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What Does Pounding And Skipping Sensation Near The Heart When On Dilaudid Indicate?

Posted on Mon, 18 May 2015

Question: I am on long-term painmanagement for adhesive arachnoiditis. my PainMgt doctor switched my short acting oxycidine 30mg tab to 4-8 mg of Dilaudud instead as my pain was through the roof with a long flare-up. I just stopped taking it a few days ago and am bavk on my regular long acting mors contain 180 mg per day, and oxy. It now seems my heart is still pounding and skipping around - which seemed to start when I took the oral breakthrough Dilaudid for a month. It doesn't hurt and Im not having a heart attack, and it's not full-on fibrillation, but it pounds and flutters and makes me feel nauseous. ( I did have WPW that was catheter ablated in 1990 - 5 accessory pathways,) Is it getting off of it that's causing it or could the dilaudid somemehow damaged my heart? I took as prescribed and have been on pain mgmt for 6 years.

Answered by Dr. Benard Shehu (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Symptoms may be a side effect of Dilaudid.

Detailed Answer:
Hi and thank you for asking!
I read your query and understood your concerns.

Heart pounding and fluttering , palpitations, tachycardia etc. are common side effects of Dilaudid and are found in 1% of patients using it.

However my suggestion is that you should do the following examinations to exclude any cardiac problems :
- ECG
- Cardiac echo
- holter monitoring
If all the mentioned examinations will be normal than your heart isn't damaged by Dilaudid and your symptoms are related with Dilaudid side effect.

Hope this was of help!
Wish you health!
Dr. Shehu

Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar