Racing heartbeat

[jen78]

I've been noticing a lot lately that I seem to have a racing heartbeat, especially when I've just gone to bed and all is quiet, can hear it pounding if you get what I mean.

It made me wonder as a few times over the past few months, when I've had bloods and bloodpressure and such done, doctor/nurse has remarked my pulse is fast and asked if I was stressed or similar which I wasn't.

Anyone any idea why?

Thank you :)

[sqad617]

Is it rapid and regular. or rapid and irregular?

[jen78]

Rapid and regular, I'd say about 120bpm.

[daffy654]

Could it be a side effect of any medications you have taken? Or even caffiene overload?

[sqad617]

jen.......you need an ECG to see which part of the heart is "rapid firing" and it could be 4 or 5 areas.

The non cardiac cause that comes to mind is thyrotoxicosis (overactive thyroid)

[jen78]

I do drink coffee but more in the morning, stick to milky weak tea at work and just cordial in the evenings.

The only medications I take in the evenings is amitritylene and was wondering if that was causing it.

[sqad617]

jen......very, very unlikely.

[jen78]

Thanks sqad, will try and get a GP's appointment.

I had an ECG done a while back when I was having chest pains but they put it down to acid reflux then costochondritis (though have also had pericarditis and pleurisy chucked out!) so may well be further a further check out.

[Eve]

Aha, managed to find a thing that measures your pulse.

Just checked it and it was 106bpm! Will keep an eye and check it over time though.

Got a doctors appointment on Tuesday morning.

Thanks for all your help :) x

[mandimoo]

do you drink much alchohol? my heart beats like yours when im hungover and its horrible.

[Eve]

No, don't drink much at all and had just a small glass of wine on Friday night after work, sipped as I'm not a fast drinker either.

I've been checking my blood pressure and pulse and it seems to be related to exertion. Both seem to shoot up if I do something, nothing much, even just getting up and moving around.

I tend to have low blood pressure (think it's inherited as my dad is the same and his dad too) but it seems to be going a bit mental.

[nolaces]

hi jen
im so glad to hear youve got a docs appointment on tues, please make sure you go, it needs checking out.
i dont want to worry you, and hopefully yours isnt the same as this, but my dad (65yrs old) has a heart condition and his heart beat would race for no reason too.
it got to be very very seriously dangerous.
he got himself a pulse watch to monitor his heart rate and sometimes it would go up to over 200 beats per minute, and when it got this high it would cause him to black out and have a cardiac arrest! luckily and thankfully he was always resuscitated by the paramedics when we had to ring 999.
he is on medication to control the condition now and has a defribrilator implanted in his chest which will kick in if/when his heart beat races at a dangerously high speed, the defib does the same job as the shock pads paramedics use to shock him back to conciousness and regulates his heart rate again.
thank god hes ok now and has been for the past 18 months or so without any reaccurancies, it was such a worrying time for us all and would never ever want to go through it again.
now i know that all sounds very extreme and i sincerely hope your occasional speedy heart rate is down to something more simple and can be easily sorted... but, please, please keep your appointment at the doccies wont you, its not something you can ignore in the hope it will go away... hark at me! - im the worst one for doing that! lol ...
let us know how you get on wont you
take care x

[bigmamma]

Hi jen , I get periods of tachicardia racing futtery pulse and the cardiologist did a portable 48hr ECG reading and it showed I have sub-ventricular tachicardia . As my heart corrects itself after a short time there's no need for treatment , only if I were to stay in this state for longer would it need to be treated. x

[sqad617]

bigmama.....I do hope it is a supra-venticular tachycardia......the one you describe is not compatible with life LOL

[Eve]

Hi :)

Saw my GP this morning and she thinks it might be anxiety related but has done bloods for FBC, iron and thyroid and may do a 24 hour tape depending on what they come back with and how I go.

She did offer it today but said I'd see how the other things pan out.

Will let you know how it goes x