Pulputations? Hypertension?

reppohkcor

Would indegestion cause pulputations? i get them bad at night, does anybody with hypertension here know how easy it is to diagnose? Is it simple just getting the doc to take your blood pressure?

I'm unsure whether i have indegestion or not as the pain isn't really that acid kind of fealing - its more of a pressure..

The Northern Monkey

hypertension can be measured easily by your doc... 2 min jobby

reppohkcor

bigbenj_08 wrote:

hypertension can be measured easily by your doc... 2 min jobby

Would it be something that is continous? i.e. it wouldn't come on at certain times of the day?

supersonic

I have had hypertension and palpitations for years now, started when I was 24. Take a beta blocker to control both.

Blood pressure varies enormously throughout the day.

Palpitations means awareness of the heartbeat - can be a fast or hard beat, or a fluttery feling, usually caused by an extra 'ectopic' beat then a pause until the normal rhythm kicks in (usually quite violently!). Most people get them harmlessly, and never feel them at all. Mine were often! A lot of peopl notice at night because it is quiet and you may be lying on your chest or side.

Trip to the docs is the only way! Maybe that you are overly tired, extra stress or even recovering from an illness. Alos avoid caffeine.

The Northern Monkey

aye, blood pressure does change during the day, but if its high.... its high. ie it will always be above "normal".

If the doc checks your BP and he thinks its high, you'll probably go back a few times to have it checked again.

supersonic

Mine was high and low though - varying from an artery busting 225/125 to 80/50.

The Northern Monkey

Crazy! Probably because i've only been taught about hypertension in people with high cholesterol/high heart disease risk!
Damn my lecturers are so one-sighted.

reppohkcor

I've been able to be aware of my hearbeat for a year or so now and i've not thought much of it. It's just the actual big pulpitations that have me concerned. Blood pressure a few weeks ago was 120/8? i think so this doesn't seem like a cause.

supersonic

Your blood pressure seems normal, but be aware that you can get powerful palitations when the BP is low ie if you stand up too quick (blood pressure drops suddenly as the arteries havn't contracted, you feel dizzy, so the heart tries to up the blood flow by increasing the force and frequency of the beat).

Again, see the doc, as can be a variety of reasons - may just be normal!

The Northern Monkey

My GF has a very strange heart beat.every so often it kinda skipps a beat and corrects its-self. Kinda scares me a bit, always up listening to her heart while she's asleep.

Thing is, her doctor says she's of perfect health and has perfect blood pressure. However she does have poor blood circulation to her hands and toes, which could be the underlying cause.

supersonic

bigbenj_08 wrote:

My GF has a very strange heart beat.every so often it kinda skipps a beat and corrects its-self. Kinda scares me a bit, always up listening to her heart while she's asleep.

Thing is, her doctor says she's of perfect health and has perfect blood pressure. However she does have poor blood circulation to her hands and toes, which could be the underlying cause.

Sounds like your typical ectopic beat - common in adults.

reppohkcor

Yeah i'm seeing the doc tomorrow morning. I always get a strong (sometimes very strong!) beat when i get up quickly.

I'm thinking it could be unrelated to my heart because i regularly push it above 170bpm with no extreme chest pain, maybe the pulpitations and chest pains are due to some sort of indigestion.

supersonic

reppohkcor wrote:

Yeah i'm seeing the doc tomorrow morning. I always get a strong (sometimes very strong!) beat when i get up quickly.

Postural hypotension - again, pretty common, but always worth checking out!

The Northern Monkey

SS, want to do my cardiovascular health module for me?

supersonic

bigbenj_08 wrote:

SS, want to do my cardiovascular health module for me?

hehe, I studied this quite a lot when I was diagnosed with this stuff! Check my PM out for the reason why ;-)

reppohkcor

supersonic wrote:

reppohkcor wrote:

Yeah i'm seeing the doc tomorrow morning. I always get a strong (sometimes very strong!) beat when i get up quickly.

Postural hypotension - again, pretty common, but always worth checking out!

Ah ok, its very spooky sometimes esp. when i get up in the morning or in the night to go to the bathroom, its perfectly normal speed (even maybe slow) but so so strong!

My doc is beginning to hate me with the old "10 minutes, next please" rule with GP's!

supersonic

I would say even more common at night or after rest when your BP is naturally low anyway. Suddenly getting up and boom, your sytem kicks in as the blood drains out of your head!

Dehydration can make it worse. try getting up slowly - sit up first.

The Northern Monkey

yea we covered that in CV health last week... when you've been lying down for a while and suddenly get up, the quick change in BP causes dizzyness. people have been known to pass out/ faint due to standing too quickly!

edit: in extreme cases that is!

supersonic

My vision used to go purple with white stars!

