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Hi @jimadman55, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. It sounds especially frustrating to have lived with heart failure for years without needing hospitalization and then suddenly be faced with intense flushing and anxiety on top of everything else.
I can understand why you’d be concerned about taking hydroxyzine after reading about QT prolongation, especially with your heart history. That’s an important question to discuss with the clinician who prescribed it or your cardiologist so they can weigh the potential benefits and risks based on your specific situation.
I’m wondering, has the flushing been happening only during times when you feel anxious, or does it ever seem to come on first and then make you anxious? Have your doctors suggested any other possible causes besides anxiety?
I’d also be interested to hear if other members with heart failure or heart rhythm concerns have experienced flushing like this. If so, what did your care team find, and were there treatments or strategies that helped?
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@jlharsh thank you for reaching out. I was referred to another cardiologist who deals a lot with heart failure. He changed my meds. Put me on Renexa and told me to stop taking Spirolactone. Renexa side effect is flushing and anxiety for a few weeks while changes the electrical system in heart Spirolactone is a hormone blocker. I have been on it for 6 years. When I came off, my hormones rebounded. That causes flushing for 1 to 4 weeks. I went back to by original Cardiologist and he told me to stop Renexa immediately. He doesn’t want me to restart Spirolactone. If not better on 2-3 weeks, then he’ll go further. He is an Interventional Cardiologist. I apologized for going to another cardiologist but my wife of 52 years wanted me to go to a heart failure clinic. The lesson I learned is trust your doctor who has treated me for 8 years. It is an illness, it’s not going to ever go away. I’ll get through the next few miserable weeks and Thank God for His Grace in helping me through this episode of being miserable.