What is Pulmonary Embolism
By far the most common form of pulmonary embolism is a thromboembolism, which occurs when a blood clot, generally a venous thrombus, becomes dislodged from its site of formation an...
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Lopressor, SVT, and PE
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PE caused heart rate to go sky high (220 beats per minute). Controlled in ICU with Lopressor IV drip. Discharged on Metoprolol 50 mg twice daily. Stepped up activities in the three weeks since discharge and actually felt ready for stress test when assured chest pain, occasional difficulty breathing, and whatnot were remnants of PE that would hand around for months (PE was 60% blockage). Stress test required that I discontinue Metoprolol 24 hours in advance. Morning of test, heart rate was up to 150, BP bouncing all over the place, and I'm well into a panic. trip to ER landed me in hospital for 2 days where I had one more episode of supraventricular tachycardia until metoprolol got back into system. Discharged with a switch from "normal metoprolol" to extended release version. Not had problem with heart rate prior to PE that I now have a heart problem. Am also terrified as I had thought I was recovering quite well and landed back in hospital (freaking out and eating Xanax right now). Docs think problem solely related to metabolism change on my part and missed dose (one missed dose causes a problem I hadn't had before PE?). Any one else dealt with this sort of thing - am going crazy with paranoia about all this - am not good at being sick...
Thanks in advance!!! Posted on 09/28/08, 11:09 pm |
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I have had a similar experience where I felt great after a couple weeks of being discharged the 1st time from the hospital but then 2 months later I landed back in the hospital for 4 days for a really bad chest pain (ended up being a small clot rubbing against tissue in lungs). When I was in the hospital the first time I had no damage to the lungs except for large large clots, but the 2nd time I was admitted they saw scarring and dead tissue in the lungs from the CT scan. This is not to scare you, but that sometimes you may land back in the hospital. But I am glad that you went to the ER when you didn't feel right because that is what you should definitely do if you are concerned. It could mean to take your steps towards exercise and getting back to your "normal" lifestyle a little slower than you did before. That seems to help a lot for me once I was discharged the 2nd time.
I'm just wondering, what do you mean by stepping up your activity after 3 weeks discharged from the hospital....like what type of activity were you doing? 
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In terms of stepping up activity, I was back at work in 2-3 hour shifts for a total of about 7-8 hours a day (office job at computer, some lecturing), walking 1-2 times a day for 15-20 minutes, and was back to running some fire calls (am a Chief - I don't do the heavy lifting - I tell others to do that - I'm just making tactical decisions and more or less walking around with a radio - not as stressful as people think when you're used to that sort of thing). FYI - I am tremendously overweight, so this has also keyed me up about losing weight - am doing 1800 cal/day - basically continued my hospital diet at home. Good things have come about as a result - am now 30+ days without nicotine (chewed tobacco for 17 years) and caffeine (would drink gallons of iced tea if available).
Heart rate/bp thing my biggest scary issue right now. I live in a rural area, and while I trust my GP, he's just that - a GP. To get scans, a cardiologist, etc., it's a 2-hour drive... I don't want to get into enough trouble that I cannot get to those sorts of resources before I bite the dust if something really bad goes wrong.
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I too was put back in the hospital a week after my PE was diagnosed -only then for 5 days. Finally put on Atenalol to get my heartrate down -All I had to do was stand up, and my heartrate would go up to 160's, then I would feel like I was going to pass out. Tried to get off the Atenaol 3 times. Not successful -so sent to a special cardiologist who deals with heart arrythmias -called an electrophysiologist, did a halter monitor, tilt table test, diagnosed with an atrial tacchycardia -probably due to the PE. I take a medicine called Verapamil now -my other option that could be a cure is cardiac ablation surgery -could also land you with a pacer, and could be a big chance for a clot again - no thankyou. Are you being followed by a cirdiologist? Sounds like you should be. Blessings, Teri
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