What A Difference A Day Makes | Arthritis Information

 

Last night I awakened with my heart going 130bpm, then falling to 60, then trying to correct itself by going into ectopy (skippy beats).  This went on for about an hour until I got scared enough to get my butt to the ER.  Once there (at 2AM), I was found to be dehydrated and hypokalemic.  I spent the night and all of today on a cardiac monitor and being infused with replacement fluids and potassium.  Had all kinds of tests done and was found to be anemic (low RBCs, low Hemo, low Hct).  Also have low magnesium and very high levels of Ferritin.  They even found a UTI (cystitis) to boot.

 

My heart rate came down almost too much (50's) with the use of Beta Blockers but my BP remained high (170's over 90's) all day and is still high. 

 

Once they managed to get my potassium back up to within acceptable, although low end levels, they discharged me with orders to eliminate the diuretic I take and increase an ACE inhibitor I take in addition to a Beta Blocker. Not one word was said to me about the anemia. I found out when I asked for the reports of all labs that were done.  I read them in my car and almost went back in there to question it but I know that a large percent of people with RA get anemia and I had just spent 15 hours in that place.

 

So....here I am....back home and worrying about all this junk which I think might be related to the RA, especially the anemia. 

 

Anybody have RA related anemia NOT caused by NSAIDS or other DMARDS?  If so, how are you being treated for it?

 

K.

 

PS:  My fingers still feel great, though.Hi Katalina.  I can't answer your q, but gosh, what an awful night you had.  Hope tomorrow's better for ya.sorry you had such a bad night...  what was the injection you received?  cortisone? Hi Katalina, Hi Katalina, all the best for a quick recovery, can't help you with anaemia question, I do have it but from NSAIDS.  All the best Janie.

Katalina - I don't have it in my signature (ran out of room), but I am also dxed with inflammation anemia.  It's from the disease.  I had never heard of it, but it's a real.  Sorry you had such a tough time there, and I agree, get to your regular doctor ASAP and hopefully someone will take a look at the bigger picture for you.  It's taken almost two years for me since diagnosis to even get a small team of good doctors around me who will tolerate the intensity of this disease when it decides to hit hard.  Take care. 

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience.  I hope your doctor gets to the bottom of it quickly so you don't have to go through something like that again.+10 get to your RD for a followup. Anything that sends you to the hospital needs to be monitored to make sure you get the issue resolved.

A few years ago I went to the ER with severe abdominal pain. It was real bad. They ran a whole battery of tests, found nothing and gave me a prescription for pain killers. Went to my GP, talked about it, he does the usual doctor office stuff, then two pokes later I had a diagnosis of double hernia.
Yes make sure that you RD and GP are aware of all this. The anemia is not as life threatening as the low potasium. Rather they have more time to treat that. Your doctors need to monitor and treat both. Which reminds me i need to call Monday and see how my cbc was. I am thinking RA can cause the anemia. I do not know if it is drug related. I personally have the low potasium problem and i do not take dieuretics. So if you start feeling badly again go get checked out. You should do better stopping the diueretics. But keep an eye on it anyway. But certainly call your docs as soon as possible.
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