High heart rate

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Crawflowr
Crawflowr Posts: 106 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've always had a high heart rate, it isn't too big a problem, though it can be annoying when I go to bed at night and it is thumping away keeping me awake. I joined MFP in august and since then I've been upping my exercise, walking and cardio at the gym. To help with this I bought an HRM. This has shown that my resting heart rate if sat on the sofa for 10 mins will drop to around 75-80 so thats ok. When I stand up however it rises to over 100-110. Just dressing and walking down the stairs to the gym and it rises to 130 before I even start exercising. Running for a short time or using the elliptical at 8kmh only and it rises to 180-190, if I continue to run for 10 mins it will go over 200 at which point I always stop.

I phoned the Doctor and she doesn't seem that bothered but she ordered some basic bloodtests for anemia and thyroid issues and these came back normal.

My question is do you think I should go back to the doctor and ask for further tests? or am I just being a hypochondriac as She seems to consider me? I have made another appointment to see her next Friday but wondering whether I'm just wasting her time and mine.
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Replies

  • Akjenn89
    Akjenn89 Posts: 265 Member
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    I really don't have any good advice... I was just kinda excited to see that someone else other than me has this same issue. (Granted, I do have a thyroid problem, so maybe that's why if you were tested for that). I also have asthma. I talked to my doctor about it too, and got pretty much the same answer as you did. She said basically just to do the "talk test" when I'm exercising to see if I'm overdoing it or not, but not to worry too much about it.

    If you find out something different, let me know, I'd be interested in hearing. :)

    Edit: I also have what they call a "regular irregular heart beat". What I've found is that I have to concentrate on my breathing a lot more and slow down my breathing when I'm running to not top out as much. Figured I'd add that, just in case you find when you're running you want to try it out and see if that helps your heart rate.
  • thefuzz1290
    thefuzz1290 Posts: 777 Member
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    The longer you exercise, the lower your heart rate should be while exercising. In a few weeks you should find that doing the same exercise should be lower than when you first started, and you'll have to work harder to raise it. Not to mention you'll begin to recover quicker.

    That being said, if you don't see a change, go see a doctor.
  • Crawflowr
    Crawflowr Posts: 106 Member
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    I've been monitoring my heart since September, working out 3 times a week at the gym and walking at least an hour every day in between. In all that time I've noticed no improvement in my heart rate. I've been trying C25k and doing the interval training, running for 1min it goes up to 180-190 then drops to 150-160 when walking for 2mins between. My heart rate will drop to 130 after exercise until I eventually get sat down when it will take about 5mins to drop to below 100. This pattern hasn't changed at all in 3 months.
  • cartea01
    cartea01 Posts: 156 Member
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    You may have a condition called inappropriate sinus tachycardia. Basically it means for some reason your heart beats faster than normal for an unknown reason (really helpful huh?). I was diagnosed with this by a cardiologist (I had much the same HR pattern as you). Basically, if at rest or in normal activity it is limiting you (i.e. shortness of breath), then there are options to treat with beta-blockers (slow the heart rate) but for me, I didn't notice it until I started exercising. I was advised to keep exercising and I may notice both my resting heart rate and my exercise heart rate to come down. Since I started interval running, my resting HR has gone from 95 to 65. With sprints I still get my heart rate up to 170-180 but it comes down quicker and I don't feel so breathless.

    Basically, IST is a diagnosis of exclusion (need your thyroid checked, you haemoglobin etc, etc). You can get a referral to a cardiologist if you're worried but if all your baseline bloods are normal and your ECG/EKG is normal, then your doctor is probably right and you don't need to worry.
  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
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    I have a high rate too! I'm 48, so when I figure my max, I hit it almost immediately when I do HIIT. However, I have noticed that it is going down. If I sit quietly, when it used to show in the 70's to 80's, it actually has settled into the mid-60's. I see that as a sign of being more fit. I've always been a fidgety person so I think some of it is just my metabolism.
  • DawnMac85
    DawnMac85 Posts: 18 Member
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    I have IST (inappropriate sinus tachycardia) and take a beta blocker for it . I have noticed that my heart rate comes back to a more normal range after exercise much quicker now, have been working out for about 9 months now.
    The internal medicine specialist I saw indicated that there is some thought that IST may be somehow related to perimenopause so hopefully when I am post menopausal this will go away (I'm 51 now).
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    I would definitely get this checked. A leap like that from simply standing up, in a reasonably fit person, doesn't seem right to me. I'd put a little more pressure on your doctor, and get it properly sorted.
  • tennillewade
    tennillewade Posts: 49 Member
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    I think you should get a second opinion. from another doctor. we are different but my heartrate doesnt get to 180 even when i'm excercise to exhaustion. That would seem that your heart is working to hard and that is not good, so yeah i would definitely go to another doctor for a second opinion. How do you feel though? do you feel overly exhausted?
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
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    I have this same condition. I actually saw a cardiologist for it before I had kids and it was diagnosed as innapropriate sinus tachycardia. My resting is in the 90's and when I move around it's often 120-140. When I'm working out hard it gets to around 200. I do find that exercise daily brings it lower and lower over time and that is what the cardiologist said would happen. When I first started it would get to 200 with not that much effort but now I have to really, really work hard to push it there. I look at it as a bonus because the higher my HR during the workout the more cals burning. :)

