea.org/

Lisinopril therefore can have a double whammy... drug induced lupus + angioedema attacks!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18797894