I need to take this seriously, don't I?

[mawbroon]

Brief history: 2 cycles of psychosis and depression 2011 to 2013. Psych decides I might have Bipolar. Puts me on Quetiapine and things have been pretty stable since.

DH bought a heart rate monitor thinggy a couple of weeks ago and it appears that my heart rate is 90 ish at rest and a little activity sends it up to 120bpm. At first I thought it was wrong, but taking my pulse manually showed it was correct. 10 years ago, my resting heart rate was high 50s. I've never been super fit, but seem to have been lucky so far with heart rate and blood pressure.

Googling shows me that Quetiapine can cause this and it is pretty serious. It vastly increases the chance of sudden death so I am going to the doctor tomorrow.

It just feels so unfair that I might have to stop or change my meds. The thought of starting over with a new drug is actually really upsetting me. I tried two other antipsychotics before this one and it was awful at first. Needing to sleep 20 hours a day and piling on weight rapidly. I worked damned hard to lose the 20kgs I put on before

But i don't want to die suddenly or damage my heart, so there's no option.

Just when things have been going so well. Tell me it will be ok

Once you have spoken to your doctor you will feel more at ease. There are a number of antipsychotic drugs and you may just be having a reaction to this one. Don't google it will make you feel worse everyone is different . Take care I hope it all gets sorted for you. Oh panicking about it will increase your heart rate so try to keep calm

Google always make us see the worst. Quetiapine is safer that most but definitely get Dr go check that 🤓 Being anxious will make you tachycardic too X hope you feel better x

Thank you

Fortunately anxiety is not something I've ever really had a problem with so I'm feeling reasonably calm and rational. More pissed off if I'm honest!

Doc has sent me for an ECG. Heading there now.

Good luck with your GP appointment, hope it goes well

but I'm adding this info here just incase this is an area they don't know about, as is common apparently.

I have Postural Orthastatic Tachycardia Syndrome(POTs), which can be a symptom of other things such as B12 deficiency, or EDS

POTs generally wont show up in standard heart tests, but the 30 point raise in HR you describe would get you a POTs diagnosis, this link explains more... POTsUK

Might also be worth you looking into B12 deficiency/Pernicious Anaemia, as that can cause both POTs & the other problems you have, its easily treatable/curable too - check the Misdiagnosis page on this link too

B12 Info

Thanks for the info RockinHippy. No idea about PoTS, it doesn't really ring any bells with me, but the B12 definitely does.

A few years ago, I read about Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) and the info on the B12 website sounds very much along the same lines. It is something I will definitely mention when I go back on Monday (having blood taken tomorrow) as there is also a family history of anaemia/B12 deficiency/thyroid problems.

I'm not too worried about the heart thing, I am sure they will sort it somehow, but the thought of tinkering with my psychiatric drugs does not fill me with joy....

POTs is a listed symptom of B12 deficiency/Pernicious Anaemia, & it would explain why your Heart rate leapt up the way it did. Mine goes really nuts at times, especially if I am dehydrated - extra fluid & extra salt helps & a lot of us find Diarolyte helps too - for me Diarolyte (tissue salts) actually works to bring my blood pressure & heart rate down better than blood pressure drugs & no nasty side effects.

If you have pernicious anaemia in your family, then I would lay bets that is the route cause of most, if not all of your problems & adequate B12 injections will turn it all around. It had a miraculous affect on my daughter. Good luck x

Oh well. The bloods are all fine and the ECG was normal and 92 bpm is not fast enough to worry apparently. Doc will contact psych and see what he says about the drugs

Now my legs are sore and achey which is no fun

I take 1 gram of quetiapine so have a lot of ECGs. It was believed my brother died of long QT syndrome (can't confirm this in postmortem), which is where the danger comes from when taking quetiapine.

I was getting heart palpitations and the immediate assumption was that it's the quetiapine. I saw a cardiologist and I have a short QT interval. Apparently nothing to do with quetiapine. It's a hereditary condition and it's not thought that's what killed my brother.

The short message being:don't allow doctors to immediately make assumptions that it's the mental illness/medication to blame. Make them do a full exploration of possible causes

Alongside the heart problems, I've twice had symptoms immediately put down to bipolar or the medication. Once I was severely aneamic and the other was joint pain that turned out to be due to problems with the tendons in my feet.

The joint pain went on for 3 years and it was very bad at times. I was told to put up with it as the quetiapine worked for my bipolar. A physiotherapist pinpointed the real problem in 30 mins. Best £40 I've spent!

Sorry , it's now thought that Short QT killed my brother.

Now my legs are sore and achey which is no fun

I really think you need to take the possibility of Pernicious Anaemia MUCH more seriously - this ^^ is yet another common symptom & it is hereditary. Psych diagnosis such as yours can often be down to undiagnosed PA

My DDs B12 was well into normal range - but B12 injections had a miraculous effect on her health, it even got her out of a wheelchair & walking again - & the NHS tests are recognised by NICE as unreliable.

Have a look on the B12 info I linked to in my comments below

I will RockinHippy, thank you.

I noticed today that eating sugar sends it sky high. Any ideas?

Hyperglycaemia ?? - I get this too & seen it discussed on the B12 group too, pretty sure its linked