Diagnosed 1 month ago. Relatively good control (eA1c = 6.0, SD=1.8) as of now. But every few days I feel bad - head/aches, increased heartbeat, dizzyness whlie having normal sugars. Through experiment I now figured it’s due too high blood pressure. I have never even measured it in the past and did not have such symptoms before t1d diagnoses. Ok, I drunk coffee today, that might be a reason. But it never had SUCH a drastic effect in the past. Just tested BP again - 142, while diabetics should stay under 130.
Any ideas or similar experiences?
For the most part, high blood pressure doesn’t have any symptoms. I never noticed any while my high blood pressure was untreated.
Now the symptoms you are having, you say they aren’t related to bg, but could they be related to seasonal allergies?
I am sure your docs will check your blood pressure every single checkup and if they see it high a couple times in a row they will make some recommendations.
Nope, I have never felt like this before and whenever I feel bad (other than hypo) I usually have high blood pressure. Never had periods like this.
If you’re concerned with your blood pressure, I’d bring it up with your doctor. They will check it in the office (well, maybe not till after the pandemic…) and may have you monitor it at home as well. I have high blood pressure, but my blood pressure is often alarmingly high at doctor’s appointments, so my doctor has me check at home to make sure it’s controlled.
@sasha.s I have been having headaches, dizziness and increased heartbeat and chest pressure for about 3 weeks now. My O2 (oxygen) level has been fine, my sugars have been normal or above, but these dizzy spells and stuff feel like a blood sugar low. I also feel my pulse in my head sometimes.
On the 8th I walked about 10 feet and started staggering like a drunk person and couldn’t catch my balance and fell backwards landing on my elbow and my back. I’ve been having chest pressure and dizziness ever since. I went to see my Dr. on the 11th, she said I had water behind my ears and she thought it was vertigo but she wanted me to go to the ER due to the other symptoms. ER did chest xray, blood work, 2 things of saline, gave me a pill called Antivert, some nausea meds in my IV and 81mg aspirin. Everything came back fine, they sent me home with a diagnosis of Peripheral Vertigo and told me to use a walker for steadiness. I missed work all last week because I can’t take the Antivert without it making me sleepy. The chest pressure is still there, the dizziness is still there…I went to see my Dr. on Tuesday of this week. She referred me to TN Heart and Star Physical Therapy. I had my physical therapy appointment that same day. When the PT was moving my neck and stuff trying to recreate the dizziness he moved my neck to as far right as it would go and I had blurriness in my left eye. He said there’s a condition that’s rare that is called Vertebral Artery Occlusion that could be causing it. I talked to my Dr. about it yesterday on the phone. She said she wanted me in with TN Heart ASAP and we’re having to wait and see on the Vertigo at this point. She has me out of work for the next 2 weeks.
Yesterday I saw the cardiologist - he doesn’t feel like it’s related to my heart. However, I’m on a heart monitor until Tuesday and he’s ordered an Echocaradiogram that I am scheduled for on June 1st.
I hope yours gets better!!!
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I dont think that’s high enough to get light headed, unless your a 100 lb. teenage girl (like, very petite with small body mass). Its possible, but maybe you are just hungry. What is the bottom number? 142/?
Keep checking it. BP changes throughout the day. I can start to get lightheaded 150-something over 95, but it kinda depends what you typically run and if this is unusual for you. If you run low, naturally, like 112/75, maybe it is making you lightheaded - depends on your baseline.
Call the Doc - you should always call the Doc about being lightheaded.
ETA: I’m assuming your Covid test was negative.
There was no COVID test performed as I had no symptoms. Not sure how I got out of that to be honest…but I didn’t push the issue either!
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There’s no way I would ever attempt to diagnose your problem, but your symptoms (persistent chest pressure and dizziness) combined with the lack of a test seems to indicate they do not have a high degree of suspicion and I’m a little surprised.
I don’t mean to make you worry unnecessarily - in these days we probably tend to see Covid too many places and too often, but where I am in DC, the hospitals practically treat everyone in the ER and urgent care as positive. EMS certainly does.
