HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/9/2016 10:33 PM (GMT -5)
For the past 4 weeks i've been having increasingly bad chest aches which i thought was high blood pressure so i bought a BP monitor for home. Seems what i thought was high blood pressure was in fact low blood pressure and a high heart rate (low 140's bpm) causing the heart to pump faster. This is definitely a symptom of one of the bugs I have (Lyme, Babesia, Bart). Anyone know which of these bugs cause this? Thanks.
Posted 3/9/2016 10:48 PM (GMT -5)
It's difficult to know - Bart and Babesia can both cause heart issues...most likely Lyme can, as well.


Is your heart rate always that high...or just intermittently?

How low is your BP?
Posted 3/9/2016 10:48 PM (GMT -5)
Rikky1 when my blood pressure is up my pulse is down. And then it is the reverse. Really weird. Motherwort and Hawthorn helped get it a little stable, but there are still things that make it go wonky. I so hate lyme because you never know if you should run to the ER. I bought 2 blood pressure machines and a finger pulse and oxygen monitor. Big deal..... they are both all over the place and there is no rhyme or reason -- just dumb ole lyme.

Please if you get a grasp on this heart part, pass it on to me. Thank you so much.

~Annette
Posted 3/9/2016 11:46 PM (GMT -5)
I have a friend who has serious problems with Atrial Fibrillation...she has Lyme and Babesia. She's made several trips to the ED and the cardiologist in the past year. Eliminating wheat and stress have helped her. She's planning to retire soon.

I have another friend who has had A fib as well who was just diagnosed with Lyme...not sure about coinfections yet.

A sustained heart rate of 140 needs to be dealt with. I would see someone ASAP.
Posted 3/10/2016 6:45 AM (GMT -5)
My blood pressure is not consistently low it tends to vary throughout the day for example it tends to ramp up around lunch time and can last 30 minutes or 5 hours. Last night my blood pressure went to 118/82 with 155 beats per minute hence why my heart was racing. You can't really relax when this happens just have to hold on for the ride.

I've had this since mid-Nov and when I started treating Bartonella about 6 weeks ago it got worse. I"m currently on Rifampin (6 weeks) and Bixain (2 weeks). I took Rifampin alone for a while when stopping Cipro and its definitely helping my head issues but the chest isn't resolving.

This makes me think either Biaxin isn't doing much for me or I'm dealing with a different bug than Bart for the heart. I thought I had my Lyme and Babs under control but maybe not.

I don't see my LLMD for another month and not too happy with current situation because I don't believe Biaxin is doing much for me and would like to switch but she'll want me to stay with it until then.
Posted 3/10/2016 8:20 AM (GMT -5)
Rikky1

When was the last time you had your thyroid checked? Both overactive and underactive thyroid can cause these issues.....and Lyme and Co's are famous for causing thyroid problems.

If you had your thyroid checked recently, I hope you had more than TSH checked - that's a pituitary hormone involved in thyroid metabolism and not a reliable indicator of thyroid function....especially when infections are involved.

Thyroid-savvy doctors look at the actual thyroid hormone levels: Free T4 (T4 or thyroxine, free, direct) and Free T3 (tri-iodothyronine, free, serum)

Based upon my experiences with thyroid-clueless doctors, I wouldn't trust any doctor's interpretation of your labs. All too many doctors look at "normal" (aka in-range) thyroid levels and declare the patient normal when he/she is anything but.

If you'd like to share your thyroid test results (with reference ranges), I'll show you how to interpret them.
Posted 3/10/2016 9:16 AM (GMT -5)
Rikky1-

I was tachycardia queen for a long time last year. It was due to an autoimmune thyroid condition, Hashimoto's.

