Pred. side effect - palpitations

[Robbian]

Hello All,

I started with a right hip problem in March which was diagnosed as arthritic, so was thus prescribed Naproxen which duly relieved a lot of the pain.A week after that bilateral shoulder pain gradually appeared which went on for a month until the blood test showed the raised markers and PMR was suggested,then probably confirmed by the immediate positive effect of steroids.I feel a lot better but I've been aware of a more intense heart beat on a fairly regular basis;GP just put it down as a steroid side effect,which he started me on at 40mg then dropped to 30mg after the 1st successful week.The thing is Naproxen alone was also having this effect,so now combined with the Prednisolone the old ticker having a good thump after a mere 10 mins on the exercise bike.GP suggested trying to leave off the Naproxen to see if the Pred alone would control the hip pain as well,but it returned after trialling this for a couple of days.Anyone else combine Pred with Naproxen or similar drug to yield similar effects ?

[PMRpro Ambassador]

Are you sure that it only appeared after you started the Naproxen? Standard response from many doctors will be "it's the pred" - so telling them it was there beforehand is important. Especially since naproxen can cause them although it is very rare - though very rare doesn't mean it doesn't happen!

I had palpitations with PMR/GCA alone, 4 or 5 years before I went onto pred and I didn't take any painkillers regularly. When the cardiologist finally diagnosed sick sinus syndrome as the cause of atrial fibrillation he was firmly of the opinion that it was due to damage to the cells due to the autoimmune part of PMR/GCA. I later developed tachycardias followed by bradycardias (periods of rapid heart rate followed by short periods of slow heart rate) which have finally resulted in a pacemaker being inserted so we can slow the tachys without making the bradys worse - by the time it was done the pauses were up to 7 secs which is a bit slow ...

[Robbian in reply to PMRpro]

Thanks for the reply,

I had occasional palpitations previously but not to the extent manifested since on the current drugs.Food for thought though what happened in your case.I visit the rheumy for the first time next week so see what the experts make of it

[PMRpro Ambassador in reply to Robbian]

Trouble is, once it is there anything will make it worse. Mine was found eventually because of my response to i.v. diazepam for back problems - and the pacemaker was the result of the same drug for another reason. Apparently it wasn't in my notes - it is now!!