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AKmom

Senior member
Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
608
Reason
DX UMND/PLS
Diagnosis
11/2009
Country
US
State
Alaska
City
Wasilla
Anyone have a tilt table test? I did today. All they did was bunch of preparations then strapped me to a table then tilted me up to 80 degree then 90 degree (full standing). Then I just stood there for about 45 minutes. All I can say is that it was like running a marathon! My heartrate jumped to 110 and stayed there the whole time. My breathing was like I was running. I tried to slow it down but it would slow down...and the longer I stood the weaker I got.

The heart doc said that I passed the test. I do not seem to have a autonomic reaction to this table test. So that is a good thing. He said that the issues are that my heart is working too hard for just standing and that this was "most likely caused by whatever neurological problem that they are trying to figure out". His words not mine.

The heart doc also said my bp started going up the last 15 of the test because of pain. I was not showing them I was in pain and did not say anything, but I was in pain from spasms and such the longer I stood.

So, I can take my flight to Idaho without worrying about having a heart attack on the plane. The last few times I have flown I have had heart palpatations followed by rapid heart rate and hard breathing for about 1 or 3 minutes at a time. It only happens during altitude changes, such as take off, landings and anytime during flights because of turbulance and the change altitude a bit. Its not nerves as I fly often and have no fears of flying. Its just been weird because its a new thing for me.:confused:

So like does anyone else have issues with fast heartrate and breathing when just standing for any length of time? I get it when walking but that is to be expected with as weak and the amount of pain I deal with, but just standing?
 
hi joyce.
sounds like your test was normal,when i was at tilt clinic someone passed out within minutes of test.
i was booked for the tilt test,went to the clinic and they checked my bp first but it was i think about 85/5? so did a ecg which showed i had had an abnormal arrythmia............which turned out was the day before.
it was explained to me when my bp drops suddenly when i have a syncope/blackout or i get the aura feeling which i had the day before and i felt short of breathe the heart automatically goes into overdrive and beats faster to pump the blood round resulting in an arrythmia.
sometimes before i black out i get an extremely strong thumping just below my throat,theres something there i can't remember what its called.
after a blackout or when i get the aura my bp can be as low as 50-60/4?,my pulse can be low sometimes as well and its been recorded in the 50's.
never got an explanation why,i have blacked out from laying/sitting to standing but also at othertimes.
 
Yes I do. I currently take a beta blocker to slow my heart rate down. If you went only up to 110 that is not too bad! My sitting heart rate is over 100 and when I did the tilt table test I was bordering on 180/190 but still didn't pass out so I passed the test. Ask heart dr. for a med to slow heart rate down and that might help. (I take N A D O L O L ..usually for heart angina, or for high blood pressure but it lowers heart rate as well.) Good luck!
 
HI

I've done tilt-table testing several times. I have some pretty funky arhythmia's and a resting heart rate of around 100bpm. Years ago, to slow my rate, they put me on betablockers--which affected my asthma. I was taking Tenormin for a while. I think the highest recorded rate on a cardiac monitor I've had was somewhere near 260--needless to say, I passed out. When it beats that fast, it doesn't pump effectively. That rate was atrial fib, though--diagnosed finally during a cardiac stress test.

Have they done the 24 hour Holter Monitor testing on you? They can do the test longer if needed.

Now, I take calcium channel blockers for my rate issues. Back before I had high blood pressure, I had orthostatic hypotension. I'd go from sitting to standing and fall flat on my face when my BP bottomed out.

I've been in more than one ER with either PSVT, SVT or Atrial fibrillation. I have both PVC's and PAC's. Much of my issues early on were attributed to my mitral valve prolapse.

Sometimes cardiac problems can take quite a while to track down. Mine started when I was in my early 20's. Now that I'm 50--the heart has settled down -- or the meds are just working really well.
 
I have had the PSVT and PVC's and all the bells and whistles of a heart attack once that landed me in the ICU for a night, but nothing ever really came of it. My heartrate that day was at 130 at rest. They tried me on beta blockers but I kept passing out from low bp even on just a half a pill a day. They said my base normal bp seems to be low for having beta blockers. They gave my nitro pills to place under the tongue whenever my heartrate would skyrocket. That seemed to help. But I do not use them anymore because my heart doesn't go as high as it did back then.

As a kid they said my bp was always really low, too low. When I got pregnant with my first kid was the first time I delt with high bp. Then they said I had toximia and kept me in the hospital alot. Then it would be really low again after the birth. Happened that way with my last pregnancy too in my 40's except my bp has never been extremely low since then, just normal.

But my bp has been normal for years now except when my pain level is up in the 8 or higher range. That happened while I was on the tilt table and they saw that I was correct...my bp shot up high and they stopped the test 5 minutes early supposidly.

So is there a connection between PLS or neurological disorders and the heart? That isn't autonomic? And can neurological or PLS disorders cause you to be cold for no reason when everyone else is hot...or extremely hot when everyone else is cold? I went the the change back in my 40's after my hysterectomy....can I still be effected by menopause after all these years? So many questions yet I find it all facinating how the body works.
 
I wonder if the nervous system develops at the same time as the cardiac system.

In any case--it's an interesting question. Maybe you could do a poll and see if any other PLS people you know here have any type of cardiac issues?

My a-fib has only shown up two times on a monitor--and I was unconscious both times.
 
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