Resting Heart Rate obsession

[iwantpeace]

im obsessed with my resting heart rate, and heart rate in general.
im on 225mg of venlafaxine per day for health anxiety and panic attacks.

my resting heart rate while on effexor is usual 90-85bpm
when im sitting in my chair.
if i lay in my bed i get 80bpm.
obviously before sleeping i can get slower like 75bpm but thats because your
prepering yourself to sleep.
usually mid-day is 85-90 bpm

dunno what to do.
i might ask the doctor to put me on propranolol.

what about you guys??

[trus75]

that is not super high. My resting HR during the day if I am sitting is between 75-80. At night it drops to 65-70, perfectly normal range. And your are not very different, just a little higher. It depends on person. But I can tell one thing: the more you worry about your HR, the more it gets high. Try to "forget that you have heart" for one or two days and you will feel much more relaxed.

[2Anxious]

There's no point in lying, that is pretty high. But it's not something to worry about. Have you had a cardiac work up? If not ask your doctor for one. If you have, look at your diet and lifestyle. The fitter you are the lower your heart rate will be.

[Aaahhfreakout]

I've discovered from owning my own heart monitor that my heart rate can increase 5 to 10 beats per minute as I reach for my wrist to measure my heart rate. I don't even feel that concerned but my anxiety must be there, just below the surface.

Anxiety can deceive us. Your heart rate might be lower than it seems. :)

[sial72]

2Anxious, what makes you think that is pretty high? Mayo Clinic says 60 to 100 beats is normal resting rate. Mine is generally 80.

[Aaahhfreakout]

The average men's and women's heart rate are often said to be 72 and 78 respectively.

Being unfit, overweight, too hot, after food, etc. will raise it, though.

[2Anxious]

2Anxious, what makes you think that is pretty high? Mayo Clinic says 60 to 100 beats is normal resting rate. Mine is generally 80.

I wouldn't be too worried but it is a high resting heart rate. I recently read an article that said doctors are re thinking the resting heart rate guidelines. If I can remember it I'll post it.

Again, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the heart, it just means your heart is working a bit harder than it should. Are you overweight, smoke, regularly eat processed/fatty foods? My resting heart rate is in the 50s but if I eat a load of sweets/chocolate etc it speeds up for ages afterwards.

Then again, some people will have a naturally higher resting heart rate for absolutely no reason. I'm not a doctor and I'm not trying to tell people they're unhealthy, but I've read a lot of threads on a lot of forums and most people's resting heart rates seem to be between 48 - 60 rather than 60 - 100. I'm pretty sure if you went to your doctor with a resting heart rate of 100 they would not be too happy, but according to the guidelines, that's normal.

I can't stress enough how I don't want people to worry, a resting heart rate of 80 isn't going to damage your heart and it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with you, there could just be other factors causing it to be a bit higher than usual.

Tbh, we're on an anxiety forum and when my anxiety is high my heart rate can stay in the 70s/80s/90s for days. Are you taking your pulse as soon as you wake up and not anxious?

[trus75]

2Anxious, the resting heart rate between 48-60 is for people who exercise often and it depends on your age too.

I'm an anxious person and my HR can get as low as 55 just before I'm going to sleep but it can be 75-80s for many days if I am too anxious. During the day, it's usually on low 70's but it drops to 65's if I am very relaxed.

I recently had a Holter, my minimum HR was 53 during sleep and 60 when awake. On the other hand, the average HR during the 24 hours was 81bpm, because I was anxious during the day and had a little of exercise. Then a cardiologist told me these numbers are excellent for my age, considering the fact that I am a little sedentary. For an "average" 40yo person who doesn't exercise, a resting HR of 70-75 during the day is perfectly normal. It's not "pretty high" as you said. Pretty high would be 90-100 if you are sitting and relaxed. And then you have a lot of external factors which will increase your HR. The first one is anxiety, the second is any change in your body. For example if you have an infection, even sore throat, you will notice an increase on your HR. If you have intestinal problems, it will increase your HR aswell... and it's always good to ask your doctor to check TSH (Thyroid) levels, cause that's one of the most important causes of fast HR's.

There's just no formula for this, each person is different, but I think "pretty high" is not the correct term to use in this particular case.

[2Anxious]

2Anxious, the resting heart rate between 48-60 is for people who exercise often and it depends on your age too.

