Young Adult Female HBP, rapid HR, hot flashes, weight gain

[Dallas92]

I am only 24 years old. I recently was diagnosed with extreme high blood pressure and I am currently on 2 blood pressure meds to control it. Before they caught the HBP, I was getting hot sweats, racing heart randomly just walking around the kitchen getting water, and being out of breathe walking from my bathroom to my bed. I am not over weight and fairly active. I did not eat the best when all this was going on. I also had major fatigue, migraines, light headiness, and feeling nauseous randomly with high heart rate. Like little "episodes." I starting gaining weight quickly. I have severe lower back pain ( I am now going to a physical therapists for this)and abdominal pains with chest pains. I have started to workout more, being an hour for 6 days a week if not more on top of changing my diet and portion control. All of this started happening in October 2016, I got on my blood pressure meds November 2016 and thought that was the issue, but no this continued.

I have now gained over 30 pounds Febuary 2017 and have no answers. I have been checked for an adrenal tumor, thyroid issues, hormone issues, celiac disease, had ultrasounds of my heart, liver, kidneys, bladder, and gallbladder. Oh and I am not pregnant! haha I even wore a 24-hr heart rate monitor and my average heart rate was 160. I have also seen a cardiologists, an endocrinologists, and am about to go see the cardiologists again because my heart rate keeps spiking while resting. I now have severe hot flashes randomly during the day and at night still. Example: I was sitting in church Sunday and I started sweating so bad and was extremely hot, my stomach hurt and my head did also. These episodes last from 15-30 min each. My heart rate spiked to 112 then and my boyfriend said it was cold in there to him. After the hot flash is over, I felt fine.

I even went off my estrogen birth control. I am on a progestin only birth control now and thinking of stopping BC all together, just because of all these problems I am having. I don't know what is going on but I am tired of all the doctor visits and tests. I am tired of feeling this way and I am tired of not being able to lose weight no matter how hard I try. Please, if you have any suggestions, I am open to hearing them! I just want my life back.

Thanks in advance,

Dallas

[Deniro1979]

Hello

I want to start by saying I have no answers for you (didn't want to get your hopes up...). You have alot goin on and I hope you get some good input from the forum.

I am writing to you concerning one aspect of your post, weight gain. I just posted my own thread about it. I am soo bummed out to read about your weight gain (both for you and me). I'm even more concerned about my gain after reading your facts.

I'm 55 year old man but other than that we have alot in common. Not overweight, very active, etc. I have been on a Beta Blocker Metoprolol for 4 weeks. I have gained 6 lbs in that time!

I have worked so hard to lose 22 lbs in the past 13 months, I can't bare to imagine gaining it all back in a month or two because of the medicine.

How long has it been with your new routine of increased exercise and portion control? Has it helped?

My thoughts are with you, life can be tough and not very fair.  But we must hang in there and deal because good news could be right around the corner!

[MichelleP_3811]

Unfortunately it is impossible for anyone to diagnose you online but I do find it surprising that your hormones were considered normal.  How in range were they?  Sometimes people who are borderline can still have some pretty severe symptoms related to hormone imbalance.  I think quitting all birth control is a good idea to see if that is contributing to the problem but keep in mind it takes months for your hormones to regulate after a change of any sort.  Not sure why but the effects are slow so give it a bit of time before you see true results of quitting.  I would also check into the conditions POTS and Dysautonomia to see if any of those fit your symptoms.  Until you sort it out I would suggest drinking lots of water and see how that helps.  With high blood pressure I would avoid salt as much as possible.  And I would also try to avoid sugars and carbohydrates as much as possible.  Maybe they are causing some blood sugar spikes or something.  But what will help the most is drinking lots of water because it will help your heart function better.  Take care and hope you feel better soon.