    But, if it bothers you (mine isn't sometime I notice) I would urge you to see a cardiologist and request a beta blocker. I was started on on when I was first diagnosed because it was causing symptoms then such as occaisional palpitations. The beta blocker lowers your heart rate and keeps you at a better pace. I only came off it because I started trying to have children and I never bothered to go back on now that I'm done because at this point it isn't an issue for me. Good luck!
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
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    The longer you exercise, the lower your heart rate should be while exercising. In a few weeks you should find that doing the same exercise should be lower than when you first started, and you'll have to work harder to raise it. Not to mention you'll begin to recover quicker.

    That being said, if you don't see a change, go see a doctor.

    This isn't really true. The fitter you are, the faster your heart rate will recover after exercise. My HR while running has right from the start been about 168 average up to 175 max, but now it drops down to 140 within a minute of me stopping, and is back to normal in about 5 minutes, whereas it used to take much longer.
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
    Options
    You may have a condition called inappropriate sinus tachycardia. Basically it means for some reason your heart beats faster than normal for an unknown reason (really helpful huh?). I was diagnosed with this by a cardiologist (I had much the same HR pattern as you). Basically, if at rest or in normal activity it is limiting you (i.e. shortness of breath), then there are options to treat with beta-blockers (slow the heart rate) but for me, I didn't notice it until I started exercising. I was advised to keep exercising and I may notice both my resting heart rate and my exercise heart rate to come down. Since I started interval running, my resting HR has gone from 95 to 65. With sprints I still get my heart rate up to 170-180 but it comes down quicker and I don't feel so breathless.

    Basically, IST is a diagnosis of exclusion (need your thyroid checked, you haemoglobin etc, etc). You can get a referral to a cardiologist if you're worried but if all your baseline bloods are normal and your ECG/EKG is normal, then your doctor is probably right and you don't need to worry.
    Interesting to see others with this same condition!!
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
    Options
    The longer you exercise, the lower your heart rate should be while exercising. In a few weeks you should find that doing the same exercise should be lower than when you first started, and you'll have to work harder to raise it. Not to mention you'll begin to recover quicker.

    That being said, if you don't see a change, go see a doctor.

    This isn't really true. The fitter you are, the faster your heart rate will recover after exercise. My HR while running has right from the start been about 168 average up to 175 max, but now it drops down to 140 within a minute of me stopping, and is back to normal in about 5 minutes, whereas it used to take much longer.

    I disagree. My cardiologist told me the fitter I get (longer period I make exercerice a consistent part of my daily routine) the lower my heart rate should be and that is exactly what I find happens. I do also recover faster but my overall heart rate won't get as high. I see it even over the course of a week doing the same workout each day.
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
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    I've been monitoring my heart since September, working out 3 times a week at the gym and walking at least an hour every day in between. In all that time I've noticed no improvement in my heart rate. I've been trying C25k and doing the interval training, running for 1min it goes up to 180-190 then drops to 150-160 when walking for 2mins between. My heart rate will drop to 130 after exercise until I eventually get sat down when it will take about 5mins to drop to below 100. This pattern hasn't changed at all in 3 months.

    It probably isn't the same for everyone with this condition. I'd say since daily exercise isn't improving things and since you are bothered by it at times a beta blocker would really help you.
  • fteale
    fteale Posts: 5,310 Member
    Options
    The longer you exercise, the lower your heart rate should be while exercising. In a few weeks you should find that doing the same exercise should be lower than when you first started, and you'll have to work harder to raise it. Not to mention you'll begin to recover quicker.

    That being said, if you don't see a change, go see a doctor.

    This isn't really true. The fitter you are, the faster your heart rate will recover after exercise. My HR while running has right from the start been about 168 average up to 175 max, but now it drops down to 140 within a minute of me stopping, and is back to normal in about 5 minutes, whereas it used to take much longer.

