problems after receiving blood

• by sam78
• 2011-11-06 05:11:14
• Complications
• 1430 views
• 1 comments

I have a problem with anemia and when my blood counts get low I tend to have more heart problems. I started to notice that I was getting more of my tachycardia (I have atria tachycardia which resulted in AV node ablation and pacemaker) so I went in to my hematologist and sure enough I was low. I was sent to the hospital to get 2 units of blood. After the first unit I started to feel awful. Very lightheaded. My blood pressure had actually dropped to 90’s/50’s. I told the nurse I didn’t feel good but she really didn’t do anything. About 20 minutes later I continued to feel worse, the nurse slowed the infusion rate of the blood down but I started to develop chest pressure. I just felt like someone was sitting on my chest. No pain though. I told the nurse that I was starting to wonder if I was getting fluid overloaded as I had gotten some IV fluids the day before. She called the on-call hematologist to ask for some lasix but she made me be transfered to the ER to be evaluated (small hospital).

While in the ER they put me on the monitor, my heart rate was 90’s while flat and was up in the 110’s when I sat up. When I stood up it went to 130’s. They finished the second unit of blood before the ER doctor even saw me. He gave me some lasix through my IV. My lungs were totally clear but after much peeing I felt MUCH better. The only thing that didn’t get better was my heart rate. Even after the lasix my heart rate was 120’s when I walked. I got lightheaded but my blood pressure remained in the 110 range and didn’t drop when I walked.

They ended up admitting me for observation overnight. The only other thing they noticed was that when I layed on my right side my rhythm changed. The rate did not change but the rhythm did. I’m not sure what to think of this. I am experienced in reading rhythms and could see there was a difference. It looked like I had no P waves and that the ST segment was depressed. As soon as I layed on my back it would go back to normal.

I can’t say that it felt any different because I felt crummy anyways. I had a problem with my very first lead when I layed on my right side.. but I was missing beats so they ended up putting a new lead in. I am 100% paced in the ventricle and only 20% paced in the atria.. when this happened I was not being paced in the atria so it was all my rhythm. I wonder if it just happened to be something with the monitor leads (not my pacemaker) or if it is something with my pacemaker. The ER doctor was not concerned. I wasn’t told to follow up with my cardiologist. The two things that concerned me was 1) why was I so sensitive to the fluid and why did I get fluid overloaded... and 2) the rhythm thing. In the past I have been very fluid sensitive but in the opposite of this... usually IV fluids does wonders for my heart and really helps my tachycardia. Do I just let it go and not worry about this or what?