RA and heart arrythmia...please help

February 19, 2011

Hello I usually am a lurker on here. But I am wondering if anyone else is

experiencing what I am.

I have a Left Bundle Branch Block which is a conduction problem in the heart

which I feel, they tell me most people do not feel the symptoms but I do. Makes

it feel like my heart is beating very erracticly which it is kinda.

Well I am on Beta Blockers.

But what I Have noticed is that when I am in a beginning of a flare of the RA or

when I flare this heart arrythmia is much worse.

I cannot take the NSAIS's as they cause this arrythmia to be worse.

Right now I am only on prednisone 10mg.

But I had a terrible flare and my heart was beating crazily.

I went to the Rheumatologist and he gave me a 120mg shot of medrol.

Well within in 2 day I felt so much better and so did my heart.

This is not the first time this has happened.

I have an appointment with the EP cardiologist this week and am going to tell

him this.

I KNOW he will think I am crazy but this is what is happening.

He thinks I should not feel the symptoms. Well I went to the ER with them and

that is how I got diagnosed. How would I have known.

He thinks I panic about them way too much. He says I am fine not in any danger.

I almost quit doing any activity there for awhile.

They sent me to a specialist in Pittsburgh and I wore a monitor for 30 days.

They caught all of the weird beats on the strips.

He said also I am not in any danger. So I started to walk again and lost quite

a bit of weight. The symptoms seems to disappear as my RA symptoms do. If it

beats too fast it will only do it for a while.

But now that winter has came we live in Northwest PA.

Nowhere to really get much exercise. It is all happening again with RA flares.

AM I CRAZY.. I am not sure if I should tell him.

I know lots of problems can happen with the heart with people with RA.

Has anyone heard of this?

Please console me in some way..Thank you everyone.

Sandy in Erie PA

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