Irregular heartbeat issues

@retiredphil I will challenge taking magnesium without talking to your doctor first. Magnesium can be hard on your kidneys, and many, many seniors have kidney decline if not into a stage of kidney failure. Also, magnesium can cause slow heart rate, that is called tackycardia and I can have this several times on any day, like down into to 40's. Pre PMR I had it all the time. Lastly magnesium can slow blood clotting as well as cause problems if you already have a heart rhythm problem.
True that we may benefit from magnesium, but I would encourage people to ask their doctor about going on any supplement first, just in case it's not for you.

@pah17
Do you think your mother may have had it but didn’t get treatment for it? My mother was on prednisone for 15 years and I don’t want to follow that lead. It was the only known treatment at the time. She died in 1998. I definitely believe in the genetic link.
I am so happy for this site to able gain real experience with this disease. It’s so hard to go through without anyone to share the ups and downs that go along with it.

@caroljeand My mother did not get treatment. I gave the abridged version of my mother's story. But you seem interested, so I'll try to encapsulate. In her late 50s/early 60's she began having different issues. At one point she had a rash around her middle and it was thought that she had shingles which was never treated. Then she had abdominal issues and eventually had her gall bladder removed even though her symptoms were atypical. She used to constantly rub at her wrists (? carpal tunnel) and often complained of hurting all over. At age 63 when stress was at an all time high in her life, she suffered sudden heart block and ended up with a pacemaker. Prior to that, I thought she was beginning to show signs of forgetfulness. As time went on her husband took her a few times for cortisone injections in her knees for fluid buildup. It was a slow decline for her. My brother and I would visit her yearly and in retrospect I remember that she had a wide gait and was very unsteady on her feet and complained of undefined pain. I'll always wonder if she suffered the effect of untreated Lyme disease which could have started with that rash that I was not able to see, along with the pervasive pain, heart block and dementia. She passed away in Assistive Living at age 73.
As an aside, one of her sisters became wheel chair bound and no one knew why. This generation was very private about discussing such things. I have a cousin who is in her 80s who has limited mobility and another who is my age (73) that is following my story because she's thought for a while that she has fibromyalgia. PMR is a new term to both of us. So there you have it - the reason genetics "may" be a factor in my case. I suppose it helps to know but it doesn't exactly change the course.

@retiredphil I will challenge taking magnesium without talking to your doctor first. Magnesium can be hard on your kidneys, and many, many seniors have kidney decline if not into a stage of kidney failure. Also, magnesium can cause slow heart rate, that is called tackycardia and I can have this several times on any day, like down into to 40's. Pre PMR I had it all the time. Lastly magnesium can slow blood clotting as well as cause problems if you already have a heart rhythm problem.
True that we may benefit from magnesium, but I would encourage people to ask their doctor about going on any supplement first, just in case it's not for you.

@pah17
Always interested in people’s stories. Always trying to connect the dots.
When my mother was finally diagnosed after she had a concurrent parasite infection (maybe from drinking water or produce, who knows because we lived in the same house and I wasn’t affected)., and some strange bites with black centers thought to be from bites from outdoors. She was in such distress she was ready to die. Once she saw a doctor who was able to diagnose the parasite infection and the PMR things started to turn around. She lived to be 90 and died of a defective aorta.
Wondering if the 15 years of prednisone contributed to that 🤷🏻‍♀️?
Now I’m having an irregular heartbeat so I’m sure prednisone (or the tapering) is probably the culprit. Hope to get my results soon.

@caroljeand

Any updates from the 48 hour heart monitor?

I had heart problems when I was on Prednisone. My heart rhythm was "irregular " because of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs).

A few PVCs once in a while aren't a problem but I was having too many. When I felt my pulse, I had a lot of "skipped beats." I told my PCP about the skipped beats and an EKG was done. The EKG revealed left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) which surprised my PCP since I never had any heart problems before.

Since LVH is usually caused by high blood pressure my PCP wanted me to check my blood pressure at various times of the day to see if I could detect "hidden" high blood pressure. I detected a blood pressure of 210/110 one morning and I ended up going to the emergency room. I was placed on telemetry with every 15 minute blood pressure checks. After 2-3 hours my blood pressure returned to normal. An emergency room doctor suggested my 210/110 blood pressure was caused by anxiety from checking my blood pressure too often!!!

When my PCP doctor found out ... he was livid. He sent me to a cardiologist who determined that Prednisone was likely causing my blood pressure to fluctuate and be out of control. The cardiologist said my heart was irritable because it was being stretched by extremely high blood pressure at various times. For some reason my blood pressure could be anywhere from normal to extremely high. I needed 3 blood pressure medications to control my blood pressure.
https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/prednisone-raise-blood-pressure-3562473/
----------------------
I stayed on 3 blood pressure medications for 10 years while I was on Prednisone. I tapered off Prednisone about 5 years ago. After I tapered off prednisone, I had episodes of low blood pressure. One by one my 3 blood pressure medications were discontinued. Within a few years of stopping Prednisone all my cardiac medications were discontinued.

After stopping Prednisone --- along with my 3 blood pressure medications ... I have also stopped 5 additional medications which were treating Prednisone side effects. I don't have high blood pressure anymore and my LVH has resolved.

@caroljeand

Any updates from the 48 hour heart monitor?

I had heart problems when I was on Prednisone. My heart rhythm was "irregular " because of premature ventricular contractions (PVCs).

A few PVCs once in a while aren't a problem but I was having too many. When I felt my pulse, I had a lot of "skipped beats." I told my PCP about the skipped beats and an EKG was done. The EKG revealed left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) which surprised my PCP since I never had any heart problems before.

Since LVH is usually caused by high blood pressure my PCP wanted me to check my blood pressure at various times of the day to see if I could detect "hidden" high blood pressure. I detected a blood pressure of 210/110 one morning and I ended up going to the emergency room. I was placed on telemetry with every 15 minute blood pressure checks. After 2-3 hours my blood pressure returned to normal. An emergency room doctor suggested my 210/110 blood pressure was caused by anxiety from checking my blood pressure too often!!!

When my PCP doctor found out ... he was livid. He sent me to a cardiologist who determined that Prednisone was likely causing my blood pressure to fluctuate and be out of control. The cardiologist said my heart was irritable because it was being stretched by extremely high blood pressure at various times. For some reason my blood pressure could be anywhere from normal to extremely high. I needed 3 blood pressure medications to control my blood pressure.
https://www.drugs.com/medical-answers/prednisone-raise-blood-pressure-3562473/
----------------------
I stayed on 3 blood pressure medications for 10 years while I was on Prednisone. I tapered off Prednisone about 5 years ago. After I tapered off prednisone, I had episodes of low blood pressure. One by one my 3 blood pressure medications were discontinued. Within a few years of stopping Prednisone all my cardiac medications were discontinued.

After stopping Prednisone --- along with my 3 blood pressure medications ... I have also stopped 5 additional medications which were treating Prednisone side effects. I don't have high blood pressure anymore and my LVH has resolved.