Hormones and Pacemakers

I had my PM implanted on October 1st for Bradycardia, 5 days after having ablation for Idiopathic Ventricular Tachycardia (1 week after discovering my potassium had dropped to a severely low level). I passed out in July for the first time, never even feeling close before. 3 years ago during my divorce my blood pressure was really high and I was put on meds. Prior to that I never had any medical issues. My PM was put in during an ER visit, my heart rate dropped to 30 after the ablation. My EP was not on duty, his partner was and his partner did the surgery. So at my 3 week post-implant check-up with my EP he said his partner was more aggressive then he and he was going to suggest we "turn the PM off" and try some other things. After I told him that I still felt dizzy and lightheaded but no longer felt like I was going to pass out he decided to leave the PM "on." Meanwhile, I still struggle with high blood pressure and low potassium and now it was discovered I have elevated aldosterone and renin levels. My thoughts are that hormones are the root cause of my heart issues. Does anyone else here have hormone issues that have caused heart issues? Has anyone ever had a PM removed after finding a root cause that can be reversed? I have an appointment with an Endocrinologist on January 8th. I will mention that even though I get a little pain now and then at the insertion site the PM does not bother me at all. I just don't understand how this could happen so quickly and I don't think my EP is fully convinced my heart is the root cause either.

2 Comments

Hormone Levels, meds, who knows???

by valley01 - 2013-11-30 07:11:29

The elevated aldosterone levels cause high blood pressure and low potassium. From what I've read up on typically a benign growth in the adrenal gland is the cause or the body just starts over producing. I should mention I recently started having "sweats" where I'll feel sweat dripping when I'm only moderately warm and I'll unrelatedly have hot flashes.I just turned 44 so a little young for menopause but it is possible. I'm on 4 different blood pressure pills a day and have been adjusted twice since my PM insertion. I just switched PC doctors because I didn't feel my previous one I had for years was as concerned about my health and figuring out what was going on with me as she should be. I'm not ready to switch EP's quite yet because I've done my research and the one I have is supposed to be really good, the best in my area. Even at my last device check the tech unsolicitatingly mentioned my EP and said I was lucky to get in with him. I do agree he shouldn't have said what he did but he did the ablation and I think he thinks there is more going on with me than heart issues and that is something I agree with. For 3 years since my blood pressure went so high I have followed a low sodium diet and very few processed foods or meat, mostly vegetables, fruits, nuts, and whole grains and I either run or some form of cardio 6 days a week and hike with my dog on day 7. I'll let you all know how my appointment with the endocrinologist goes. I'm actually secretly fascinated with all of this and am learning more about the body than ever. I just wondered if anyone here had a root cause that ended up being hormone-related.

Watch the docs

by Theknotguy - 2013-11-30 10:11:10

I'm not a doctor. Don't try to practice medicine but I have to wonder about these guys in the white coats. Sometimes I think they should be in straight jackets. Especially after I read what they say to patients.

Regardless of what caused your heart issues, I feel you should hang on to the PM. If your heart rate was 30, you got a problem. It happened before and it could happen again. Having a small machine to watch that is a small price to pay for staying alive. You've also had an ablation so there are some other problems going on too. So I'd dump the guy who says his partner is overly aggressive.

If the two "partners" aren't backing one another up, I'd seriously look into another heart care provider. You don't need two doctors arguing over who's right while you're dying on the table.

Won't argue about the hormones but having an ablation means you were having other problems. As for being sudden, I had completed 3 1/2 miles of a 4 mile hike when I went down. Woke up six days later from a coma and had a PM. Heart rate was 20 and it stopped in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. I'm now a member of the SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) group. No warning - so talk about sudden!

I had my PM put in Oct 4th. It took about 10 weeks for my body to settle down to the new meds and the PM. For a while there my BP was all over the place. There still is an occasional unusual thing, but mostly my body (and brain) has settled down. In your case, I'd discuss with cardiologist and nursing staff to see if you need meds adjusted. They had to do some tweaking for me.

Not sure what is causing your low potassium. I've seen others on this site recommend
www.a-fib.com It's a site about heart and a-fib issues and gives some suggestions about taking care of low potassium.

Have some pain around the PM insertion site and where the leads go into my vein under the collar bone. Forgot and stretched my left arm in the shower this AM and got a stretching pain so won't do that again. Mostly I acknowledge the pain, sneer at it, and go on. Any real damage will really hurt.

I kept a log for a while. Blood pressure, pulse, pulse ox levels, etc. It helped me identify when things were going off track. After everything settled down I'm just down to an occasional check.

Have you tried therapy dogs? My son's two dogs aren't therapy dogs but having both fall asleep while laying on top of me really helped. You can't beat a cold nose and a warm heart for making you feel better. It got rid of a lot of my anxiety and helped me to settle down.

Hang in there. Life gets better.

Theknotguy

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