Posted by floatingbridge on July 28, 2011, at 22:05:45
In reply to Re: Went off nardil 1 week ago. HR/BP problems persist » emmanuel98, posted by mantus on July 28, 2011, at 21:19:05
Landon, I researched at pubmed a bit. I saw a journal entry from 1964 (!) about vascular complications of maoi's, but it was just the title. No info. I tried researching sudden onset pots and medicine induced pots without much luck. Apparently, HR you are reporting are, well, the info is mixed. It's said they aren't dangerous, but terrible to endure, and the HR alone creates a lack of oxygen that causes extreme fatigue (but not brain damage). If it doesn't resolve, then there are treatments. One is a beta blocker which has already been mentioned and I think you rejected. I don't know anything about beta blockers.... But what if (just the idea of a non-scientist here) you could by a beta blocker get your heart rate down? You might find the intense (justified) anger toning tone into a workable size.
It was also said tachardya (sp!) is in some instances attributed to anxiety. You know some people experience anxiety as purely physical and skip the whole psychological piece--the way some are physically depressed but do not have emotional or psychological symptoms. So, in this light, you could be experiencing extreme rebound anxiety that is triggering pots. The tachardya you report alone will produce profound physical effects-- like not being able to stand or walk across the room.
Maybe you can try a beta blocker just to get this to stop sooner. Maybe it's looping. Maybe it will just go away very soon and you will be happily surprised to regain your health. I guess I am not sure the extremes you are suffering are better than the risk of considering a short course of a beta blocker. But someone jump in here, because I do not know anything about beta blockers.
So sorry this is happening to you. I am optimistic on your behalf.
> > Maybe it's just a coincidence that this happened when you went off nardil, since there's no reports anywhere of nardil causing this (have you checked the FDA website? That's the most thorough.) Maybe you should see a cardiologist, get an EKG standing and lying down to try to figure out what is going on. It may have nothing to do with Nardil.
>
> No, it began with Nardil. I first had traditional orthostatic hypotension symptoms as documented again and again as a common side effect of Nardil. However, that changed, my bp no longer drops when standing, but my hr explodes beyond anything I have ever experienced before. Even when I was experiencing orthostatic hypotension, my hr never went nearly this high. I am troubled because I told doctors for months that this was happening and yet they just ignored me essentially. I know I am responsible for my own well being, however this was my first trial with an maoi and I had no idea what to expect, so I thought for months, maybe this is just something I have to go through. However, after doing my own research I realized it wasn't at all a normal side effect, and my p-doc knew that and should've at least fully discussed my concerns so I could have made the decision to drop it months ago. I truly felt that by dropping the Nardil I would see at least some marginal level of improvement after 10 days, but if anything it is actually worse, and I'm terrified because the research I have did on POTS basically shows that it can be treated to some extent, but that's all. I have played sports and been active my entire life, even in between some of my worst bouts of depression. I have had EKG's done, and they just show an increased hr upon standing, it wouldn't really show anything else. And a tilt table test is not necessary because I know for a fact what my body does when I stand. I'll keep people up to date, but seeing a specialist at this point really doesn't help matters, because this has all been caused by Nardil and quite frankly i don't want to just take a medicine to mask the effects until I know 100 percent for sure that it won't go away with time being off of Nardil.
poster:floatingbridge
thread:991911
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110728/msgs/992202.html