Pacemaker

I had a pacemker implanted in August. Since then I have had a problem with hypertention. I frequently have chest pains that feel like tugs. When this happens hypertention gets high which creates a heavy dose of anxeity. Has any body else had this experiece?

3 Comments

chest pain

by Tracey_E - 2023-02-16 09:06:58

You should always see your doctor for chest pain.

All the pacer does is make the heart beat faster, which shouldn't cause hypertension. Anxiety and stress, however, can. 

Could the tugs be muscle from lack of activity? 

Chest pain

by Joepb - 2023-02-16 09:36:29

Ive been doing light push ups, only. 

It's common to get twinges from the pocket for months

by crustyg - 2023-02-16 11:24:30

You may well be experiencing twinges of pain from the pocket - I know I did - for months.

Pain is a powerful driver to push your BP up.  Back in the day when in training there was a lively debate about whether patients could feel a raised BP: apart from a few rare individuals who get headaches with a raised BP, the general answer is that people do *not* feel an increase in BP (when isolated from other manifestations - raised HR, pain, fear etc.).

There is no doubt that anxiety can raise BP, however. So you may have pocket pain, anxiety and then => raised BP.

Over pacing an athletic heart can definitely cause hypertension.  I discussed this exact point with my EP-doc after implantation, and it was one of the reasons why he was happy for me to start with a lower rate limit of 50BPM (from a pre-implant resting rate of about 42BPM).  If you drive a large, athletic heart that normally beats 40 times a minute to never lesss than 60BPM you may well see PM-driven hypertension.  Especially if the atria are damaged.

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