My Dr’s office did a flu and strep test - both came back negative. But when I went to the ER as was requested by my PCP (not request when she says “I’ll call them and let them know you’re on your way!”) they only asked me the standard questions, took my temp, put me in a room, started an IV and did the EKG thing. There was also a chest X-ray and blood work.
@EGreen76 The case where you started walking then lost balance, that sounds like it could be postural hypotension. That affects me sometimes. rMore info: reversebeacon.net/dxsd1/dxsd1.php?f=0&c=n3qe&t=dx
@Tim12 I won’t totally rule out postural hypo however it has happened every day for the last 3 weeks, with chest pressure and I can “feel/hear” my heartbeat in my head (not a headache), but like my head is so full of pressure that I can hear my heartbeating while I’m up. I’m on Meclizine now for it…but that only seems to make me sleepy.
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That is pusaltile tinnitus, hearing your heart beat etc. I had that for a few days a few years ago. Not long after a bout of vertigo. It went away fortunately. I had a bunch of tests at the time of the vertigo which showed nystagmus. The ent thought it was partly from vestibular migraines from low blood sugar. I never did all of the tests for pt because it stopped.
@sasha.s I have had some high bp, mostly with my health stuff recently. I am back on losartan. Most of the time it is normal though. I monitor it. I also get dizzy if it is over 150-180. When my bg is low it goes quite low. I had a bad low 3 days ago, and I had taken losartan, so I take it in afternoon to dinner time now.
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Docs can get you hooked up with a couple-day long continuous blood pressure monitor. I think you can also buy them over the counter if you’re into tech. This would be able to catch orthostatic hypotension or spikes in blood pressure.
While what you describe sounds similar to my postural hypotension symptoms - especially that one aspect where it kicked in right after you got up and started walking - it’s also possible what you describe might not be related to blood pressure at all. Again, high blood pressure usually has no symptoms.
Do the symptoms only occur infrequently and never been caught in doctor’s office?
It does usually have no symptoms, but I think high blood pressure can cause symptoms if it’s high enough. I’ve had the “feeling pulse in ears” thing (especially when lying still in bed) when my blood pressure has been really high (not just borderline). So I think it is possible for it to cause symptoms for people who are very well-attuned to their body if it gets high enough.
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@sasha.s sasha.s please keep us posted, as I have been experiencing many of the same symptoms you describe, for over a year (minus the chest pain part). I’ve ended up in the ER twice, once including an ambulance ride. No one can figure it out, so instead they keep telling me that I’m not supposed to feel elevated blood pressure (as if that information is supposed to fix this). I feel dizzy and sick when my BP’s top number is over 130 or the bottom number over 87. Twice, it has spiked super-high unexplainably (196/103). ER just waited a few hours for it to come down on its own. Labwork & CT scan showed no culprit. I’ve often been feeling my pulse inside my neck & head, too, and recently noticed feeling my heart beating inside my chest at regular speed, but increased intensity. (Cardiologist says EKG is normal.) I’m very concerned about all of this, and interested to hear what you learn!
The dizziness seems like a constant every time I get up and start walking around and has been witnessed in the Dr.'s office when getting up off the table. That’s when I was given the diagnosis of Vertigo. I’m going to mention to my Dr. about the continuous BPM for a few days to see if we can see if that’s causing it. I’m sure she’ll do it…my husband sees her tomorrow and I’m going to go in with him. So, I’ll mention it then.
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False hypo symptoms for me track on to tachycardia (high heart rate), not high blood pressure. Tachycardia tends to be very noticeable, unlike mild/moderate hypertension. Have you been measuring/tracking your heart rate, both at times you feel fine and then when you have these symptoms? You can also have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS), where tachycardia increases with postural changes, or more generalized tachycardia. Sometimes it gets treated with beta blockers, which for me, made my symptoms go away for the most part. I definitely have to be careful with caffeine—more than one coffee/day, and I get tachycardic.
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