Guest guest Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 I had palpitations as a side effect of Nortriptyline. It was a terrible and scary thing to endure. J. << >Hello everyone, >I was wondering if anyone else has had palpitations as a side effect? >> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 Hi Di It sounds like you need to take a different antidepressant. Did your doctor do an EKG while you were having these symptoms? Shame on him if he didn't. You are a pharmacist so obviously you know there are many antidepressants available. Call first thing in the morning and insist on having this drug changed. Nortriptyline and the other tricyclic anti-depressants have a zillion possible side effects. Here are some cardiovascular special concerns and side effects listed in my nursing drug book for Nortriptyline (Pamelor) and other antidepressants: " Fainting, Tachycardia, hypo or hypertension, arrhythmias, heart block, possibility of palpitations. " Obviously you do not want your heart to be thrown into any arrhythmias. Your symptoms sound alot like supraventricular tachycardia but it could easily trigger a ventricular tachycardia. These side effects could easily be fatal. Please call your doctor I am worried about you. Kaylene >Hello everyone, >I was wondering if anyone else has had palpitations as a side effect? >I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this problem, and if so do >you have any advice? >Just feeling a little freaked out. >Di >in Vancouver, B.C., Canada > > _________________________________________________________________ On the road to retirement? Check out MSN Life Events for advice on how to get there! http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=Retirement Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 Hi Di I agree with Kaylene - it sounds like you need different med(s). I hope your doctor will help you, or that you can find a doctor or emergency room that will. I am " only " 33, but have been dealing with this since I was 24. Many times when I've started one new medication or a couple new medications together, I've had heart palpitations or similar symptoms to what you are describing and it's scared me. At times I thought I was going to die when I had different symptoms of heart palpitations and/or chest pains and/or trouble breathing. For me, the symptoms were obviously caused by a new medication(s) usually within 1-2 days after starting them, if not sooner, so I immediately stopped taking them. Sometimes I went to the emergency room over it, but I admit that here, they don't always treat me as well as I'd like when I have a problem like that. But I think it is better to be safe than sorry. Sometimes as a younger woman, you really have to advocate for yourself to get the proper tests, especially when it is something related to your heart. (EKG, stress test, other tests) A couple years back, Oprah had a show on about heart disease and there were several young women on there, younger than you and me that had heart attacks and the emergency rooms didn't realize it at first or do the proper tests right away. Scary. I'm not saying women our age have heart attacks a lot, but it is more common than it used to be, and the male dominated medical profession does not always recognize that women (of any age) can have different heart attack symptoms than men and they are less likely to do the diagnostic tests as fast or treat heart disease in women as fast. 1 out of 2 women in the U.S. die of heart disease. For a long time, all the studies on heart disease were on men, so they didn't realize the differences in women. Anyway, I'm concerned for you and hope you can get checked out and get rid of the palpitations/symptoms. I also hope you can find something else that will help with your original symptoms. Good luck! Mara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 15, 2004 Report Share Posted August 15, 2004 Hello Di, I had the exact same problem with Elavil and on another occasion with atenonol (beta blocker). I went to the emergency room due to my previous heart attacks and actually had to show the cardiologist the problem on the EKG. It skips a beat and the missed beat catches up along with the next beat. It can shake the bed when you are sleeping. It almost felt like someone was punching me in the back with their fist. In each case, they took me off the medication. The cardiologist did not seem to be concerned with the problem at all. However, you should get this checked out by having an EKG. Also it may take a month or more before the problem clears up after you stop the offending meds. Mark S. Jordan zorbasci@... --- Diane wrote: > My > husband has felt my pulse and says that it seems to > skip a beat and > then almost get two at once. To me it feels like > there's an extra > beat almost coming up out of my chest. __________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 16, 2004 Report Share Posted August 16, 2004 I actually have never had mine go completely away since I stopped the meds, so I would get checked out right away too. I have mild heart failure now. Annette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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