I'm an anxious person and my HR can get as low as 55 just before I'm going to sleep but it can be 75-80s for many days if I am too anxious. During the day, it's usually on low 70's but it drops to 65's if I am very relaxed.

I recently had a Holter, my minimum HR was 53 during sleep and 60 when awake. On the other hand, the average HR during the 24 hours was 81bpm, because I was anxious during the day and had a little of exercise. Then a cardiologist told me these numbers are excellent for my age, considering the fact that I am a little sedentary. For an "average" 40yo person who doesn't exercise, a resting HR of 70-75 during the day is perfectly normal. It's not "pretty high" as you said. Pretty high would be 90-100 if you are sitting and relaxed. And then you have a lot of external factors which will increase your HR. The first one is anxiety, the second is any change in your body. For example if you have an infection, even sore throat, you will notice an increase on your HR. If you have intestinal problems, it will increase your HR aswell... and it's always good to ask your doctor to check TSH (Thyroid) levels, cause that's one of the most important causes of fast HR's.

There's just no formula for this, each person is different, but I think "pretty high" is not the correct term to use in this particular case.

I said some people can naturally have a higher resting heart rate. I don't exercise at all and my heart rate is between 48 - 55 at rest. It obviously varies a lot from person to person.

I didn't say 70bpm was pretty high, I said 80 - 95 is pretty high when you're completely relaxed and resting, which it is.

Average heart rate and resting heart rate isn't the same thing as I'm sure you know, 53bpm while asleep and 60 - 70 while awake is perfect.

All I'm saying is, if your resting HR is 80bpm or higher, there's probably a reason. If you exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and don't smoke/drink much and it's STILL 80bpm, then that's probably just how your heart works (which is fine).

We should all be trying to be the healthiest we can be.

[trus75]

Ok. I got it now.
I think the main problem in this case is the anxiety. At least in my case, I notice a big difference in my HR if I'm relaxed or anxious (even if I'm laying on both situations). The fact that we are thinking about our HR is already a bad sign that we are very anxious people.

"Normal" people usually forget that they have a heart, unless they feel some chest pain or short of breath

So, if he/she is able to control his anxiety and forget about the heart, his HR will probably drop a lot. I'm almost sure about this.

[2Anxious]

Ok. I got it now.
I think the main problem in this case is the anxiety. At least in my case, I notice a big difference in my HR if I'm relaxed or anxious (even if I'm laying on both situations). The fact that we are thinking about our HR is already a bad sign that we are very anxious people.

"Normal" people usually forget that they have a heart, unless they feel some chest pain or short of breath

So, if he/she is able to control his anxiety and forget about the heart, his HR will probably drop a lot. I'm almost sure about this.

Yea, I agree.

[iwantpeace]

I said some people can naturally have a higher resting heart rate. I don't exercise at all and my heart rate is between 48 - 55 at rest. It obviously varies a lot from person to person.

I didn't say 70bpm was pretty high, I said 80 - 95 is pretty high when you're completely relaxed and resting, which it is.

Average heart rate and resting heart rate isn't the same thing as I'm sure you know, 53bpm while asleep and 60 - 70 while awake is perfect.

All I'm saying is, if your resting HR is 80bpm or higher, there's probably a reason. If you exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and don't smoke/drink much and it's STILL 80bpm, then that's probably just how your heart works (which is fine).

We should all be trying to be the healthiest we can be.

well i had an cardiac echo,ecg, and holter, which came up normal.
at least thats what the cardiologist said. that was approx 2 years ago.
while asleep the holter recorded a rate of 55bpm.
and a max heart rate 215bpm at the peak of the exercise (sprinting)
during 24hours it recorded only 2 PACs , nothing else.

when i wake up in the morning i used to get 75bpm while
sitting in the chair.
and 70 bpm before going to bed for sleep. but back then i was
on 75mg of EFFEXOR.

now i take 225mg, i think the effexor raised my resting heart rate.
my psychiatrist keep insisting that i do not need propranolol and
that 85 isnt that much.

ofcourse if i eat a huge pizza i can get 100 bpm for 1 or 2 hours,
but thats normal because of the digestion process and because
the stomach needs a big blood supply to break down the pizza :D
after digestion has finished i go back to 85.

rarely i get down to 75 now. and that would be ussualy before sleep.

[Strawberry_3]

Anything between 60 and 100 is considered to be normal heart rate at rest. Mine tends to be between 85 and 100 which is fine, according to my Cardiologist.

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