After yet another "funny turn" the other week (greying out, almost fainting), I thought I'd get myself a heart rate monitor. I thought it may as well be able to monitor blood pressure as well as heart rate and the readings could be handy when next I was talking to my doctor.
So, for the last few days I've been collecting data:
| Date | Systolic | Diastolic | Pulse |
| 11/11/09 | 106 | 60 | 56 |
| 12/11/09 | 100 | 62 | 50 |
| 13/11/09 | 93 | 63 | 54 |
| 14/11/09 | 109 | 60 | 78 |
According to the chart here, the minimum blood pressure for my age range should be 116/81, but as you can see, I don't come anywhere near the minimum in any of the readings. Still, at least today I had a pulse! That, I think, may be because I didn't wait quite so long after getting up and doing something (bathroom / breakfast) than I had on the previous days.
None of these were taken right after sleeping or sitting for a lengthy period.
My blood pressure was taken in the surgery when I registered with the doctor here in September 2008, at which time it gave a relatively high reading, 140/90. That surprised me, but, in retrospect, I think I would put it down to the pain and exhaustion of getting to the doctor's surgery, waiting, sitting uncomfortably, etc. I'm certainly not nervous in social situations, nor suffer white coat syndrome. That was the only time I've ever had a high reading, but I wanted to keep my eye on it, as my father had been treated for high blood pressure.
Back in the day when I was still a human being, my blood pressure was checked regularly when I was taking the contraceptive pill. (Birth control pills can increase the risk for high blood pressure, especially users who are older than 35, obese, and/or smoke - and I was any one or all of those at any one time.) Despite this, almost every time the reading would be on the relatively low side of ideal at 110/70. When home monitoring machines first became widely available about 15 years ago, I remember one of my neighbours getting one and we were playing with it. I just happened to say that, usually, mine comes out at 110/70. She checked it and we laughed, because it was 110/70.
Given the circumstances, I was more than happy with that level.
Of course, I'm older now and, although my weight has gone up, I no longer take the contraceptive pill (haven't had a need for them for more than 12 years) and I gave up smoking. And, having eliminated those, my *normal* blood pressure does seem to have dropped even further. It's just not normal for my age.
And while I know this is good news and does not indicate anything immediately life-threatening, I do think it begins to explain many of my symptoms.
These have been shown to be linked with ME/CFS. Comparison of heart rate variability in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome and controls: "Recent studies have reported a close association between chronic fatigue syndrome and neurally mediated hypotension. We hypothesized that this association may result from an abnormality in autonomic function among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome, which may be detectable using an analysis of heart rate variability." (My emphasis.)
Again, I can claim all of the Neurally Mediated Hypotension symptoms. NMH, it says here, typically occurs in susceptible individuals in the following situations:
Although I can stay on my feet for longer if I keep moving, as in walking, the longest I can stand still without starting to feel nauseated, lightheaded, weak in the limbs and an overwhelming need to lie down is now certainly less than 10 seconds. Of course, I often have to maintain it longer than that, which means I often feel very ill indeed. Hence, I avoid having to wait at bus stops where there's nowhere to sit, I no longer cook things that require me to stand and stir and for even a minute that food takes in a microwave, I have to go and sit down. (Or more likely, I quickly get into trouble and end up on the kitchen floor.)
This has got worse over the years and, most markedly with the increase in all of my symptoms over the last year or so, but I can definitely trace the symptoms of orthostatic intolerance right back to when I had Glandular Fever (mono) when I was 16. This was in 1973 and when I left school that summer, I went to work as a window dresser in a dress shop. The only problem was that they also wanted me to serve in the shop in the afternoons and I simply could NOT stand because of these symptoms, so I left after 3 weeks and took jobs sitting in offices.
Until we had a power shower fitted that allows me to shower in a sufficiently short time, I couldn't risk showering unless it was unavoidable, because it took so long with the low water pressure that I was having trouble balancing and staying upright long enough. I had to take a shower before I could go out, but once I'd had a shower, I was in no fit state to leave the house. I wont go into the insults and arguments it took to get this - it took a year - but it was not installed just to "make her happy," (her meaning me) as my mother told one of her believers. It was a medical necessity and I was on the brink of calling in Social Services.
This year has proven, once again, that the combination of humidity and warm temperatures is something my body cannot tolerate. In the UK, I'm not warm until 21C, but I become intolerably overheated and begin to get these symptoms when the temperature reaches 23C. In drier heat, I can tolerate up to 35C.
Pulse rate: say Saga, "The average resting heart rate for an adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, while well-conditioned athletes can achieve between 40 and 60 beats per minute.", they add, "Generally the lower it is, the fitter you are - unless you have a pacemaker or heart disease." Which means either I'm super-fit (NOT) or, "Houston, we have a problem!"
Again, I can claim all of the Neurally Mediated Hypotension symptoms. NMH, it says here, typically occurs in susceptible individuals in the following situations:
- after prolonged periods of quiet upright posture (such as standing in a queue, standing in a shower, or even sitting for long periods),
- after being in a warm environment (such as in hot summer weather, a hot crowded room, a hot shower/ bath),
- immediately after exercise
- after emotionally stressful events
- after eating, when blood flow has shifted to the gut during the process of digestion.
