Dear Carrie -

I guessing your pain doctor put you on Nortriptyline (a tricyclic antidepressant) as part of your pain control regime. And yes, tachycardia is listed as a known side effect of the drug. So I can't imagine that someone put you on it if you already had an irregular heartbeat, but apparently he/she did!

I once spent the night in a monitored cardiac be with drug (Ritalin) induced tachycardia, but my heartbeat was just fluctuating at rest between 85 and 115 BPM. I can't imagine how scarry it was being in the "200's steady."

I trust it's down now, but I wonder how well your heart rate and BP were routinely monitored along the way? I know in my case, it was not at all.

hang in there,
Mike