    I disagree. My cardiologist told me the fitter I get (longer period I make exercerice a consistent part of my daily routine) the lower my heart rate should be and that is exactly what I find happens. I do also recover faster but my overall heart rate won't get as high. I see it even over the course of a week doing the same workout each day.

    The fitter you are the lower your resting heart rate should be, but fitter people tend to have higher maximum heart rates. It isn't true that the fitter you are the lower your heart rate DURING exercise will be, it may even go up. It's about recovery rate and resting HR.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    I've been monitoring my heart since September, working out 3 times a week at the gym and walking at least an hour every day in between. In all that time I've noticed no improvement in my heart rate. I've been trying C25k and doing the interval training, running for 1min it goes up to 180-190 then drops to 150-160 when walking for 2mins between. My heart rate will drop to 130 after exercise until I eventually get sat down when it will take about 5mins to drop to below 100. This pattern hasn't changed at all in 3 months.

    It probably isn't the same for everyone with this condition. I'd say since daily exercise isn't improving things and since you are bothered by it at times a beta blocker would really help you.

    I agree with this - and obviously someone with the condition undoubtedly knows a lot more about it. Just a tiny word of caution. If you're using beta blockers have that closely monitored. I used them for panic disorder for years, and stopped about 4 or 5 months ago, as I noticed they were having a massive impact on my fitness performance. I was taking them intermittently and on the day after using them, simply couldn't get my heart rate up at all, and that had consequences for how my muscles and breathing felt. It's likely different when you're using them constantly, but make sure if you do get a prescription for them, that you talk over with a doctor exactly how it will impact on physical activity. I didn't realise for ages what the problem was and it was really dispiriting, feeling I just couldn't *do* things in the gym.
  • Crawflowr
    Crawflowr Posts: 106 Member
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    Thanks for the advice, I probably will see the Dr next week for one last check. She hasn't done an ECG or any physical tests so I'd be happier if we ruled out those options as well as the blood related issues. I do get out of breath climbing stairs. It always annoyed me when helping my Mother in Law in the Garden that she was able to go all day without stopping while I, 20 odd years younger than her, was exhausted after only 20 minutes work. I think the exercise is probably helping so I should keep it up, when I started my resting heart rate was nearer 80-90 and I am now seeing it in the 70s, though the change is slow. Mostly it doesn't bother me too much, I am able to function and do everything I need to do. I'll be interested to see how my heart copes when I start getting further into C25K and the runs get longer, I'm still only doing 1:30 minute runs intervals.
  • hsmithway
    hsmithway Posts: 191
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    If your heart rate shoots up when you stand up, it could be postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS). The hallmark symptom of POTS is an increase in heart rate from the supine to upright position of more than 30 beats per minute or to a heart rate greater than 120 beats per minute within 12 minutes of head-up tilt.
  • Crawflowr
    Crawflowr Posts: 106 Member
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    I had heard of POTS and it seemed to fit all my symptoms well, but when I mentioned it to my Dr she said she had never heard of it. I know Doctors hate patients who look stuff up on the internet.
  • Stacyanne324
    Stacyanne324 Posts: 780 Member
    Options
    The longer you exercise, the lower your heart rate should be while exercising. In a few weeks you should find that doing the same exercise should be lower than when you first started, and you'll have to work harder to raise it. Not to mention you'll begin to recover quicker.

    That being said, if you don't see a change, go see a doctor.

    This isn't really true. The fitter you are, the faster your heart rate will recover after exercise. My HR while running has right from the start been about 168 average up to 175 max, but now it drops down to 140 within a minute of me stopping, and is back to normal in about 5 minutes, whereas it used to take much longer.

    I disagree. My cardiologist told me the fitter I get (longer period I make exercerice a consistent part of my daily routine) the lower my heart rate should be and that is exactly what I find happens. I do also recover faster but my overall heart rate won't get as high. I see it even over the course of a week doing the same workout each day.

    The fitter you are the lower your resting heart rate should be, but fitter people tend to have higher maximum heart rates. It isn't true that the fitter you are the lower your heart rate DURING exercise will be, it may even go up. It's about recovery rate and resting HR.

    Well, maybe I am just strange then... ;) But, I absolutely do see that the fitter I am getting the lower my heart rate gets during exercise.
  • jordak2
    jordak2 Posts: 1
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    You should have a stress test where your heart is monitored while you exercise to rule out an abnormal rhythm.

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