Kelly wrote:
Same thing happened to me at the beginning of Feb. I ended up in a fetal position on my bed after taking Medrol 6 day dose pack. My heart racing, crazy thoughts. I didn't know what day of the week it was. I wanted to jump out a window I was so messed up all I could think about where my daughter's. It now has been 2 months and still have the worst fear and anxiety ever. I never was fearful or had anxiety. My heart pounds my minds still messed up along with my hormones. My Dr put me on Prozac and xanax a week ago. Some symptoms are lessened but still horrible. I am so tired of this. I will never take this for my back again!! This has ruined my life! From fun and happy to fearful and sick all the time !!
How are you doing now? The same exact thing has happened to me. It's been about 9 months since the steroids and I'm still having crazy out of nowhere panic attacks and anxiety, tachyardia, and heart pounding......ecspecially after eating for some reason. I hope to here from you soon.
I was given a dexamethasone 4mg. injection 2 mos ago and 2 hrs after I received it, my heart started racing and my throat felt really hot. Days later I started with really bad heartburn that spread across my chest. . I am still having episodes of heart palpitaions and heartburn. For some reason, I am getting palpitations after I eat also. I did see a cardiologist that doesn't believe it was the inj. but my endocrinologist and the internist that I work for thinks it is related. I am on Synthroid for hypothyroidism and can't even take it because it causes my heart to race now whereas it did not before. I was wondering how long these effects last. I have an appt. with my endocrinologist next week to talk more about this. He put me on Propanolol for the palpitations but I am scared to take it. Has anyone been prescribed this med?
i expericed all the symptoms of a cortiocosteroid dose after a dental procedure. I know have all the symptoms of cushings. I was in perfect health before that shot. How do i prove that this happened to me.
I am into my 8th month post steroid injection. Over the past months, my tachycardia went though various orthostatic phases. My current phase is having my heart race when I am standing still for more than 30 seconds or if my arms are above my head (like shampooing my hair). This entire process has been very frustrating. I have been to the top neurologists, allergists and cardiologists at the Mayo Clinic and have had some very unusual tests. My heart stress tests have been "normal", but of concern is how rapidly the rate increases. I still do not have a solution. My tachycardia reaction was 7 hours after the injection. I also had neck surgery a month later (in June) and 8 hours post op, I got to find out how many people come to your room when you trigger the heart alarms. I have both the injection drug list and the hospital drug list. The 2 common drugs were lidocaine and dexametha...... I had had the medrol pak twice during the previous 6 months and did not have any issues. Late November, I finally started to feel better. I went to an allergist at the Mayo (in December) and he did a 3 hour lidocaine tolerance test on me. They kept injecting more and more and I passed with flying colors. They said I showed no sign of an allergy. 14 hours later, my tachy started acting up again and was intense for a week and a half. (he didn't believe me and thought it was brought on by stress - I was standing at a fax machine at Kinkos) What is interesting is that while at the Mayo, I had some gene testing done and learned that on 3 different genes my body processes/metablolizes certain drugs differently than most people. Of course, lidocaine, dexameth... and the metroprolol drug they used to slow my heart down were on the lists. (the metroprolol worked too well and heart rate plummeted) I find this interesting. The other drug I take that was listed was my statin drug which probably caused all my muscle pain to begin with.
While in the hospital they did a quick thyroid test and found that my levels were dangerously low and so was my potassium. So which came first???? I certainly don't have a solution, but i am getting better. Unfortunately, the steroid/lidocaine shots also resulted in an intolerance to most food and to alcohol so I am hoping that will also clear itself up. I have also developed an allergy to allergy medicine (Zytec, Allegra - swelling and itching and Claritan sends me into tachy). I bought myself a heart monitor watch at Sports Authority (brand Sportline) - I find it interesting to check my heart rate
Like the rest of you, I was a normal healthy person prior to my shots.
Keep posting.....I want to hear how everyone is doing.
Teri
I had a shot yesterday. My heart rate was 140 shortly after. Didn't sleep all night. The Dr. did not mention a racing heart. What a night!
I too have the same symptoms as you. I went to the Clev Clinic and was diagnosed with POTS. I am 18 months post injection. Please PM me and we can discuss....
what supplements did he put you on?
Hi Teri, How r u doing these days? I first had a slow-released steroid injection for a rash and then 1 month later had 1 injection of Dexamethasone 4 mg. for an upper respiratory infection. It has been 7 mos. now and I am still having tachycardia and other weird symptoms like heart palpitations after I eat or drink beer. I have not been the same since those injections. I have reflux and anxiety off and on. It has truly been a nightmare. I have hypothyroidism and sometimes cannot take my medicine if I am anxious because it makes my heart race. I have bouts of orthostatic hypotension also. I know everyone around me gets tired of hearing me complain because they just don't understand that it could last this long. I had one Cardiologist tell me it is not the steroid injection, an Endocrinologist says it is and an Internist that believes it is now but didn't in the beginning. Hope you are doing well. God Bless! TXgirl
About 2 yrs ago I took steroids (just 2 from the dose pack) which messed up my adrenal system as well. It actually turned me diabetic! My adrenal system did not return to normal for 9 months! This past weekend I was bitten by a brown recluse and they had to give me steroid shot to keep my skin from becoming necrotic. I begged the doctor for another solution but she said I would either have to live with necrosis or diabetes. Now I am having a terrible reaction...heart racing, emotional, feeling disconnected and having to pee every 5 minutes (12 x in one hour)...and basically unable to function. I am freaking out!
I went for some epidurals in my neck today. Second time for this procedure. The first time put me in the hospital when my heart went into flutter, and they could count it because it just wasn't beating correctly. They finally gave me Lopressor and it went down to 180 bpm. The ER doctors said that they doubted it was the injection and they watched me for a couple days and said that I must be having tachycardia caused by age.(55). I waited for 6 months to try the injections in my neck again. In between this time I did not have the tachycardia after a couple of weeks. Today it took about 8 to 10 hours, and I am back having my heart out of rhythm, and beating over 130 already. Getting ready to go down to ER, since they will need to give me some Lopressor if it gets any faster.
Never going to have these injections again. I would rather take a pain pill when the pain gets to bad, than to feel like this again.
Tom
So glad to know I am not alone. Had a cortisone injection for arthritis in my knee about two weeks ago. That night my heart started racing and I had chest pain. I have a heart condition so it really scared the heck out of me. I took a nitro and the pain eased enough to keep me from going to the ER. I take a beta blocker which probably kept my heart rate from getting even worse. I am still getting some palpitations and My blood sugar had also been elevated. They sad that should have passed bt now but it seems to be getting worse. I worked very hard to get it under control and now I feel like I am back where I started. The knee feels better but it is not worth these side effects. No one wants to admit that the shot caused any of this.
I am sorry to hear of what everyone has gone through but am relieved to know that I am not the only one. I usually cannot take oral steroids because they make me feel weird and sick. But due to severe tendinitis pain I had a cortizone shot in one wrist in Jan 2013 & a shot in the other wrist March 2013. I already had the racing heart after the 1st shot but did not realize how much worse it could get until after the second shot. I already have high blood pressure, irregular heartbeat and I take two blood pressure meds and a low dose anti anxiety med to help with mild anxiety and RLS. The racing heart issue would actually prevent me from going to sleep and/or wake me up because my heart was suddenly slamming in my chest. Sometimes it would take my breath away. It has been very scary and it has taken months for the effect to wear off. Unfortunately now my hand/wrist pains are coming back but I do NOT want to have those shots ever again. I hope anyone who is still going through the side effects feels better soon.