pounding heart

[viamonv]

I have been on perd 60mg. Last night I could feel my blood flooding through my veins. Am I going nuts? It was pounding.

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer]

Hi

Not you’re not going nuts. It’s a side effect - all that chemical cortisol rushing around your body - if you consider “normal” produced daily is equivalent to 7.5mg approx and you’re on 60mg everything goes into overdrive.

As your body becomes acclimatised to this new high things will settle.

But a bit scary - if it doesn’t settle after a few weeks then speak to doc if you’re worried.

[viamonv in reply to DorsetLady]

Thank you so much. It was really scarey. I just sat for about one hour and tried to relax, then it got better.

[SheffieldJane]

You are not nuts viamonv. This is a common side effect of Pred. I got it on 20 mgs never mind 60 mgs. Feeling anxious at the same time is another side effect. All this adds up to an unpleasant night. However, mention it to your GP so that they can have a listen and check your blood pressure. If this is too troublesome and it’s appropriate for you they could prescribe a beta blocker.

I got it when I was young with Thyroid trouble, it would shake the bed. I felt invincible then - where has she gone?

[Hidden]

Hi viamonv, I have recently reduced from 80mg to 55mg and YES, I get periods where my heart feels like it is pounding out of my chest! I am already on Beta Blockers for a Mitral Valve Prolapse, so it's even more scary! I mentioned to the GP and she gave me an Referral to the "walk-in" ECG at local hospital... problem is she wants it done when my heart is going crazy, but I never know when that will be (sometimes I'm sitting on couch relaxing, watching TV!) and it only last like 10-15 minutes.

I'd mention it to GP or Rheumy though.

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Hidden]

You GP sounds like a real optimist!!! Mine said call 999, chest pain. If you have RRVs who come first you have a fighting chance of a trace. The ambo got something for me last week - but it wasn't really a/f and had gone by the time I got to A&E. Shouldn't have waited...

[Hidden in reply to PMRpro]

Yeah... I'm not happy with her plan. I had wicked palpitations last night, just from reading the responses to "viamonv" post!

...oh yes, and making the mistake of going to Google to read about "steroids and heart failure!" : 0

[Rimmy in reply to Hidden]

Hi Melissa - Um I think you NEED some 'light' (non-stressful) reading - but I know what you mean about crazy heartbeats 'on demand' - I've had them on & off for years but NEVER when anyone records anything ... so I am assuming it is all 'normal' for me as we can't loiter around Emergency Depts 'in case' can we !!?

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Rimmy]

At least I got a bit of paper declaring it was "episodic a/f" - nothing new there then, we knew that! And that it had gone.

[Hidden]

Ya think?

... or a new art project!

[Hindags]

I had some heart pounding earlier in my PMR treatment. I'd been at my grandson's baseball game, a nail biter to the last second. They won and if was such fun, but instead of just being happily excited, I felt my system jump into hyper mode. I went home and tested my BP and HR. They were normal or only slightly elevated. I decided that it was just the Pred. which doesn't adjust to situations in a modulated fashion. It's all or nothing. Our native cortisol adjusts to what is needed depending on circumstances.

I did a fair amount of what is sometimes called parasympathetic breathing, inhale to the count of four and exhale to the count of eight. It is supposed to be calming. I don't know whether it was just time or the breathing, but it helped.

If you get these episodes a lot, I'd get a BP?HR monitor. And I'd call the clinic or the doctor's office to ascertain at what readings would it be wise to call the A&E or ER, of go directly there.

I believe that many of us have been through something like this early on in the disease/treatment process. Lately, for me, at 6-5mgs, it's just the opposite, lower BP and HR, waiting for my adrenals to come on board and regulate themselves as I dip on Pred to below physiological levels.

Good luck.