Head & Neck Radiation / BP

Hondo said:

Hi Sirenaf


One of the things I love most about being part of CSN is the information we get.

I have been telling my Ocl doctor about my pb problem for months and he never would give me an answer as to why, all I can think is maybe he does not know. The first time I said something about low pb to my heart doctor he hit right on it. His problem right now is trying to figure out what to do with someone whose pb goes between 170/ 117 to as low as 80/47

I know about the dizzy all-day feeling and when it hits I just don’t feel like doing anything. You are right the side affects seam to never go away

I said it before, and I will say it again... CANCER SUCKS

I will let you know what my doc says. Do you ever get chest fluttering, like bubbles or butterflies on the left side?

Hondo said:

fluttering
I don’t get the fluttering in the chest but I do get tightness that I believe was a heart attach but the doc found nothing wrong with my heart, like you said just a cancer sucks side affect

Take care

BP
Some of the blood pressure numbers you guys get are real high and real low. Yes the fluttering feeling is caused by irregular heart beats usually, this can be controlled by drugs like lopressor. Believe me if you start to have chest pains that are leading u to an attack you will know it, when I had my chest pains before surgery it felt like a bear hug from the incredible hulk. Cancer sucks alright, since I got diagnosed it seems like there is an epidemic but it's just that now I take notice. My dizziness has completely gone away and I take lopressor which also lowers BP, BP is usually around 120 over 75, which is great. Denis

denistd said:

BP
Some of the blood pressure numbers you guys get are real high and real low. Yes the fluttering feeling is caused by irregular heart beats usually, this can be controlled by drugs like lopressor. Believe me if you start to have chest pains that are leading u to an attack you will know it, when I had my chest pains before surgery it felt like a bear hug from the incredible hulk. Cancer sucks alright, since I got diagnosed it seems like there is an epidemic but it's just that now I take notice. My dizziness has completely gone away and I take lopressor which also lowers BP, BP is usually around 120 over 75, which is great. Denis

I've got high blood pressure
I had it before cancer, and it was pretty well under control thanks to meds. I think that losing about 40 pounds thanks to cancer has helped by BP.
However, the talk about "fluttering" in the chest really hit home. One day, not long after my TX ended, I was in the basement doing laundry. I'd dropped something on the floor, and when I bent at the knees to pick it up, I started to get woozy and I had a weird feeling in my chest. It's as if I was very aware of my heart beating, which is not something I usually notice.
It kept up for about 45 minutes, at which point I called 911. The ambulance came and the EMTs found that my heart was beating rapidly and the rhythm was off. They shot me up with something (I forget what) and the effect was almost immediate. My heart rhythm went back to normal.
They took me to the ER, where they did an EKG and other tests, and determined that I'd had an episode of SVT: supraventricular tachycardia. (You can Google it for more info.)
My cardiologist said it is impossible to determine whether this came from the rads and chemo or something else. It was pretty scary, and I haven't had an episode since.

--Jim in Delaware

Hondo said:

Jim
I bet that scared the day lights right out of you, I will need to keep this SVT in my book of memories just in case, great post thanks again

BP
I have the print out from the link above and will be talking to my GP on Thursday about this to see if this might be the source of my BP going high some times, and being abnormally low others.

delnative said:

Hey, SirenaF42
FWIW, that sounds a lot like the SVT that I had. One thing you can try the next time it hits -- and it won't do you any harm if it doesn't work -- is something that my cardiologist recommended.
She told me that if it happened again, I was to lie on my back and then (there's no delicate way to put this, but I'll do my best) strain as if you were straining to have a bowel movement that was being uncooperative. (Delicate enough for you?)
Dr. Cardio said that often is enough to get your heart rhythm back in order.
And, FWIW, the attack that led me to call 911 was preceded by several much more minor episodes. And all of them happened in the morning.


--Jim in Delaware

delnative
That was nicely put lol.

I have my appt today lets see what he says. Right now I am in allergy HECK and have a sinus headache that may win the battle over staying at work... Dang MOld in the air is kicking my butt!!!

Stuffy, heart racing and achy

Sirena

SASH said:

BP
I have the print out from the link above and will be talking to my GP on Thursday about this to see if this might be the source of my BP going high some times, and being abnormally low others.

Talked to Primary Care
I spoke with my Primary Care today and he said it would only affect if the BP was low and were getting dizzy and light headed. Might only be his opinion so you might want to ask your docs too.