The Northern Monkey

for some reason... I kinda like that feeling. Its really strange!

reppohkcor

Out of a hot bath feeling that is

supersonic

Hot baths can be worse of all! All your veins nice and expanded due to the heat, stand up and the blood just pools in your legs!

And the world spins around as your heart beats like a censored !

reppohkcor

Yep, i'm always careful at getting up out of a hot bath, my vision will literally black out for half a second or so!

mfin

This'll sound odd maybe. Ever gone to a chiropractor? I can get pressure through my chest that before I knew what it was was very concerning and offputting. I went for a couple of years with this and only ever thought of going to GP who never came up with anything wrong.

It turned out to be completely sortable. Posture, lying down funny, history of bad posture, car accidents... you'd be amazed. Might be worth a go if you're coming up blanks?

I reckon I'd gone to the doc's at least 6 times very concerned and drawing blanks until someone suggested it to me (and I didn't believe them at all, in the end I got badgered into trying it).

It does come back now and again, but I can get it sorted now and I certainly know whats causing it too so I don't worry anyway, ...and this is an offputting pressure in the left hand side of my chest that I would get, its not a nice experience at all, I described it as heart palpatations to my GP I remember. Sometimes its been mild, and sometimes its very disturbing.

Anyway, surprised no-one else suggested it on the off chance. You describe pressure in the chest to any chiro and they'll know what to look for and soon tell you if they find anything, who knows, can't do any harm.

reppohkcor

mfin wrote:

This'll sound odd maybe. Ever gone to a chiropractor? I can get pressure through my chest that before I knew what it was was very concerning and offputting. I went for a couple of years with this and only ever thought of going to GP who never came up with anything wrong.

It turned out to be completely sortable. Posture, lying down funny, history of bad posture, car accidents... you'd be amazed. Might be worth a go if you're coming up blanks?

I reckon I'd gone to the doc's at least 6 times very concerned and drawing blanks until someone suggested it to me (and I didn't believe them at all, in the end I got badgered into trying it).

It does come back now and again, but I can get it sorted now and I certainly know whats causing it too so I don't worry anyway, ...and this is an offputting pressure in the left hand side of my chest that I would get, its not a nice experience at all, I described it as heart palpatations to my GP I remember. Sometimes its been mild, and sometimes its very disturbing.

Anyway, surprised no-one else suggested it on the off chance. You describe pressure in the chest to any chiro and they'll know what to look for and soon tell you if they find anything, who knows, can't do any harm.

My posture is terrible. Chest x-ray is fine so i think the chiropractor may be the answer. If only i had the money!

mfin

Well, example costs are £40 first visit and £30 after that, so it might sound a lot but you'll be lucky if you can get a night out for £30 so it isn't bad for all the skill, training and overheads they have... its certainly cheaper than putting your car in the garage for example.

Try ask your GP in case they refer you to anyone like that, cos I heard they do in some cases, but that could be rubbish.

If you've gone through enough concern to get to the point of going for chest x-rays its sounds like you'd be worried enough to try find a few quid to me ! ...one friday night staying in would find that for most people easily.

Kiblams

I had a bad experience with my chest yesterday while out riding, it was after around 50 mins of continuous peddling on a nice cycle path and I breathed in a little to hard; after which i had a slight pain (like mild stitch) just above my breast bone and my heard felt like each chanber was beating out of time like a mad out of rythm vibration. After stopping and resting for a few minutes it returned to its slow powerful beating that I am used to.

My worry is that I was on beta-blockers for 6 years and that it may have affected the muscles around my heart.

Has anyone else had a similar experience as this was my first one time. I returned to excersise a month ago, have been riding at leat 10 miles 4-5 times a week since with no ill effects until yesterday.

Cheers guys.

mfin

Don't think beta blockers would affect the muscle in your heart. Is your logic that your heart rate under excerise had been lower in that period and your heart muscles had deteriorated? If so, nah... doubt it. Heart's still banging away, its the strongest muscle in the human body apparently.

I reckon that if the heart was located 'in the knee' then people would think 'ooo its my heart' everytime their knee felt funny too.

Seriously, I reckon loads of it is down to paranoia. If you get a pressure in your chest and think its your heart (which you quite naturally would when you think 'that feels dodgy') then you'll soon get stressed and panicked and your heart rate will go up ...and then you'll soon think its your heart thats the problem even more as you feel it go into overdrive. Been there, done that.

(I'll take it back if you were on beta blockers after a heart attack or heart bypass opp but I'm taking it you were on them for stress/shakes/panic, something like that? ...there's a big difference in dosage of these things that people take for different reasons too)

Kiblams

The beta-blockers were for anxiety and chronic migraines when I was 16, and was on 160mg a day (started on 80mg).

I can see what you mean about paranoia, but this was unlike anything I have ever felt before, and as far as I am aware there are no muscles (heart and diaphram excluded) behind my breast bone... could be wrong though.