To definitively test it, you need to check your TPO antibodies in addition to the thyroid tests CD mentioned above (mine were 1,108!!). TPO antibodies, when high, signal Hashimoto's. There are also antibody tests for Graves, which can also present with racing heart and tachycardia. The link below explains the various tests. Autoimmune diseases seem very common with these stealth pathogens - so Hashimoto's and Graves are not out of the question.

https://labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/thyroid-antibodies/tab/test/

One thing to do in the present (it was a lifesaver to me to keep tachycardia at bay) is to take a good, bioavailable form of magnesium. Magnesium is a natural calcium channel blocker and will slow that heart rate down, down, down - that is what it does and the results are immediate. It is not healthy to keep the heart rate at such a high level! I use 400mg magnesium glycinate (200mg, twice daily)...magnesium citrate is good, too. I noticed immediate improvement of my tachycardia once I started taking it. It wasn't a "cure" because if I would skip it, the tachycardia would reappear....but until you get it resolved, it will help give your heart a rest.
Posted 3/10/2016 11:17 AM (GMT -5)
Rikky, you said, "I've had this since mid-Nov and when I started treating Bartonella about 6 weeks ago it got worse." I think you just answered your own question.
Posted 3/10/2016 12:49 PM (GMT -5)
"Last night my blood pressure went to 118/82 with 155 beats per minute hence why my heart was racing. "

118/82 is a normal blood pressure...what is your blood pressure when your heart isn't racing?
Posted 3/10/2016 6:27 PM (GMT -5)
My blood pressure is normally in around 140/95. That's just me always has been that way so dropping down that much is definitely a problem.

I don't have any thyroid issues I've beaten that horse to death.

I think its the Bart but what's bugging me is I would assume because my head and chest issues are Bart both would get better with treatment but they aren't only the head is.

I'm convinced the Biaxin isn't doing anything for me. Next up is replacing Biaxin with Doxy which if you can believe I've never taken. This is one of the Horowitz combos for Bart. Problem is I have to wait another 4+ weeks to switch and make sure the Biaxin doesn't help me. I've historically responded quickly to something that works for me usually within the first 7-10 days.
Posted 3/15/2016 12:44 AM (GMT -5)
Neil spectors story is interesting....my counselor was treated by dr martz for a yr with iv and still has resting hr of 100bpm. ..lyme loves nerves and there is too much blood flow near heart for mic levels to kill infection. ..read dr martz had two heart attacks...are you still on floriqunalone?
Posted 3/15/2016 6:49 AM (GMT -5)
I'm sure you recognize that 140/95 is the type of BP that would usually prompt a prescription for BP meds. I'd be happy if my BP went down to 118/82 if I used to have a higher BP.

The pulse rate is a concern, though, and I'm sure you've been checked out by a cardiologist.

Just as Girlie mentioned, Lyme, Babs and Bart all have the capacity to mess with this stuff.

Sorry things aren't more clear...
Posted 3/15/2016 2:14 PM (GMT -5)
bluelyme i stopped taking the cipro after a few weeks. nasty stuff for sure i'll never touch it again!
Posted 3/15/2016 6:21 PM (GMT -5)
Ricky1:
When I got Lyme (meningitis)28years ago, rapid heart rate came with. No coffee,or decaf(has a lot) no laying on back.(reinfected lyme meningitis 2012)
I have big autonomic things now, since sept..Have 5 or 6 heart attacks, since 1990. lots or triponins. Vegal nerve from brain stem screws with arm,leg all movement , sends constricting chemicals, you've got attack.
I've had one just with afib too, from decaf. Passed out .
Get help for that hr, don't eat too much salt, MSG, caffeine.
I know now I can't touch biaxin either, speeds heart 2 hours later, actually when your nervous system gets involved many pills can give malignant blood pressure. Can't handle the chemicals.
You'll find lyme patients have these chemical sensitivity. Hopefully not like me. Lots of bread helps if bad day with jumping vegal.
They have these crazy ASMR relax video on you tube that activate parasympathetic signals, there weird, but they slow youre heart and relax you. I use for sleep frequently. "Dimitri neck relax video"
But get to doc to help you, that's not an acceptable hr for even a short while.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply