Wonky Heart Rate

kelsully

Ok...let me begin by saying that I am working on getting in to see the dr. Office isn't open on Fridays so at this point I am just looking for info........
Background.....I have always been into fitness, struggled with an ED in high school but never stopped exercising through that recovery. I ran recreationally through college, coached cross country and track during my first 5 years of teaching...then I had 6 pregnancies and 4 babies over a 6 year time. Between babies I would get back into a routine and be pregnant again happily. Even through pregnancy I maintain a pretty low blood pressure. Nearly 4 years ago I delivered my son....only boy of 4 kids etc...and 6 days after his birth went into what the drs are choosing to call post partum pre eclampia heart failure maybe...they don't really know what happened but I nearly died. With the help of accupuncture I got healthy within weeks. There was one more episode of what the drs want to call an anxiety attack when my son was about 3 months old....I think they wanted me to have anxiety instead of admit they don't know everything....I got very healthy. I work out a lot...training for 2nd marathon. I am maintaining a very healthy weight and figure. My Docs have changed my BC 6 times now in the last 4 years...I suffer the hormonal migraines and have had serious mood issues on two of the pills...the last 6 weeks I have been experiencing occassional heart palpitations, frequent migraines and some dizziness. Today I felt wonky so I decided to leave my HRM on and watch what is happening...I spend a few minutes at a HR of about 54-60 bpm then it spikes to 78-90 for about 10 seconds then drops back down. I am just laying on the floor. I have been noticing the racing a lot lately but it is tough to count because the racing only lasts a short time. This can't be good. Any insight out there or any questions I should ask my dr next week?

kelsully

Bump

laureneva15

If you can get a print out or something of your heart rate from your hrm (i know nothing bout them so assuming you can do that) take that in.
Keep a journal of all your symptoms of when your next attack happens - include what you were doing as well time date and duration. Also in the journal record any family history of heart or cardiovascular related problems (if their is a history they are more likely to take you seriously sadly)

They might take an ecg or give you a heart rate monitor that records for maybe 24 or so hours to get a day recording of it.

Try to avoid coffee or caffeine for now and if you smoke, limit it. These can both accelerate heart rate. I'm sure there's more but I can't quite remember. I'm sorry.

Also if you're not satisfied with what your doctor has said/done go to a different doctor to get a second opinion or ask to see a cardiologist.

kelsully

Thanks for the reply...I drink coffee as I love it and it helps the headaches....I have to really consider cutting it out as I always got withdrawl headaches when I quit coffee during pregnancies but my head is hurting so bad lately...I will ease back on it though for sure and see if that helps

laureneva15

Thanks for the reply...I drink coffee as I love it and it helps the headaches....I have to really consider cutting it out as I always got withdrawl headaches when I quit coffee during pregnancies but my head is hurting so bad lately...I will ease back on it though for sure and see if that helps

I know caffeine can cause attacks in people who have subventricular tachycardia (basically bottom chambers of the heart are beating too fast because their electricity is out of whack)
***Not saying thats what you have, but it might be worth while looking into cutting back the caffeine to see if it helps or hinders. But you would have to weigh that up against your headaches as well.

Have you noticed you've done anything specific before you get the attacks?

kelsully

Thank you for the time to respond again. I have some things to research now which always makes me feel better. I will start keeping better attention to and journaling things. I am definitely going to cut back on the caffeine. In the summer I drink much less coffee and increase my water 3 fold (still not enough really). I hope that my morning 2 cups and then down to 1 cup might help. It aggravate the begeezus out of my chiropracter that I use caffeine, advil and a nap....My hormones are a huge issue so I do tend to notice more issues during certain days of the cycle..blech I hate not having answers