[ali12]

Hi all
I was just wondering how many of you out there have a high heart rate alongside CRPS
My doctors didnt really pick up on it until I started to develop syncope (3 years post onset of CRPS)
Now my heart rate only ever goes below 100 when I am in deep sleep or my BP is very high. Generally my BP also comes out at the upper side of normal on average but can fluctuate from 60/40 to 180/120 within 5-10 minutes and seems to generally be all over the place the whole day. 24hr halters show it as cycling up and down every few minutes almost like the regulation mechanism is damaged - my heart rate does the same often (but not always) in the opposite direction of my BP and can easily hit 200 with light exercise or steady walking
Three years ago I had a tilt table and was diagnosed with POTS and was also told this was more than likely as a result of having hypermobility and Ehlers Danlos
I have been for Autonomic testing to confirm the POTS diagnosis but despite trying to get an overall picture of what is going on, the POTS people are only treating the POTS in isolation by placing me on beta-blockers which I am due to start as soon as they send a letter to my GP
I get that CRPS causes the fight or flight mechanism to over-react so I am wondering if thats the reason behind the high heart rate and generally high cyclical blood pressure and as such will any medication for POTS either help the CRPS or will the CRPS override attempts to control my heart rate
The autonomic unit in London said it was good news that I wasnt showing spikes in heart rate or BP and therefore there were no signs of pure autonomic failure but this is because they could not get a satisfactory 24hr halter during testing as the cuff was twisting and cutting off circulation as it was prempting a result based on a previous reading and my reading was always very different from that expected hence almost every reading was an error and the halter had to be removed after a few hours
Thanks in anticipation
Alison xx

[CRPSsongbird]

I just got out of the hospital after having a 5 day Lidocaine Infusion. While I was having it done I had a bunch of stupid really really stressful stuff happened. This caused a new symptom to appear. I now have CRPS in my chest. Or more specifically in the muscle of the chest wall apparently this is quite common. It causes burning in the chest and also a higher heart rate . The burning does not have to be a symptom that always happens. When you have CRPS in your chest your heart rate usually is higher and can also feel harder like your heart is stumping or pounding very very hard. My resting heart rate was usually in between the high 90's-110. Once the heart monitoring room nurse came in because my heart rate was in the 140s and I was only standing brushing my teeth. In an average person you have to work out for a while to be able to get your heart rate in the 140s. Or be doing something very cardio related. I would definitely talk to your doctor and maybe pull up some articles about CRPS in the chest and talk with them about that you do want to make sure you're not having some sort of extreme tachycardia.
I too was extremely concerned when I felt my heart beating so fast and they were telling me it was running high it felt like there was something punching the inside of my chest wall. I actually watched my hospital gown from my shoulders to my waist jumping each time my heart was beating so trust me I understand how concerning it can be. However they did an EKG as well as an x-ray to check things out and everything was normal it's just the CRPS and apparently it's a very common or atypical symptom.

However it could also be your CRPS acting up as a prelude to another underlying medical problem. So make sure that your medical provider does a full work up absolutely.

I hope this was helpful!!

Emma

Originally Posted by ali12

Hi all
I was just wondering how many of you out there have a high heart rate alongside CRPS
My doctors didnt really pick up on it until I started to develop syncope (3 years post onset of CRPS)
Now my heart rate only ever goes below 100 when I am in deep sleep or my BP is very high. Generally my BP also comes out at the upper side of normal on average but can fluctuate from 60/40 to 180/120 within 5-10 minutes and seems to generally be all over the place the whole day. 24hr halters show it as cycling up and down every few minutes almost like the regulation mechanism is damaged - my heart rate does the same often (but not always) in the opposite direction of my BP and can easily hit 200 with light exercise or steady walking
Three years ago I had a tilt table and was diagnosed with POTS and was also told this was more than likely as a result of having hypermobility and Ehlers Danlos
I have been for Autonomic testing to confirm the POTS diagnosis but despite trying to get an overall picture of what is going on, the POTS people are only treating the POTS in isolation by placing me on beta-blockers which I am due to start as soon as they send a letter to my GP
I get that CRPS causes the fight or flight mechanism to over-react so I am wondering if thats the reason behind the high heart rate and generally high cyclical blood pressure and as such will any medication for POTS either help the CRPS or will the CRPS override attempts to control my heart rate
The autonomic unit in London said it was good news that I wasnt showing spikes in heart rate or BP and therefore there were no signs of pure autonomic failure but this is because they could not get a satisfactory 24hr halter during testing as the cuff was twisting and cutting off circulation as it was prempting a result based on a previous reading and my reading was always very different from that expected hence almost every reading was an error and the halter had to be removed after a few hours
Thanks in anticipation
Alison xx

[catra121]

I also have a very high HR with my RSD. My drs have always just chalked it up to my body dealing with the very high pain levels. I've had several full work ups for it and they find nothing. I've gone to the ER for other reasons before and have had a difficult time getting them to focus on my reason for being there because they get so distracted by my elevated HR. I also have a BP that fluctuates significantly like that...though mine tends to the lower end most of the time with random spikes and drops thrown in for fun. Gotta love that dysfunctional sympathetic nervous system and all the havoc it causes on the rest of the body...

[alaska49]

Since the RSD my BP and pulse are always very high especially during a flare or higher the pain higher the heart rate and am always tachy when Iam checked. I was put on meds to control it for a few years until it started to bring it to low. I was also diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome and an RSD doctor I see said most all his RSD patients have been diagnosed with it and many with RSD have it just don't get diagnosed. If your BP and pulse stay high and doesn't seem to go down most Drs like to put patients on some sort of heart med as it really isn't healthy to have our hearts running that high. There are some times my BP was 210/116and the pulse was 177 and the drs freaked. Now a days my bp have been staying just slightly high its my pulse that stays high around 125 to 146. I would think rsd is a high cause in many of our high heart issues, not just from pain but from the RSD messing with our autonomic nerves.

Sam

[Russell]

Hi alti,
It's been a while.
In some cases CRPS squeezes the lungs causing shorter or shallow breaths. The heart beat rate is affected also by being squeezed itself too. At least in my case...