High blood pressure and ectopics

[Annie2609]

Is there any association between ectopics (PACs/PVCs) and high blood pressure? I noticed my blood pressure spiking on a few occasions when I was getting ectopics. Or could it be because of anxiety associated with the ectopics? I dont have a history of high blood pressure and its normal most of the time when I measure it with my home monitor. But when it goes high it reaches 180??.

[KMRobbo]

Not medically trained, but in my opinion/ experience ectopics cause worry which causes increases in BP and heart rate. Which IMO is a viscious circle!

Part of the solution (again IMO) is not to worry about them, which is easier said than done, but in order to do that you have to be convinced they are benign.

First step then is to speak to your EP/GP to confirm that.

I believe that owing to having heart issues, we get over sensitive to any slight abnormality in beat or rhythm which causes worry so you focus more on them which causes stress, which increases hr and BP and so on.

I have had ectopics from a few months after an ablation which caused the same for me. At the time I could hear my heart beat, esp when trying to go to sleep. Oh no a missed beat! Is it afib back??? Now wide awake and stressing , full of adrenaline!

After several of these attacks which can last for hours or sometimes days i decided they did not cause me any serious problems so i just ignore them now so long as my heart is in rhythm for the beats between the "missed" beats.

From what i read everyone has ectopics to some extent . They just dont realise as they are not heart sensitive. I believe I probably had ectopics prior to afib but was blissfully ignorant.

Best wishes

[Stobban]

Yea, With my experience it is the high blood pressure that causes the ectopics and once the hbp subsides the ectopics settle down. That's the reason patients such as myself are on Bisoprolol or other ACE inhibitotor to keep it settled constantly. Good Luck.

[Shcldavies]

I notice ectopics are worst when:

Have too much sugar

Don't drink enough

HR too low (when resting)

When putting a strain on your heart (e.g. carrying something heavy uphill)

[Annie2609 in reply to Shcldavies]

Funny you mentioned carrying something heavy uphill.. this happened to me 10 years ago. But at that time it was just a one time issue.

However yesterday I went to do a stress test which my cardiologist ordered after I complained about ectopics and some chest pain. I've done those before without issues.. this time, right from the start, when I start walking on the inclined (!!) treadmill my blood pressure was 179.. yes I was anxious, but I wanted to continue and have it done. Well after 3 minutes on the treadmill the ectopics started and my BP shot to 200.. i asked the technician to stop. My HR was 80 (I guess from bisoprolol) but the high BP was very worrying. After that I lied down and they checked my BP and it went down to 120/80. It was very scary and can't wait to talk to the cardiologist next week to see what she says..

[Shcldavies in reply to Annie2609]

Yes I am sure you were scared, who wouldn’t be. There is only one way of looking at this:

You have had the tests and the Docs know much more about your condition. Better this than having a condition the docs don’t know about.

The docs would have seen similar test outcomes many times and will be the very best position to treat your condition. I am not saying they will get it right first time (though in all likelihood they will) they will however know the course of action to get you better,

Before they had this knowledge they had much less knowledge of your condition and may have treated something else.

Nothing happens quickly and it’s unlikely there will be an overnight fix but you will get there and your in a much better position today than you were.

Please keep us informed if your journey hopefully you will get the treatment you need soon.

[Padayn01 in reply to Annie2609]

Please let us know what she says with the results of your stress test

[Annie2609 in reply to Padayn01]

Padayn and the rest who responded here, I owe a response..

I talked to my cardio yesterday, she didn't seem concerned about the fact that I couldn't do more than 3 minutes on the treadmill. She also said that my exercise test started with a BP of 200 and a HR of 84, which means the bisoprolol doesn't really work to control either of those numbers. She wants me to increase Bisoprolol from 5 to 7.5 mg. Also she told me NOT to give up exercise. Even with the ectopics going on. I told her my concern is that these ectopics will eventually turned into AFib, but she said this is not the case. Also she doesn't want to refer me to an EP as she said I don't have Afib, so what the EP can do is an ablation, which is a serious invasive procedure, and they don't recommend it for ectopics.

What can I say... in a way I feel relieved that she doesn't think my condition is serious.. but still this is leaving me in a situation where I need to find ways to deal with my symptoms. That unless the increased bisoprolol dosage might do its thing.... ?

Wishing you all well.

Annie

[Padayn01 in reply to Annie2609]

Thank you so much for your update, just like you my cardiologist has discharge me without any advice on my ectopics or what to do next or anything all he said yes you have frequent ectopics but no other symptoms basically he told me get on with it

[Annie2609 in reply to Padayn01]

Do you still have them every day? I do but trying hard to ignore them and it works a bit...

[Padayn01 in reply to Annie2609]

Yes every day some days are much better than others, if I don’t sleep well the night before they are terrible the following day I still try and do my exercise a few times a week