Can anyone relate?

yes I can relate

by Gemita - 2023-07-25 03:19:36

Alejandro, firstly, you have a diagnosis of preload failure due to non alcoholic fatty liver disease which in turn presents as an obstructive heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.  Could this condition be a cause for your new symptoms or have you traumatised your diaphragm, rib cage, chest wall while trying to exercise or something like this? 

I can certainly feel uncomfortably short of breath when my arrhythmias start and continue, particularly when walking uphill or climbing stairs but I wouldn’t call this feeling “winded”.  Winded sounds more like being caused by a trauma to the diaphragm, rib cage or chest wall area or caused by an ongoing lung or heart condition although from your comments it only intermittently occurs?  

With an arrhythmia I always feel the typical symptoms of palpitations (slow, fast, pausing, irregular heart beats) although some of us are completely asymptomatic of course.  Sometimes I get a sinking feeling in my stomach area prior to the start of an arrhythmia, as though the arrhythmia starts there not in the heart.   Did you feel any palpitations at the time to correlate your symptoms to an arrhythmia?  Clearly your Apple Watch and other tests did not suggest an arrhythmia.  Have you been overdoing it exercise wise, traumatising the chest wall/diaphragm area?  I have experienced this in the past and it can feel awful (restrictive).

I am assuming with your recent diagnosis that your doctors will carry out all the relevant tests if this continues.  You need an explanation for any new chest pain/discomfort.   Also consider injuries to the oesophagus (food pipe), trachea (windpipe) and a gastric connection.  I see you have had two recent heart cathetherization procedures, so perhaps look at these too as a cause for your symptoms?  Complications can arise during these procedures.  I hope your symptoms ease quickly and that your doctors can give you an early diagnosis on this one.  Good luck Alejandro

New Meds

by arent80 - 2023-07-25 03:35:19

Thank you as always for your wonderful messages, Gemita! No injuries recently. The only change has been medicine. They switched from metoprolol to propranolol. I am starting to think I might not be tolerating this medicine very well. It didn't cause any fatigue so I thought I was in the clear but now that I think about it this might be the issue. I've also read how it can cause HF among other issues. I'm not taking a very high dose but I think this might be worth discussing with my new docs. I am headed East in less than 48 hours! 

Propranolol

by Gemita - 2023-07-25 06:20:58

Alejandro, not sure why you were given a non cardio selective beta blocker like Propranolol when there are cardio selective beta blockers around that only target the heart receptors.  A non selective, or ”high dose” selective beta blocker can make some health conditions worse and cause more side effects.  

Cardio selective beta blockers are preferred for heart conditions because they're more effective at lowering the risk of heart-related complications and have fewer side effects than non-selective beta blockers.  Propranolol can be toxic I believe, particularly at higher doses when it can cause serious harm.

Usually, cardio selective beta blockers are preferred for heart conditions because they have a greater affinity for beta-1 receptors located in the heart.  Non-selective beta blockers act on beta-1 and beta-2 receptors, regardless of where they are found in the body and so can affect the heart, lungs, vascular smooth muscles, kidneys, GI tract etc. Therefore, if you have asthma or any pulmonary condition like COPD for example, these non-selective beta-blockers can significantly worsen symptoms.

You might like to read the attached link on beta receptors Alejandro.  Enjoy your trip

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532904/

Yes, I can relate

by PippyD - 2023-07-27 04:01:03

I can relate so well to this.  It's exactly how I have felt ever since getting a pacemaker for complete heartblock.  Before this, I was a runner and cyclist and very active.  One morning I woke up with a pulse of 36, although with no heart disease or artery problems and the next day was fitted with a pacemaker.  I'm not on any meds.  Now, I can't even walk to the end of the road without getting that winded feeling, or as you describe, "blown out".  I have been back to the pacemaker clinic and they told me everything's fine.  But it isn't - my quality of life is very poor as I can't even walk my dog, let alone get back to my other normal leisure activities.

i'm really sorry that you're having the same issues and I'd be interested to hear if you find out what's causing it.   I'm going back to the pacemaker clinic next week and I hope that they can help me.   
 

all the best.