Heart Palpitations

[Andrevz]

I have completed 7 weeks of RT , 2 weeks ago and am on Xtandi and Firmagon for 6 months now after been diagnosed as been resisrant to Zoladex. Been running the Gauntlet for 6 years to date, but now i have Feelings of anxiety and chest pains, could this be caused by my current Meds?

[NPfisherman]

I would suspect so--the anxiety definitely:

rxlist.com/xtandi-side-effe...

and the anxiety could cause the palpitations:

healthline.com/health/anxie...

Get a referral to a Cardiologist, and have your MD think about putting you on something for anxiety...see if that helps...This disease creates anxiety in and of itself...

Good luck...

Don Pescado

[notjohn]

I developed palpitations that led to paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and now I’m experiencing premature ventricular palpitations at night. All tests indicate that my heart is quite healthy for my age, but doctors believe the wiring of my heart is predisposed to having the signalling in my heart go astray. I am on a wait list for ablation therapy to reduce the likelihood of afib in the future.

We realize now the trigger for me is anxiety. I didn’t even realize I was suffering from anxiety but I see it now that it is explained to me. It’s insidious like that.

I am able to dramatically reduce the frequency and duration of the palpitations and even afib with strong anti anxiety meds (clonazepam). This helped confirm that stress and anxiety were the trigger for me.

To manage anxiety ongoing, I’m weaning off the clonazepam, seeing a shrink, using cognitive behavioural therapy and trying other less powerful/addictive meds.

If you are similar to me, then I’d recommend seeing your doctor about anti anxiety meds as a first step. It may help you establish a baseline feeling of “normal” that you can work towards using non medical methods.

M

[Hidden in reply to notjohn]

I've dealt with a-fib for years, long before I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I had flutter ablation (long story why I didn't get the more thorough a-fib ablation). I am on rythmol. There are supplements that can help: Magnesium Citrate (not the cheap magnesium oxide), CoQ10, L-Arginine, L-Taurine. Don't get dehydrated. Get enough sleep. Meditate. BTW, I've never had an episode exercising. Exercising is something that relieves stress for me. I do find that the infrequent episodes I have always occur at night when I am sleeping. My theory, which my cardiologist is probably skeptical of, is that lying on my left side can trigger an episode. Stress can certainly prime me for a later night time episode. Good luck and do get a cardiologist.

[JuanVV in reply to Hidden]

My husband always thought the same about lying on left side!

[notjohn in reply to Hidden]

I found it happens when I lie on my stomach. When I sleep lying on my back it doesn't seem to be a problem.

[tango65]

You need to consult with your internal medicine doctor. Chest pains and palpitations could be many things, from anxiety to coronary insufficiency, arrhythmias etc.. ADT and anti androgens could aggravate atherosclerosis.

[AlanMeyer]

I located the FDA drug labels for Firmagon and Xtandi. See:

accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatf...

accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatf...

What I found for Xtandi is basically the same document that NPfisherman found, but with different formatting. I too saw that Xtandi had a small but noticeable increase in the incidence of anxiety compared to placebo. You might have a look at the labels yourself to see what they show that might match your symptoms.

I don't know if the drugs are responsible for the problem. Personally, I'm pretty sure that I would have a LOT of anxiety if I were told that the drugs that controlled my cancer for six years were no longer working. I wouldn't need Xtandi to get my heart rate up or to cost me sleep at night. Still, it makes sense to check for physical causes. One common cause of heart palpitations is thyroid problems - which are fairly easy to check for with a blood test of your thyroid hormone levels. Ask your doctor about getting that checked.

I agree with both NPfisherman and ottawamike that anti-anxiety meds and counseling are both worth exploring.

It's hard to come to grips with the end of life issues that are associated with cancer and other potentially fatal illnesses. They're scary. We've all evolved over millions of years to fear death and run from it. That doesn't help us in our situations because we can't run from cancer. So we have to take a different approach. We have to calm ourselves as best we can. We still have some time left. It may be some years. We don't want to spend that time suffering terrible anxiety. We want to spend it with family, love, things that interest us, things that we can do for others, things that we can enjoy. We want to emphasize all of those and minimize the amount of anxiety. Not many of us can permanently cure the anxiety that we feel, but I think most of us can overcome it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time. Those days and hours are precious. They are our life now. We should not allow our fears to take them away from us.

I recommend that you look into anti-anxiety medications and, at the same time, seek help from family, friends, counseling, books, music, outdoors, whatever helps to enable you to penetrate through the anxiety to experience the pleasures of life.

Best of luck.

Alan

[timotur]

Andrevs, how's your hydration?.... you could be dehydrated and not have enough electrolytes. I've had them from drinking only straight water without electrolytes after intense workouts... muscles just shut down, and later got heart palpitations, kind of a fluttering heartbeat.

[rococo]

I bought an apple watch and found that sitting too long was the culprit. Getting up and moving around for a min. or two every hour for a healthy sinus rhythm. Maybe also a pharmasudiical grade fish oil. Rocco

[Break60]

Get a ECG to check heart rhythm asap

[Hidden]

All those meds change the "normal" rules about electrolyte levels so you may need to so some experimenting to see what suits you. Start with Potassium. Seek a simple explanation before heart medications and rewiring the heart.

[j-o-h-n]

Car·di·ol·o·gist...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Tuesday 08/06/2019 8:20 PM DST