rapid heartbeat shortness of breath from sulphasalazine

Been on Sulphasalazine for three weeks or so. I never had this before but notice shortness of breath and palpitations. Has anybody on this experienced it? Rapid heart?

I stopped it yesterday to test myself. Didn't notice it happening. The rheumy who put me in it will just say it's not from the drug. She always does. My GI agreed we would try it for the severe joint pain. I may just call him. Scary feeling.

My GI symptoms seem to be ok.. I have severe crippling joint pain and swelling. My fingers are huge. Wrists, knees elbows feet. It's crazy. Getting ready to have RAI on thyroid for my Graves though. They think the joints are connected to the UC. I don't know could be thyroid related... I stopped the LDN because I was on Methotrexate. If it was helping the GI issues it certainly wasn't helping the joint issues..

You may be allergic to sulfa. It's not unusual for UCers to have trouble tolerating the sulfa component of sulfasalazine; it made me photosensitive. Your reaction could lead to anaphylaxis, though, so do check it out with your doctor! RE swollen joints: have you been tested for rheumatoid arthritis? / Old Hat (33 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)

Oh wow...it's hard to say if it's the sulfasalazine, but you being off it is probably the best thing if the shortness of breath has stopped.

What meds are you using at this time exactly?

Have you had recent blood tests done as well as chest x-ray?

q

Heart palpitations can make you cough (they do me). Shortness of breath is something different.

Heart palpitations can be from lots of things, not sure I'd link them to sulfazine. Anemia can cause an elevated heart rate, for example. And plenty of people have benign early beats (PVCs) which are often unexplained and completely harmless even if they feel horrible.

Mike that's exactly how I felt but with rapid heart!

Giving Sulphasalazine one more try. Doctor has me starting on one pill a day then try two. So far so good. I've actually had very little pain the last few days!

Low iron can also cause shortness of breath, heart palpitations, dizziness, headaches, and even chest pains. Mine ('serum ferritin' iron) was down to ZERO, while they kept saying my Hemoglobin was 'fine'.

The 'Hemoglobin' is affected by 'fast big' hemorrhages (like you'd see in a sudden blood loss event such as a miscarriage or car accident).

However, 'Serum Ferritin' is affected by long, slow blood loss that is ongoing (such as seen in heavy periods for months, or losing blood for weeks or months like in Ulcerative Colitis).

My HUGE lesson: Always, always, always ask that they check your SERUM FERRITIN and not just the darn HEMOGLOBIN.

Emma