Mom went to cardiologist today and he took her off of her BP med Verapamil 240 mg that she had been on for 30 years to get her heart rate up. I’ve never heard of such a thing. When she was off of it in the ER last week her BP went up to 185/90. Was in for TIA and put on Eloquis
Heart rate between 46 and 58. She is 90 years old.
Her pro BNp was 1350 snd he said that’s not a big deal bc she does have any other symptoms- but her chart says bilateral pleural effusions and she is short of Breath and SaO2 is between 90/94.
I want home nurses to do vitals every day to make sure her BP doesn’t skyrocket and her not know.
Any suggestions?!
When you first posted I answered you; you seemed to have a lot of information and "numbers" and diagnostic information. At that time, and for that reason, I WRONGLY assumed you were MPOA.
As I understand it now, you are not? I think that others may have assumed you "were in charge" and I think it caused this thread to go off into the weeds a bit with advice (including my own).
If you are not the MPOA then this problem above is for A) the MD, B) the patient and C) the MPOA to discuss and make decisions.
Golden is correct. Your Mom was on a Calcium Channel Blocker. One side effect of these meds is lowering the HR. Her MD may have decided her rate was too low to continue this medication without a pacemaker (which he may or may not have discussed with your mom).
There was then the incident of the blood pressure going up. This could have been prevented with daily checks with a blood pressure machine, or caught early, and reported to MD by WHOMEVER is the MPOA or by Mom herself if she is still capable of handling her medical with her MD. A TIA resulted.
The long and the short here is that your mother is 90. Her systems are aging. Her treatment now is up to her, her MD and her POA and should be left in their hands. They will have many decisions to make about what "might work", about what heroic measures are or are not wanted, about possible palliative care, about safe placement for safety and monitoring, and etc.
WERE I YOU:
I would try to allow those who are in charge to be in charge. I would tell everyone that you are available (if you are) and when and in what ways you are able to help if needed.
I wish you and your Mom and extended family the very, very best and hope you can all get together calmly and supportively with one another to work through what measures will work best and I wish you excellence in medical care and advice.
Know that now, for your mom's end of life care, the best thing she can have is a cohesive, cooperative, loving, organized family. I wish you the very best.
Recently she took a fall and had to go to the ER for some stitches. They kept her overnight to be sure there weren't other problems. Of course her BP was high being in the ER and the hospital and they wanted to put her on BP meds. I did not allow it. I actually stayed in her room all night as they kept pushing for the BP meds (even at 3 am). Her BP had been slowly returning to its normal range.
While BP meds were good for her for many years, but she started developing adverse reactions -- she would be incoherent. At 102 yrs. she continues to be remarkable (without most medications).
The hospitalist told me that she wanted my mom to discontinue her BP meds.
I was concerned because my mom had taken BP meds for years. In her younger years, she had high BP.
The hospitalist said, “Your mom’s BP is very low and that is why she isn’t feeling well. She has Parkinson’s disease and people who have Parkinson’s disease tend to have low BP. The meds are causing her BP to drop too low.
No one ever told my mom or I that Parkinson’s patients had lower BL, not her primary care doctor or her neurologist.
Anyway, it made complete sense that the hospitalist took her off of her BP meds.
Sometimes, we are confused due to the lack of information about a situation that we have.
There is a reason why the cardiologist is saying that the BP meds are no longer needed. Just like there was a reason for my mom not to take them.
My mother actually felt better after discontinuing the meds.
Best wishes to you and your mom.
There are many many reasons for withdrawing medications that you cannot know without discussing the issue with the prescribing doctor. Some include the condition of the kidney at 90, lab results, and the body's ability to tolerate these meds.
Only your doctor can answer your questions about your/your loved one's medication decisions.
At 90 does your mother live alone? If so, the new automatic blood pressure and pulse machines are great. Omron is my favorite. She should keep a log of the daily measurements for her doctor. These machines are under 30.00 on amazon. You should check the machine against the MD office machine before using regularly, and at each checkup.
I faxed my concerns to dr snd my sister took mom. But my sister doesn’t want me talking to the doctors.
Everything is done with risk vs benefit in mind. Her risk is that her BP might go up, but the benefit is her heart does better.
It might just be that your mom’s end of life might be closer now than farther away. (Said with great compassion). Her body’s functions are likely pooping out from how long they have been working.
But, yes, speak with her doctor. Good luck
Anyway, I’m not a doctor, but I do think that medical staff get a little too fixated on bp targets for adults without sufficient attention to the special circumstances of the elderly.
Another consideration: kidney function can decline with age with the result that smaller amounts of bp med have effects equivalent or even greater than the earlier-in-life doses.
In the ER, my mother’s bp routinely shoots up over 180. What brings it down is getting her back home. The mistake I made the first time was letting her remain in the hospital with bp meds being shot right into her (note: she was not in the hospital for bp but was being *kept* there for that) and aligning myself with the medical staff in trying to calm her down and convince her this was necessary (she HATES blood pressure medications).
(Fun exchange with young nurse…. Mom: [to nurse] Don’t ever take blood pressure medication. Him [nurse]: What should I do instead? Eat right and exercise?)
We do occasionally get high readings (170s) at home. Generally, though, relaxation and deep breathing brings the number down.
I understand that high bp puts her at greater risk for stroke, but falling is also a major risk.
Again, I’m not a doctor. I’m just sharing what I’ve observed and experienced with my own mother.
Good luck and take care.
Alva said for you to keep a record of Moms BP. My nephew was told to take his first thing in the morning when he got up. You take it always at rest. The right side will vary from the left.
Ask her cardiologist what her normal reading is. What would be lowest. Ask if taking her pause ox would help. Call him only if her B/P seems too high. Your Moms daughter and you have every right to speak to the doctor as sister does unless she holds Medical POA.
If you are going with Mom to the doctor, you need to learn to ask him questions if she allows u in with her. He could have answered your question why he was dropping her BP med.
Reading this thread makes me wonder if I should push the conversion about the recent changes to her medication and if they make sense. It’s the case that she had BP spikes to 200+ recently. Her medications were changed when she was in rehab after a hip replacement (she fell and broke her hip). It’s been a roller coaster with lows and highs and few trips to ER because too low or too high. She’s now on metoprolol 50 mg morning and 50 mg evening) and losartan in evening. We adjust the dose based on the BP readings. I have been told that taking her off the BP medication could lead to a stroke — that might not kill her immediately but could drastically lower her quality of life.