Hypertension with increasing heart beat

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set me free

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hi all

Are there anybody here experience hypertension and increasing in heart beat in advance state of als ?

My mum has been suffer with ALS for 11 years and now she has severe hypertension 190/109 and heart rate range from 90+ to 130 bpm. both the blood pressure and heart beat are swing during the days. Last month these come and go. But now seem it happen most of the time. And when it happen my mom will be less conscious and feels very uncomfortable.
She is on ventilator, feeding tube, bowel moment need support by medication like milk of magnesia and almost paralyzed but she could still able to smile.

the doctor do not know the root cause and after blood test he gave med calls Betaloc which will help reduce of heart beat and Expect could bring down the blood pressure as well. After took the med for 4 days although the number look better but her physical look seem worsen. not fully conscious and uncomfortable face still. Doctor also suspect that with the disease progresses it is possible due to the central nerve system that control the involuntary organ also impacted.

Anyone experienced the same symptoms like my mom? Any advices please?
thank you
 
I am sorry this is happening. This could be ALS, though it is rare. If it is there unfortunately isn’t a specific treatment so it sounds like the doctors are doing their best to treat her symptomatically. I expect they have triple checked everything ( blood, urine, ekgs xrays? And reassessed her vent settings? Again I am sorry.
 
Thank you Nikki.
Yes they did series if test and today we will meet the neuro doctor, hope she could shade on some light.
 
Does your mom have a way to communicate with you? I recently had problems with the hose that attached to my trilogy respirator. The manufacturer changed the design and it made it hard for me to exhale. My heart rate and other vitals were affected. I just wondered if that is maybe the cause of her struggles.
 
Betaloc is a beta blocker, and not everyone with ALS will respond well to that kind of drug since beta blockers are more associated with fatigue and affect the brain differently than other antihypertensives. I would ask about trying a once-daily calcium channel blocker instead if dose titration does not alleviate her issues. However, the beta blocker should be titrated down and gradually discontinued in favor of another drug class. The physician will know how to do this.

Best,
Laurie
 
I have had high blood pressure probably for a long time.
I finally took medication to help that.
Could the increasing heart beat be a panic attack?
There was a time when I was getting panic attacks. For me it was a racing heart beat. This led to being uncomfortable, sweating and feeling hot.
There are medications to help this. Maybe like a general anxiety or what your doctor recommends.
Matt
 
I had a rough month a couple years back. Anxiety, as Matt pointed to. Pretty awful. Heart rate up, BP up. After 3 weeks of Xanax I was able to wrap my head around the situation and have not needed any more meds. Also as Kim pointed out, issues with the breathing equipment can cause a problem. For me having proper breathing machine settings is critical. If not right it can lead to great discomfort and eventually anxiety. Breathing is such a primal survival instinct that it can have a powerful effect on the body.
 
Dear All,

Thank you all for responses to my message.

My mom was released from hospital Oct. 4th. She actually had a lung infection that obviously seen in the chest x-ray. (but no fever - very strange). and the urinary tract infection as well.
After a course of anti-biotic treatment, the blood test look better i.e. lower white blood cells, less cloudy shadow in the lung from x-ray, However her heart rate, blood pressure still swing and from outside look she still felt uncomfortable then as Nikki advised to checked on the BIPAP so we think it's worth to so so as the setup has not been changed for 7-8 years since her tracheotomy. so I asked the doctor if any adjustment should be done on the BIPAP setup and he then check the CO2 Blood gas and found that my mum could not exchange well the CO2, therefore he adjusted the IPAP up from 20 to 25 cmH2O and it did help my mum. She felt fresh and more conscious (Lively smile) and together with the Betaloc med. which also help to control her heart rate and as a consequence the blood pressure is back to normal range. The doctor asked to continue the Betaloc.

Thanks again.

Nid.
 
Glad to hear your mom is feeling better.
 
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