Increased heart rate when resting

I've had sleep problems since my first pacemaker about 9 years ago. Since then I've had to take various meds for sleep and also started testosterone therapy.

About 2 months ago, I started having high BP in the evening and continuing through mid-morning, but it was very inconsistent. My EP said my sinus node is regenerating.

About 2 weeks ago, I just stopped sleeping - regardless of sleep meds. What's really odd though is that now, shortly after I go home and start relaxing my heart rate goes up to about 80-90 bpm. Although I've had sleep problems for years, I assume this is frosting on the cake and makes it even harder to sleep.

Does anyone have any insight into why my heart rate and/or BP would go up when resting?


here's my background:

3x partial AV node ablation for SVTs, then;
9 yrs ago I got a pacemaker and slowly started feeling 'bad'
Within a few months I stopped sleeping (get ~2 hours/night)
3 yrs ago I got a CRT pacemaker
2 yrs ago I started sleeping ~5 hrs/night with various meds
6 months ago I started Testosterone replacement therapy
2 months ago I started feeling really good, also started a new sleep med and slept 8 hrs/night
1 month ago I started feeling bad again
2 weeks ago I stopped sleeping again regardless of meds

(Pacer sleep settings have been verified regularly)

5 Comments

Testosterone and heart rate

by IAN MC - 2015-08-06 04:08:34

It is well documented that , in a small percentage of people, testosterone replacement therapy can cause an increase in heart-rate and blood pressure.

The fact that it happens when you are resting is irrelevant if you are experiencing a drug side-effect.

I think it somehow causes a fall in blood sugar which in turn can cause more adrenaline to be produced . You know what happens when your adrenaline levels go up ( e.g if you're being chased by a zombie on a dark night ) yes, your heart rate and BP go up !

I assume that you are convinced of the benefits of testosterone replacement therapy, maybe you have a definite testosterone-deficiency condition , but I assume that you are also aware that it MAY increase your chances of having a heart attack . The jury is still out on the benefits and risks !!!

Best of luck

Ian

Sleep doctor / clinic

by Theknotguy - 2015-08-06 07:08:35

Per AngrySparrow, if I were you, I'd go to a sleep doctor or clinic ASAP. As Sparrow says, not sleeping is dangerous. There is a disease that will cause you to stop sleeping. The people who have that usually die within a year. Based upon your description, doesn't sound like you have that but I'm not a doctor.

While it's great you're still able to function at ~2 hours per night, it still isn't good. You may be going into micro sleep during the day which can be fatal while driving.

There are a whole lot of other issues with not sleeping. I'm surprised your EP hasn't had you do something about it already. High BP is just one of the symptoms.

After I came out of the hospital they put me in a step-down facility with a person who had really bad sleep apnea. He had developed this routine of napping during the day, then playing the TV all night. Any time he would go into a deep sleep he'd start choking and gasping for air. The noise from the TV would wake him up enough so he could go into a normal breathing routine. Then he'd repeat the process all over again. Fall asleep, start choking and gasping for air, wake up with TV blaring in his ear, get awake enough to breath normally, repeat pattern. It was OK for him, but after three nights in the same room with him I was ready to commit suicide.

Problem was his sleep apnea was slowly killing him. Estimates were that he had less than six months to live. And, of course, he turned down all efforts to help him.

Guess what? My Dad had sleep apnea too. Had developed a pattern similar to what I described above, refused treatment, died early. So when the opportunity came along for me to get help, I took it. Now I regularly get seven hours of sleep a night. Up from 1.5 hours at my worst. Needless to say, I feel wonderful.

I sincerely hope you can get some help soon.

Adrenalin looks like a good lead

by Goose Goose - 2015-08-08 05:08:44

Thanks folks - I greatly appreciate your posts.

I just took a look at info on the adrenalin and it's interesting. I've found posts from people complaining of the exact same problem of the heart issues only coming on when trying to relax. I'll look into this further.

Except for the adrenaline, everything mentioned has been considered. The testosterone therapy was absolutely necessary and I've had 4 sleep studies. I carefully monitor my meds to the point that I track them in drug modeling software, etc. (The doctors having run me through everything else mentioned, supports that they're good suggestions.)

Thanks again!

Sleep Problems

by LitLady - 2015-10-06 11:10:53

to JeffDuck - Did you ever find something to help you sleep through the night. Like you I've had sleep issues every since my Medtronic pacemaker was installed in April 2014. I'm awake every 2 hours but I do fall asleep again. It's hard on the body not to get extended sleep. My REM sleep is extremely short.

Found nothing definitive

by Goose Goose - 2015-10-27 03:10:33

Sorry for the delay - for some reason my mail server never gets notifications from this forum.

LitLady - your sleep issue sounds different from mine. If you haven't already, I'd ask about the sleep mode in your pacer. Also I found that my optimum sleep position seems to have changed. Aside from changing positions in bed, I now sleep better while on my side in a recliner.

Just in case it's helpful though, here's what I did learn.

I found more discussions from people who have had similar problems for up to 25+ years. I also found one paper written by a doctor. I've read a lot of studies over the past years and this was only what I'ld call an opinion piece but it was well written. Here's a SUMMARY of what I remember as it pertained to me...

When standing, your endo system has to compensate for the change in position. This is part of what keeps all the fluids from flowing downhill. There seems to be a somewhat rare condition where this process results in an over creation of adrenaline so some people have these types of symptoms when standing. But the body functions that cause this don't necessarily increase the adrenaline when standing, it's actually the result of a change in the need of the hormones that would be required for standing but can occurred when changing positions in any way. The organs (I'm not sure what to call them - I don't remember that glands were specifically the culprit) generally aren't getting the right signal and although more rare, other people have reported the exact same problem of increased adrenaline when they lay down and try to relax.

I've found no specific solution to this. Different people have delt with it in different ways.

Personally I've found that if I just don't try to go to sleep, I can deal with it better. Usually I just stay up until about 4:00-6:00 AM then sleep (sometimes without meds) for about 4:ish hours. Doing this I'm also now occasionally dozing off on the couch around 8:00 PM which feels nice and normal although when my short nap ends, im then usually wide awake.

Also, about every 5 days or so I can just go to bed around 9:00-10:00 PM and sleep well for about 9-11 hours but then I'm back to being up all night.

I wish I had a better solution but I'm feeling much better than I did.

Good luck!

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