Forum Discussion
Low blood pressure collapse
Well that was an exciting afternoon... Last chemo was on Tuesday; fatigue in full flight, nausea present but not too bad after a slightly better than normal night's sleep. Had a long standing dieti...
Views
Sign in to react to this post
Well well, the plot has thickened somewhat on the low bp collapse front.
I was taking the new oncologist through my BC story and told her about the low bp problem that got worse as chemo went along, culminating in my rather dramatic collapse in Dumpling King. She is firmly of the opinion that I have Vasodepressor Syncope, and that it developed (in an already fertile environment of low blood pressure) as a result of chemotherapy.
When my blood pressure drops the valves either side of my neck are supposed to open making it easier for the blood to get to my brain. For reasons unknown, mine don't. The blood descends to my legs and I start to feel awful, get that tinny rushing sound in my ears, tunnel vision and then start to lose consciousness. My heart should start to beat fast in response but it doesn't.
I've read up on it a bit and I'm struggling to understand it. It's an involuntary response, governed by the sympathetic nervous system, which also runs the fight or flight response. I'll have a chat to by GP about it.
Anyway, I thought that it was chemo side effect and chemo being well and truly over, so were these episodes. The oncologist seemed to think not, and that I will be bothered by them in the future. She said I needed to advise doctors about it when I have operations.
It's the response that causes people to faint at the sight of needles, or blood. Neither of those things bother me, and I did read that sometimes triggers are unable to be identified.
Chemotherapy, the gift that keeps on giving...
I was taking the new oncologist through my BC story and told her about the low bp problem that got worse as chemo went along, culminating in my rather dramatic collapse in Dumpling King. She is firmly of the opinion that I have Vasodepressor Syncope, and that it developed (in an already fertile environment of low blood pressure) as a result of chemotherapy.
When my blood pressure drops the valves either side of my neck are supposed to open making it easier for the blood to get to my brain. For reasons unknown, mine don't. The blood descends to my legs and I start to feel awful, get that tinny rushing sound in my ears, tunnel vision and then start to lose consciousness. My heart should start to beat fast in response but it doesn't.
I've read up on it a bit and I'm struggling to understand it. It's an involuntary response, governed by the sympathetic nervous system, which also runs the fight or flight response. I'll have a chat to by GP about it.
Anyway, I thought that it was chemo side effect and chemo being well and truly over, so were these episodes. The oncologist seemed to think not, and that I will be bothered by them in the future. She said I needed to advise doctors about it when I have operations.
It's the response that causes people to faint at the sight of needles, or blood. Neither of those things bother me, and I did read that sometimes triggers are unable to be identified.
Chemotherapy, the gift that keeps on giving...