Tweakette
Irrelevant
Back in March I ended up in the hospital for 5 days with pneumonia.
While I was in there they did a chest CT and found 2 other things in there:
1) I herniated my entire stomach into my chest from the coughing (it had been just a moderate sized hiatal hernia on an Xray a week before the hospitalization. This will need surgery.
2) I have a 4.9 cm ascending aortic aneurysm and a 4.2 cm aortic root. Tricuspid valve is in good shape with some mild regurgitation. The rest of my heart looks ok. This will need surgical repair too.
My lungs have mostly healed, my stomach situation is tolerable, so the aneurysm is the main focus of concern.
The issue I'm having now is managing the blood pressure. Everything the docs give me seems to make it worse.
My average just out of the hospital on 50 mg of losartan was about 130/80. That was while I was still sick ,withdrawing from Prednisone, and 20 lbs heavier than I am now. The aneurysm rules dictates that it needs to be 120/80 pulse 80 or lower , though.
So the docs made me take a beta blocker - metoprolol succinate 25 mg. I have odd reactions to meds so I balked initially but I understand their reasoning. The first week was hell and I could barely stand up. Then it evened out at a good BP and pulse for 3 weeks (110/70 p60).
Then I utterly stopped being able to poop. I mean, nothing. I tried fiber, fluids, prunes etc - no luck.
Then I tried a packet of Miralax and 2 hours after taking it my BP shot up 40 points and didnt come down for EIGHT DAYS.
I managed to crank out a few turds during that period but when the BP came down again my bowels locked up.
So I then tried 1 Senokot tablet. Same thing - BP up huge for a full day (but I could poop again).
No one has any idea why this is happening, even if they believe me (which is rare, they just say "that can't happen").
Now we've changed meds - this time atenolol(25 mg). The med switch put me in bed for a weekend dealing with rolling panic attacks that took 4 days to ease up.
Atenolol doesn't last all day and now gives me rebound panic attacks in the PM that shoot my BP to 160/90. AND I can't poop on this either. And because of the Miralax and Senokot issue I'm afraid to take anything else. And I can't pry it out because that could blow the aneurysm.
I can't absorb BP constant spikes like this mess without risking the aneurysm. Without the beta blocker it didn't go that high AND I could poop!
Atenolol also seems to be raising my blood sugar and giving me false hypoglycemic episodes (which raise my BP!). I used to get them in the past and cured them with low carb but now this drug is messing that up.
I wake up with high BP every morning and the shakes like I had a bowl of Captain Crunch for dinner the previous evening.
And I think I'm now getting panic attacks from the losartan, which Ive had in the past when increasing doses. I think right now my body is so messed up that its reacting to everything. They hit 2.5 hours after taking it, every day.
My BP also shoots up from drinking plain water. That's not so good when you need to drink water because you haven't pooped in a week from your BP medication and you're already up there.
Google "water as pressor" if you don't believe me. It happens in older people and those with dysautonomia (I probably have some of that as I have hypermobile EDS and they tend to go together).
I'm 58 years old. I'm asthmatic so my "choice" of beta blockers is also limited to ones that won't screw up the asthma.
I am so frustrated. I've done everything right during this - taken the meds, cut out salt, walking 2 miles a day (in sessions, now that my lungs allow), lost 20 lbs in 2 months (the jacked-up stomach made that easy). But every time I turn around my body is doing some other bizarre thing that causes a cascade effect into other problems and issues.
And icing on the cake now is my new-to-me cardiologist is out of town for a month and barely answering email. I'm on my own.
I have very serious doubts that I will make it out of this situation alive.
Thanks for listening.
While I was in there they did a chest CT and found 2 other things in there:
1) I herniated my entire stomach into my chest from the coughing (it had been just a moderate sized hiatal hernia on an Xray a week before the hospitalization. This will need surgery.
2) I have a 4.9 cm ascending aortic aneurysm and a 4.2 cm aortic root. Tricuspid valve is in good shape with some mild regurgitation. The rest of my heart looks ok. This will need surgical repair too.
My lungs have mostly healed, my stomach situation is tolerable, so the aneurysm is the main focus of concern.
The issue I'm having now is managing the blood pressure. Everything the docs give me seems to make it worse.
My average just out of the hospital on 50 mg of losartan was about 130/80. That was while I was still sick ,withdrawing from Prednisone, and 20 lbs heavier than I am now. The aneurysm rules dictates that it needs to be 120/80 pulse 80 or lower , though.
So the docs made me take a beta blocker - metoprolol succinate 25 mg. I have odd reactions to meds so I balked initially but I understand their reasoning. The first week was hell and I could barely stand up. Then it evened out at a good BP and pulse for 3 weeks (110/70 p60).
Then I utterly stopped being able to poop. I mean, nothing. I tried fiber, fluids, prunes etc - no luck.
Then I tried a packet of Miralax and 2 hours after taking it my BP shot up 40 points and didnt come down for EIGHT DAYS.
I managed to crank out a few turds during that period but when the BP came down again my bowels locked up.
So I then tried 1 Senokot tablet. Same thing - BP up huge for a full day (but I could poop again).
No one has any idea why this is happening, even if they believe me (which is rare, they just say "that can't happen").
Now we've changed meds - this time atenolol(25 mg). The med switch put me in bed for a weekend dealing with rolling panic attacks that took 4 days to ease up.
Atenolol doesn't last all day and now gives me rebound panic attacks in the PM that shoot my BP to 160/90. AND I can't poop on this either. And because of the Miralax and Senokot issue I'm afraid to take anything else. And I can't pry it out because that could blow the aneurysm.
I can't absorb BP constant spikes like this mess without risking the aneurysm. Without the beta blocker it didn't go that high AND I could poop!
Atenolol also seems to be raising my blood sugar and giving me false hypoglycemic episodes (which raise my BP!). I used to get them in the past and cured them with low carb but now this drug is messing that up.
I wake up with high BP every morning and the shakes like I had a bowl of Captain Crunch for dinner the previous evening.
And I think I'm now getting panic attacks from the losartan, which Ive had in the past when increasing doses. I think right now my body is so messed up that its reacting to everything. They hit 2.5 hours after taking it, every day.
My BP also shoots up from drinking plain water. That's not so good when you need to drink water because you haven't pooped in a week from your BP medication and you're already up there.
Google "water as pressor" if you don't believe me. It happens in older people and those with dysautonomia (I probably have some of that as I have hypermobile EDS and they tend to go together).
I'm 58 years old. I'm asthmatic so my "choice" of beta blockers is also limited to ones that won't screw up the asthma.
I am so frustrated. I've done everything right during this - taken the meds, cut out salt, walking 2 miles a day (in sessions, now that my lungs allow), lost 20 lbs in 2 months (the jacked-up stomach made that easy). But every time I turn around my body is doing some other bizarre thing that causes a cascade effect into other problems and issues.
And icing on the cake now is my new-to-me cardiologist is out of town for a month and barely answering email. I'm on my own.
I have very serious doubts that I will make it out of this situation alive.
Thanks for listening.
Last edited:
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