Especially at night I can feel my heart pounding when I lie on my side. I told the GP but nothing to worry about as its a side efeect of Pred. On 15mg for 4 weeks so due to taper soon.
Does anyone else have this please and will it settle down?
Cassie
Yes, I do. Have been to the cardio dept. For tests and was advised to get off steroids asap but each time I go below 5mg I have a relapse so I guess I will just have to get used to it. My heart also misses a beat.
Cassie, I also experienced this horrid sensation especially when in bed. If you drink coffee and wine they can both aggravate it. I restricted my coffee to the decaffeinated variety and only as a special treat following a meal in a restaurant. Even then on one occasion, the palpitations started in the restaurant. It may sound strange but I found that gulps of ice cold water helped me during an attack. You will find that it settles as you get to the lower doses.
Yes, I have atrial fibrillation which is one cause of palpitations. It can be an effect of pred but it can also be due to the autoimmune part of the PMR causing damage to the electrical cells in the heart that govern heart beat. My GP was also very dismissive when I complained of palpitations - and he didn't have the "it's the pred" mantra to fall back on since I had PMR but was not diagnosed so not on pred of any dose.
I didn't do as he suggested as I thought it was a bit OTT at the time: if you are worried call 999 when it is happening! In retrospect he was right, if you call the emergency services and tell them it is a cardiac problem they will be there quickly and the paramedics carry an ECG machine. Providing the palpitations are still happening they will get a live ECG trace showing what is going on - which you will never get for episodic arrythmias without amazing luck if you just go to the surgery or have an ECG appointment.
It may be a side effect of the pred but without proper investigation you can't say that - and too fast a heart beat or very raised BP which will likely happen during an episode isn't good for your heart if it happens often of for long. So if it lasts long - call the ambulance service and tell them all. My a/f is well managed, a few extra pills to be sure but I feel much better than I did without it sorted.
Good advice - thanks everyone
I too had the standard "it's the pred" reaction until I had a prolonged attack which resulted in an ambulance trip to a&he where I was diagnosed with supra ventricular tachycardia. When I eventually got to see the electrophysiologist he told me 1 there is no documented connection between GCA and SVT, 2 the steroid will have made it worse and 3 it's here to stay unless I do something about it. After months on struggling with side effects of bisoprolol I am now due to have a full electrophysiology investigation and probably an ablation next weekend. However, my attacks are during the day and during exercise, not when I am in bed.
Thanks for sharing our experience - it all helps
Hi Cassie
Yes it is a known side effect and yes it will settle down once you get below 6.5 mg per day. I had the same thing. Asked my rheumy, who said 'Oh no. Nothing to do with Pred.' I was so worried, I had some serious tests with a cardiologist who charged a great deal of money but dismissed any link to Pred. Then I did some research of my own and discovered that tests had been carried out in Holland on 6000 people! And yes, it was proven that once the Pred dose is lowered below 6.5 mg the palpitations go away! When I told my rheumy about it, he said 'Oh, Holland' and made a face! So I consulted another cardiologist who said 6000 is not considered to be a sufficient number in a trial! However, when I got below 6.5 mg per day, the palpitations stopped. As if by magic! Such is life. Keep well!
Greenheath
But if he'd done a study himself on 6000 patients that agreed with his preconceptions he'd have said it was fine! He's talking rubbish - probably because the study didn't speak English. 6000 is a pretty good cohort for such a study.
Anyway - I am on 4mg of pred. If I don't take my afternoon medication - even taking it but late - is enough for me to have an interesting hour or so when I get to about 11pm.
Yes, I've had this and was diagnosed as having SVT. It occurred when I was on a higher dose of prednisolone and has lessened as I've reduced the dose. I saw an electrophysiologist who was equivocal about the connection between either PMR or prednisolone, though did not wholly discount it. I find it interesting that people on this forum complain of feeling as though they are about to black out or faint and this sounds similar to the pre-syncope which heralds my SVT episodes.
Which i exactly why I say anyone with such dizzy/faint spells should be investigated properly. And that means rather more than a single 5 minute ECG! At least a 24 Holter ECG is needed and a episode should have happened in that time otherwise it doesn't mean anything at all.
Yes I've had this problem, but now I'm down to 8/9 mg from 15, it has gone.
Thank you for sharing that - it is all so useful to me
5 mg Pred
Exercise on Pred.
