High Blood Pressure after Pacemaker Insertion

Hello to all, I am fortunately a healthy individual who loves her new bionic husband with his back up battery. I am the researcher of the family as such I am on a mission to discover if anyone who has received a pacemaker has experienced a rise in their blood pressure following the the insertion.
Facts:
Diagnosis: Bradycardia/Vagus Tonus
Operation: Sept.2011
PM Type: Meditronic ADDRL 01 Atr lead/RV lead
Mode: DDDR

My husband is a 67 yr old athlete and continues a healthy exercise regime. Everything is going well but for the erratic and high blood pressure. He has always had a very good BP, so I have to think there must be a correlation with the PM.
Has anyone experienced this after PM insertion? He of course wants to stay away from medication if possible. His last reading today was 143/100. He was always 128/80 before surgery.

Thank you for any and all comments

7 Comments

A thought

by ElectricFrank - 2012-01-07 03:01:04

I've noticed that my BP varies more than it did pre-pacer. I'm not sure why.

My suggestion is to check BP about 3 times/day at similar times. Take an average of the three. Do this for 5 days. and average the daily readings. This gives a better look at the average BP his body is being subjected to. I use an Excel Spreadsheet to do this and also give me a 5 day sliding average. This method is a good way to keep from treating transient bursts of increased BP.

It might also help to have the pacemakers Rate Response checked and adjusted on a treadmill by a Medtronic rep. They have software to make the measurements. Particularly for someone athletic the settings are a bit tricky.

frank

HBP + Pacemaker

by amsterjane - 2012-01-07 10:01:29

Pookie, I stand corrected. I did as you suggested and there seems to be a pattern with the rise in blood pressure after PM surgery. I thought I had searched the club for this thread but it must have been another site. So once again thanks!
AJ

Thank you

by amsterjane - 2012-01-07 10:01:46

Pookie & Frank,
So appreciate you responding so quickly. My husband sounds a bit like you Frank, for he is keeping an Excel spreadsheet. However, the suggestion for the 5 day sliding average is a very good one. Also the Rate Response check by Medtronic rep is a very good idea.
Pookie, I have tried your suggestion but there doesn't seem to be enough written about this subject.

Thanks again to you both and I will keep watch for more responses.

Amsterjane

I think so......

by Pookie - 2012-01-07 12:01:15

Hi & welcome to the group....glad you found us:)

I've been a member for a very long time and I know I've read this question before - I just don't remember what was said about it, but may I suggest that you use the Search feature - upper right hand corner - type in "high blood pressure" - it should give you oodles of past posts regarding this subject.

But I'm sure some of the members who have experienced what you describe will read your post and will comment within the next few days....keep checking back:)

Take care,
Pookie

HBP + Pacemaker

by bowlrbob - 2012-01-09 03:01:05

I asked this same question 6 years ago when I got my pacer. The same thing happened to me. My BP was always great and after went up to the point I was given Atenolol. Here are the reasons that were explained to me. 1. Maybe your sustem gets used to running slow and compensates by working harder while your heart is going slow. Then when you get the pacer and your heart is working correctly your BP goes up. I bought that for awhile but it seems to me if that were the case your body would adjust. Mine has not. 2. Maybe your BP was low because your heart was slow. Now when working the right way you have high blood pressure and you would have all along if your heart had been beating right all along. I tend to think that #2 is the answer because I still have high BP not bad but a little. My 25 m of atenolol takes care of it and that small an amout does not slow me down. A high amount of beta blockes can make you feel washed out. Bowlrbob

HBP+Pacemaker

by amsterjane - 2012-01-14 08:01:32

Thank you Bowlrbob. I think I agree with you on the 2nd reason. It is interesting, since we have changed a few things in my husband's diet, and he has returned to his regular exercising schedule; his BP has leveled off in the past few days at 138/87. It isn't anywhere near where he was but it isn't medication time either.
I really appreciate you, Pookie and Frank taking the time to respond to my posting.
Amsterjane

HBP + Pacemaker

by jfcutler - 2014-11-23 11:11:58

Had triple bypass surgery 04/04/14. Before that my systolic BP was in the 140 to 180 range (diastolic in the 70s). After the bypass surgery, my BP was typically in the 125/60 and sometimes as low as 100/40.
Got a surprise! pacemaker 12/19/14. My BP on admission to the the hospital was elevated, but I ascribed that to "lab-coat syndrome". After the surgery, and still in the hospital, it was often 160-180+ -- the nurses and I joked about "lab-coat syndrome", and I got only an abbreviated version of the usual "blood pressure lecture".
By the time I was discharged the lower range was 135-150/70-80.
At home the first day: 193/72 in the morning and dropped to 154/68 in the afternoon.
Second morning: 178/73
Third morning: 164/66
I'm hoping it will come down further on its own!! I am unfavorably(!!!) disposed to pharmaceutical "solutions" to BP problems -- (in my opinion) instead of looking for root causes and making actual fixes, pharmaceuticals just "slap a band-aid" on the problem so it seems to be fixed, but is just masked.

You know you're wired when...

Your old device becomes a paper weight for your desk.

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