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Suggest Treatment For High Blood Pressure , Heart Palpitations And Headache
3 weeks terrible pressure headaches, BP elevated 170/99, main problem I feel like my heart pauses, with a heavy lingering beat, and then a Rush of pressure to my head, I freak out because I think I m going to have a heart attack, worse at night, I used to love to sleep, not anymore
Mon, 7 Sep 2015
Greetings. Thank you for your question and welcome to HCM. I understand your concern.
Well, the added symptoms like insomnia are coming from the fear that something weird is happening to you. Everything can be explained by your anxiety, you are experiencing from these episodes. Psychological stress is a major factor one producing high blood pressure, which in turn produces the pressure headaches, and the anxiety, which is accompanied by a flush of adrenalin, can cause extrasystoles. Extrasystoles are extra heart beats, not generated by the normal pacemaker of the heart, but from an ectopic "beacon". The normal heart beat that comes after extrasystole, is more forceful and produces the feeling like heart is pounding out of the chest or throat - palpitation. Anyway, every single phenomenon you described has a logical and physiological explanation. However, even though my suspicion is low, regarding a possible cardiac origin of your problem, I would like to recommend some tests, to exclude the cardiac origin with the highest certainty, or confirm a possible heart problem:
- echocardiogram - to evaluate the function and size of heart chambers and valves
- 24-hour blood pressure monitor - to see if these high figures happen one time a day, during stress, or if they are constant throughout the day, in which case proper and immediate treatment should be started to control blood pressure and keep it under 140/90 mmHg.
- EKG
- cardiac stress test, if seen reasonable by the cardiologist that assesses the above mentioned tests.
I hope I was helpful with my answer. Take care.
Best regards,
Dr. Meriton
Well, the added symptoms like insomnia are coming from the fear that something weird is happening to you. Everything can be explained by your anxiety, you are experiencing from these episodes. Psychological stress is a major factor one producing high blood pressure, which in turn produces the pressure headaches, and the anxiety, which is accompanied by a flush of adrenalin, can cause extrasystoles. Extrasystoles are extra heart beats, not generated by the normal pacemaker of the heart, but from an ectopic "beacon". The normal heart beat that comes after extrasystole, is more forceful and produces the feeling like heart is pounding out of the chest or throat - palpitation. Anyway, every single phenomenon you described has a logical and physiological explanation. However, even though my suspicion is low, regarding a possible cardiac origin of your problem, I would like to recommend some tests, to exclude the cardiac origin with the highest certainty, or confirm a possible heart problem:
- echocardiogram - to evaluate the function and size of heart chambers and valves
- 24-hour blood pressure monitor - to see if these high figures happen one time a day, during stress, or if they are constant throughout the day, in which case proper and immediate treatment should be started to control blood pressure and keep it under 140/90 mmHg.
- EKG
- cardiac stress test, if seen reasonable by the cardiologist that assesses the above mentioned tests.
I hope I was helpful with my answer. Take care.
Best regards,
Dr. Meriton
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