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Long Covid & High BP when standing
I’m 62 and got caught Covid for the 3rd time in June.
The first time in 2020 almost killed me as I had 5 Pulmonary Embolisms, pneumonia, and two hospital stays.
In between I was treated for a huge number of PVCs ( xtra heartbeats) as one out of three beats was a PVC. Over a million in 2 months.
I was able to “ cure” them by having two areas ablated, but not before also installing a defibrillator after the first attempt triggered VFib.
Anyway, to make a long story short, I had been doing better until round three of Covid. Prior to this I had no heart issues.
This last round of Covid in June never really went away.
Whenever I am out and about, or even around the house, I get winded, short of breath and if I don’t sit, may feel dizzy, weak, woozy, shakey.
I thought my BP was dropping.
I ordered a home BP cuff and my BP was fine sitting so I took it standing. It was consistently 160/113 with a pulse around 90-100.
I went to my Drs to include my PCP and heart Dr. and they did not listen to me when I said it was high when standing. Just took it sitting and it was normal.
My heart Dr. did order me were a zio patch for a week but nothing showed.
Basically since June I can hardly stand. I literally sit in a chair most of the day. I have no desire to do anything. I get so out of breath and tired.
My heart Dr. said he would put in a request to Vanderbilt Dysotonia clinic. This was in June. I never heard from them so he sent in another request a few weeks ago Still nothing.
Finally last week I had my 6 month Rheumatology appt ( I also have Psoriatric Arthritis) I told him I was still feeling as bad as I was in Aug of last year when I expressed my exhaustion to him at that time.
This time, he listened and said he would put in an order for a tilt table test at Vanderbilt Dysotonia clinic. Within two days, an appt was set for the first week of March.
I am currently on Sototal which gets myBP down to the 140/100 range..
I guess I am wondering if others have this issue. It seems like more and more people are getting BP issues after Covid, but I’m perplexed why it is basically unknown by most Drs.
Googling these symptoms would lead you to believe it’s serious enough to go to the ER but basically they will just get it lowered and sent on your way.
My heart Dr. although kind ( and my GP) seemed generally attentive, but really there is no sense of urgency.
I messaged my heart Dr. last week to ask if anything showed up on my heart Moniter as my heart rate and BP were particularly high and I just received a brief note that nothing “ showed up” on their transmission I sent.
No concern, advice or anything.
I feel my 80 yr old relatives are more active than me and I feel guilty about not being able to do more than a load of laundry or feeding our dog.
Looking for advice or others going thru similar experience.
I cannot live this way. I’m embarrassed to tell my husband every day that I essentially did nothing.
Just getting dressed is exhausting.
My blood work has checked out fine btw.
I have pretty much given up on feeling normal again.
I’m pretty sure Covid did a number on me and I’m sure many others, but there has to be a way to treat this right?
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I am very similar to the other postees: Covid-19 March 2020 left me with high BP and gradually I noticed high HR and pre-/ full syncope after 2 more infections and 3 jabs. I’d been left on 5 simultaneous hypertensive drugs which were not obviously doing much, and diagnosed myself with home NASA lean test as having POTS, and did all the related ‘tips’ like hydrate, electrolytes, compression garments, no caffeine/ alcohol, swimming 5x a week etc but no obvious improvement. So got a referral 2 hours away to a Falls specialist with tilt table: test showed that my high resting BP actually plummeted after 8 mins.to 61/40, and high HR of 135+ followed as body’s attempt to get oxygenated blood to brain ( before collapsing). So the TTT picked up the dropping BP that my home BP monitor just didn’t pick up…in part as tests like NASA one are staggered to take readings at say 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 5 min, 10 min so would miss sudden drop between 5th and 10th min. Also my monitor just does not work, or records ‘error’ if movement or changing BP noted…which is the characteristic of my standing up. Also significant TTT recorded the exact order of BP dropping drove the HR up, not the other way round which seems to be a POTS’ order. Incidentally Falls dr.removd the beta blocker, bisoprolol, immediately as she did not like the way it stopped the HR rising that my body so obviously needed, since then not completely fainted but that might be because I don’t feel quite so embarrassed about sitting/ even lying down in a shop if needed! Still on 4 hypertensives, which I do query with Gp but he seems more concerned with hypertension than poor quality of life for fear of collapsing! Trouble with some hypertensives, like indapamide, is the manufacturers state can take 3-4 months to be most effective, so have to do full dosing period until trying a different one!
How kind of you for this information!
May I ask how you are being treated and what has helped the most?
Thank you so much!!