Yeah-my oncology nurses have commented about my heart rate going up about 3-4 hours into my 10 hour infusions. That's the point when we stop anyway to do another iv round of Benadryll, then start the infusion again. I normally have a low blood pressure and heart rate, so any increase is easily noticable.

Something else--I sometimes will have heart racing during the night that will keep me awake. I am trying to track this to see if I can narrow down a cause. When I was in the hospital in Feb., I had a normal heart echo and stress test, so....

shoshi

Is it only during the infusions? My heart rate does increase a couple hours into my infusion, but I also have been diagnosed with SVT. My heart rate will jump suddenly sometimes, it's most noticeable and bothersome at night. I will sometimes get dizzy and /or pass out it gets so high. It did not show up on stress test and my echos have always been normal. It has showed up on a loop monitor and holter monitor. If you are experiencing rapid heart rate I would suggest asking to be put on a monitor, maybe the day of your infusion to see if you are having some form of arrhythmia. Also anytime I have to take prednisone it gets worse as prednisone can cause irregular heart rates. I now take metoprolol and it has been much less bothersome.

I hav only been told about my increased heartrate about 1/2 way into my infusions. I did have an echo and stress test in Feb. that came out normal. The feeling of heart racing usually happens only at night, but only after I have fallen 1/2 or all the way asleep for a brief period. After I wake from the first episode, it will keep repeating throughout the night. Kinda like how your heart races when you are vomitting over night.

Most of the time that they caught the tachycardia on the monitors I hadn't even felt it. The first time I remember feeling the palpitations I was 13. It took until I was 20 to be diagnosed. My palpitations definitely keep me up and wake me up at night sometimes. If you haven't ever had a monitor you should consider it just to be safe. A very large number of people have arrhythmias...but most of them are not dangerous. My oxygen saturation also goes down when my heart rate increases so maybe they are related.

My heart rate is not that high. My husband has SVT but it has been fixed with surgery. His heart rate would just to 200 beats per minute. Mine is just I am sitting in the chair and my heart rate will be in the 60's, then just to the high 80's for a while. I only notice it during the infusions, and it happens at about 3-4 hrs into the infusion. My nurse is guessing that maybe it is due to the increase in volume in my veins. I plan to ask my dr. at my next regular visit but thought I would see if anyone else has that happen.

same here Megan. I have SVT, so my heart rate goes crazy lots of times. it's been under control with medicine for about ten years now, but i still see an increase during illness or infusions.

Do you get prednisone or any other steroids before the infusion? I think that they can cause your heartrate to go up.

My BP actually goes down during my infusion, but they mentioned that this is because I don't get steroids.

My overall BP went up after I started the infusions, and my GP said that this was normal.

Sorry that you are having this problem I have only had one infusion so I'm hoping this is something rare and I wont have that kind of reaction.
I will say on my first infusion I had really bad back pain that stopped the infusion and I had to have some Prednisone and pain meds. I'm so hoping that I don't have that problem on Tuesday when I go and get the next infusion.
Best wishes for all of you.
Eric

I noticed the other day that increased heart rate is listed in several places as a side effect of IVIG. So apparently it is a known possible side effect.

http://www.immunedisease.com/choosing-a-therapy/how-ivig-works/ivig-side-effects.html