High blood pressure and tinitus
Posted , 8 users are following.
has any one on here got high blood pressure through taking Pred ? And head aches ??
Thank you Karen x
0 likes, 18 replies
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Notes on High blood pressure and tinitus
maid_mariane karen28161
Posted
Hi Karen
I knew from the start prednisone could cause high blood pressure but never worried since i always had low under 100.
My mom and i wete in a pharmacy where there is a blood pressure cuff and we took it. First of all i was in excruciating pain from the cuff on my upper arm and my BP 198 OVER 100+.
I took it several times and each time in pain from the cuff.
I saw my rumi that following week and she told me to see my GP. My rumi only cares about pain nothing else.
Needless to say I'm on a BP Pill and trying to keep it below 140 usually in the 130's.
This prednisone causes for me a hole world of side effects and this is the latest.
I have always had a BP Monitor since my late husband had high BP so i now monitor myself.
Your not alone
Mariane
EileenH karen28161
Posted
No, you're not alone. I have hypertension - but whether it is pred or something else is another question (I also have atrial fibrillation which is almost certainly due to the PMR autoimmune process). It's well managed with medication so why should I care which it is?
You mention headache in the question - but tinnitus in the title? Is your diagnosis PMR or GCA? If it is PMR then those COULD be signs of GCA so don't ignore them. If it is GCA - then it may be your dose isn't high enough to really manage it.
Susanne_M_UK karen28161
Posted
My blood pressure is borderline high since being on high doses of pred. I've discussed it with my GP and rheumy and we've agreed that no blood pressure tablets are needed at this stage, as it's usually hovering just below what is considered high.
I don't suppose being overweight due to pred helps either. I'm just thankful that I don't have to add an extra drug to my already large intake.
Anhaga karen28161
Posted
My blood pressure is low normal and although my heart rate is usually normal it is also, now, frequently "skipping" beats and when that happens the heart rate gets slower and I feel like there's a bird fluttering in my chest. My doctor simply asked me what I thought she could do about it, having listened to my heart for about three beats and not detected a murmur. I suppose this is either pred or PMR related so nothing much I can do, but I would have appreciated a minute or two discussion of the possibilities. In fairness I went in complaining about lightheadness and never had a chance to talk about the heartbeats. Lately the lightheadness happens less often but the trapped bird is more active.
EileenH Anhaga
Posted
"My doctor simply asked me what I thought she could do about it, having listened to my heart for about three beats and not detected a murmur"
The answer is "Please request a 24 hour Holter ECG."
It's quite simple really - but she does have to do the requesting...
Anhaga EileenH
Posted
Do you think it's worth it? Feel I'm being a hypochondriac....
EileenH Anhaga
Posted
It was the answer her comment requires. It may be she is merely exhibiting the sort of behaviour some GPs reserve for their heart-sink patients - but the least she can do is prove to you there is nothing wrong. Or not - if you see what I mean.
As I keep saying - she doesn't KNOW it is pred/PMR and even if it is it may be something to do something about. I have atrial fibrillation - which signified its presence in a very similar way. My a/f was caused by PMR - but that doesn't mean it is something to ignore. I am on medication because I now do feel quite strange when it happens for more than just a few minutes but whether you are aware of it or not - atrial fibrillation patients need to be on an anticoagulant at the very least to reduce the risk of stroke etc. The repercussions of that are quite major when all is said and done.
Anhaga EileenH
Posted
Thanks. I did wonder. Will make sure to be more vocal next appt. What do you mean by "heart-sink"
EileenH Anhaga
Posted
It's a term that is used for the patient that keeps coming back because the doctor has no idea what is wrong or has no idea what to do to find out. Or both... The doctor probably thinks it about the patient. The patient probably thinks it about the doctor.
