Heart Block 3rd degree

I had a 3rd degree heart block. This is my story....

I woke up one morning and felt very very "fatigued". Took my blood pressure, and found that it was actually pretty normal. Took it again. Still normal. Then I noticed the heart rate: 30.

Well, that's not right.

So I Googled "heart rate 30". It said I was dead. Kidding! It said I should go to the emergency room. But I'm not someone who rushes to the doctor for every little pimple, so I looked up the cause of heart blocks and found that the medication (Nebivolol) prescribed by my AdventHealth cardiologist for BP worked by interfering with the impulses stimulating the heart, and the cardiologist had started me off on twice the normal (according to online sources) initial dose. Further reading confirmed that Nebivolol could be the cause of a heart block. This was a bit of a shock since I had an EKG and stress test done a few months ago that indicated a first level heart block, but the cardiologist said those were "test errors". I guess not. And taking a double dose of Nebivolol seems like a very bad idea.

So I stopped all BP meds, took things very easy, and watched my blood pressure AND heart rate very closely. Heart rate was going up a bit... 33....35...

The next day, first thing I did in the morning was check. Back to 30. Still felt lousy. OK. time for the ER. My spouse drove me to the AdventHealth ER in town, Lake Mary, FL.

Turns out, the AdventHealth Lake Mary ER is *not* really a hospital ER, despite what it says on the door and their huge buildings on either side. It's only for limited "urgent care". A mile away on the same road was Orlando Health Hospital (which we passed on the way), but AdventHealth decided to fly me by helicopter to their hospital in Orlando, where a temporary pacemaker was implanted that afternoon. Two days later, I got a permanent wireless model (Medtronic Micra AV2) implanted via a catheter from the groin.

The fact that I had stopped taking the Nebivolol was actually useful, since they needed to be certain the heart block persisted after I stopped taking it, and it takes a few days to leave the system. However, I wouldn't recommend waiting a day as I did before going to the ER ..... a real ER.

Now I am recovering. The wireless implant means I have no restrictions on movement, but they say it will take months for my heart to recover from the trauma. Approximately 10 years from now, I'll need a new one. They say there's room for five of them should I still be alive 50 years from now.

One last tidbit: AdventHealth billed $48,000 for the helicopter ride, despite telling us "it wouldn't cost a penny".

My heartbeat when to 195 and through breathing I couldn’t get it to lower so I ended up in the ER. Dr. Gave some kind of medicine to lower it immediately. Then admitted me. They did an ablation and then a pacemaker. I had never taken any kind of pills until March 30 when all my symptoms suggested Poly myalgia and I was put on 20 mg prednisone, the pain was controlled pretty well. Then April 19 all the heart stuff happened I think the prednisone exposed the heart problems

@jimgrupe hello! I was in the same situation due to my dedication adjustment, was taken 20 mg of Nevebilol n my NP doubled it up to 40 mg due to my BP increase. U developed severe Bradicardia n my heart rhythm dropped to zero 3 times, they had to paced me 3 times, n had to have a Pacemaker. Has any of you had developed a dry cough when your heart beats strongly or anxiety starts?

No cough here, I had been taking 100mg Metoprolol before the cardiologist switched me to 10mg Nebivolol and 50-100mg Losartan. The rationale was that Nebivolol is less likely to cause drowsiness and ED. Both are targeted Beta 1 blocks. Both can cause heart blocks.

The initial dose is usually 5mg (according to Google AI). My concern is -or was- that the AdventHealth cardiologist dismissed the test results and started me on 10mg, with a side of Losartan, if I needed it. (So why do tests if the result are dismissed??)

40mg is the max dose (again, according to Google AI). That suggests to me that your high blood pressure was much worse than mine. (I rarely went above 180 systolic without meds).

After having the pacemaker installed, my BP never went above 110, no matter what my heart rate (80-110) and with no meds. That didn't make sense, but the only one who seemed to care was me. Three weeks later, I was in the ER again with an acute pulmonary embolism (blood clot) in the artery leading to the lungs. THAT is why my BP never went higher - the blood couldn't get through.

I have also have a Left Branch Bundle Block for 30+ years. Never seemed to cause a problem, but it was what I worried about, not a heart block. The pacemaker takes care of that, too.

After more surgery to clear the embolism, my BP does go up with heart rate, as one would expect. **BUT**, I have not resumed ANY hypertension meds and my BP still goes to about 150-160 when my heart rate goes to 110-115 (moderate exercise target). The doctors tell that fixing the heart block might have "cured" the hypertension - for now.