Although I can stay on my feet for longer if I keep moving, as in walking, the longest I can stand still without starting to feel nauseated, lightheaded, weak in the limbs and an overwhelming need to lie down is now certainly less than 10 seconds. Of course, I often have to maintain it longer than that, which means I often feel very ill indeed. Hence, I avoid having to wait at bus stops where there's nowhere to sit, I no longer cook things that require me to stand and stir and for even a minute that food takes in a microwave, I have to go and sit down. (Or more likely, I quickly get into trouble and end up on the kitchen floor.)
This has got worse over the years and, most markedly with the increase in all of my symptoms over the last year or so, but I can definitely trace the symptoms of orthostatic intolerance right back to when I had Glandular Fever (mono) when I was 16. This was in 1973 and when I left school that summer, I went to work as a window dresser in a dress shop. The only problem was that they also wanted me to serve in the shop in the afternoons and I simply could NOT stand because of these symptoms, so I left after 3 weeks and took jobs sitting in offices.
Until we had a power shower fitted that allows me to shower in a sufficiently short time, I couldn't risk showering unless it was unavoidable, because it took so long with the low water pressure that I was having trouble balancing and staying upright long enough. I had to take a shower before I could go out, but once I'd had a shower, I was in no fit state to leave the house. I wont go into the insults and arguments it took to get this - it took a year - but it was not installed just to "make her happy," (her meaning me) as my mother told one of her believers. It was a medical necessity and I was on the brink of calling in Social Services.
This year has proven, once again, that the combination of humidity and warm temperatures is something my body cannot tolerate. In the UK, I'm not warm until 21C, but I become intolerably overheated and begin to get these symptoms when the temperature reaches 23C. In drier heat, I can tolerate up to 35C.
Pulse rate: say Saga, "The average resting heart rate for an adult is between 60 and 100 beats per minute, while well-conditioned athletes can achieve between 40 and 60 beats per minute.", they add, "Generally the lower it is, the fitter you are - unless you have a pacemaker or heart disease." Which means either I'm super-fit (NOT) or, "Houston, we have a problem!"
Bradycardia (Greek βραδυκαρδία, bradykardía, "heart slowness"), as applied to adult medicine, is defined as a resting heart rate of under 60 beats per minute, though it is seldom symptomatic until the rate drops below 50 beat/min. Trained athletes or young healthy individuals may also have a slow resting heart rate (e.g. professional cyclist Miguel Indurain had a resting heart rate of 28 beats per minute). Resting bradycardia is often considered normal if the individual has no other symptoms such as fatigue, weakness, dizziness, light headedness, fainting, chest discomfort, palpitations or shortness of breath associated with it.
(Further testing has since shown that my usual resting heart rate is just 36.)
I've checked my readings again today and confirmed that just a walk to the kitchen and back, approximately half a dozen yards, each way, on the flat (and not exerting myself there), raises my heart rate by at least 20 bpm. What I need to check next is what effect a greater level of exertion - that *impossible yet unavoidable* one mile walk, for instance - has on my heart rate.
It would not be beyond the bounds of the imagination to expect this to raise it by at least another 10 points. Then we may be looking at Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), which often co-habits with ME/CFS, the hallmark symptom of which "is an increase in heart rate from the supine to upright position of more than 30 beats per minute or to a heart rate greater than 120 beats per minute within 10 minutes of head-up tilt." And this often comes with a wide variety of symptoms associated with hypotension (low blood pressure), all of which (bar the actual fainting), I suffer all of the time.
This article on Pacing by Numbers: using your heart rate to stay inside the energy envelope, suggests that monitoring has several benefits.
And, whilst I don't fancy any of the drug treatments that might be prescribed to treat this, I can increase my fluid (not by much, I already manage my 8 glasses per day) and salt intake. Actually, because salt is generally touted as bad, I have tended to avoid it like the plague. Because of this, I don't eat processed foods, I don't use salt in cooking, I even avoid stock cubes because they can contain a lot of salt. The only time I add salt to food on the plate is on a salad.
All that said, there is still a massive problem. I think I should discuss this with my GP, so we can eliminate any other problems, but assuming I'm right in my self-diagnosis (I don't claim any ability, but I have been proven right enough times already about it), this is precisely the sort of problem that leads you to get sectioned or to die from ME in the UK. It may be better to keep quiet!
And, whilst I don't fancy any of the drug treatments that might be prescribed to treat this, I can increase my fluid (not by much, I already manage my 8 glasses per day) and salt intake. Actually, because salt is generally touted as bad, I have tended to avoid it like the plague. Because of this, I don't eat processed foods, I don't use salt in cooking, I even avoid stock cubes because they can contain a lot of salt. The only time I add salt to food on the plate is on a salad.
All that said, there is still a massive problem. I think I should discuss this with my GP, so we can eliminate any other problems, but assuming I'm right in my self-diagnosis (I don't claim any ability, but I have been proven right enough times already about it), this is precisely the sort of problem that leads you to get sectioned or to die from ME in the UK. It may be better to keep quiet!