Have you never heard it before? It's even the subject of a paper:
"THE ORIGINAL ‘HEARTSINK’ STUDY
In his 1988 paper ‘Five years of heartsink patients in general practice’,1 Tom O'Dowd is said to have coined the term ‘heartsink’. In that paper O'Dowd refers to a publication in which the term ‘heartsink’ had been employed 2 years previously, but in which the author, CG Ellis, preferred ‘dysphoria’ to describe:
‘the feelings felt in the pit of your stomach when their [the patients’] names are seen on the morning's appointment list’.2
O'Dowd believed that Ellis's ‘pit of your stomach’ definition had ‘an intuitive ring about it’; he quoted it and attached it to the term ‘heartsink’, a term which, according to O'Dowd, ‘more clearly refers to the doctor's emotions which are triggered by certain patients. "
Use a bit to copy and paste and find the paper.
Anhaga EileenH
Posted
Ah well, so far I don't think that applies to me, at least I hope not, as I keep to a three month schedule to monitor PMR. This was an extra appointment I'd made to try to cover a little list of things so that my regular appointment wouldn't be too long (and she'd get paid for the extra visit) only that was the day she was running almost an hour late because of an earlier patient in crisis. Bad timing. I wasn't so much "heartsink" as trivial by comparison.
EileenH Anhaga
Posted
It shouldn't have applied to me either - I really did have PMR but the doctor didn't recognise it and couldn't see that normal bloods don't mean there isn't something wrong. I did actually challenge him once, saying "I do realise I am probably your heartsink patient..." and he did have the grace to look uncomfortable!
The trouble is - if the heartsink patient is ignored as being trivial you might just end up having ignored something that will develop into something definitely NOT trivial. Which was what happened to me in the end.
Tastyron Anhaga
Posted
Re the heart skipping a beat.
Mine had been doing that for a while. Really heavy beating then a gap, repeat for about 10/15 minutes before it settles. I mentioned it to my Rheumy on the last visit and she ased if i had been drinking plenty of coffee, I had been drinking more thn usual. I've cut down and the problem seems to have solved itself. Sometimes our "problems" are not down to PMR or Pred but just lifestyle choices.
Ron
Anhaga Tastyron
Posted
That would have been an easy solution were I not just an "occasional" coffee drinker. Like once a week? I drink tea but have done so since childhood so hard to imagine it could be that. But thanks for the suggestion. Maybe I'll drop all the coffee for a while.
Lee-Colorado karen28161
Posted
I created an excel spread sheet with the following columns:
DATE SYS DIA BPM WGT EXER SLEEP BMI COMMENTS
Purchased a fitbit to monitor sleep and heart BPH over a 24 hrs period.
Purchased a blood pressure monitor which I use after walking the dog in the morning.
Here is what I learned:
Heart BPM 154 when I reduced pred. too quickly, and had a relapse shortly thereafter.
Blood pressure increases for ~4days after reducing
Data since I have been off pred.
DATE SYS DIA BPM WGT SLEEP
May 120 76 70 179.7 6:59:00 AM
June 116 71 72 181 7:29:00 AM
July 119 72 71 177.1 7:18:00 AM
Aug 120 76 71 176.7 6:57:00 AM
Sept =AVERAGE(B2:B30) =AVERAGE(C2:C30) =AVERAGE(D2:D30)-100 =AVERAGE(E2:E30) =AVERAGE(G2:G30) I am now off pred but have developed either rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis. Since CRP Is still 0.8 I do not believe it is PMR. I am male and 70 so my numbers are probably very different then a similarly aged female. I have all the typical problems for a male my age except weight.
I found that I feel much better on a low carb diet similar to Atkins at 40-50grams of carbs a day. The recommendation from Mayo is not to split the pred. I find that if I take 3 aspirins before bed I am not as sore in then morning.
Alcohol makes me hurt the following AM and I usually detect an increase in The systolic, diastolic, blood pressure.
my doctor is a rheumatologist but he does not suffer from PMR/GCA. I am a unique individual and am responsible for my well being!
Lee-Colorado
Posted
The sleep column is the hours of sleep I get a night. This is usually in two stretches a night 3hr of solid sleep, 1hr in a chair and 3+ hours of sleep. Darned BPH!!!! Mention of "heart BPH" should be BPM.
EileenH Lee-Colorado
Posted
If you have developed PsA pr RA the chances are the "PMR" was the presenting symptom. It is always the sign of an underlying disorder, it isn't the disease itself.
Lee-Colorado EileenH
Posted
I'll let the forum know as soon as I find out.