Heartrate at 100 bpm for two days

[WildChinchilla]

Yesterday I started getting high heart rate, around 90-100 bpm. It came about as I was doing the washing up. My house was hosting a party that night, so I thought it might be due to anticipation for that, but even when I went and sat down, my heart wouldn't slow down. During the party my heart continued to by high. As a result I spend a lot of time in my room and drank very little. I went to bed about 2am and couldn't sleep for hours, then woke up after about 5 or 6 hours sleep. I've been in bed all day today, feeling tired but not being able to sleep. My heart rate has stayed around 90-110 bpm. No matter how much I do to distract it, no matter how calm I become, it still stays high.

I've had anxiety centered around my heart for about 3 years. Sometimes I have panic attacks. I've been to the docs, I've had one ECG conducted by a nurse near the onset of my anxiety, and everything has come back fine.

But this is different. My resting pulse is usually 60bpm so this is quite a spike for me. And it just won't stop. I've not had this before and don't know what to do. Even when I woke up from sleep it was still high. It doesn't pound, it just steadily beats fast.

What should I do?

[countrygirl]

I have had this in the past and its always an anxiety thing with me. I have even been sent to hospital with it but other than a fast heartbeat everything was fine and it went back to normal after a few days. I get worst white coat syndrome imaginable and in a medical setting my heartrate is never less than 120bpm.

I was told at hospital that under 160bpm they are not concerned if everything else about it is normal. Its not ideal but won't cause any long term harm. OF course the more you notice it the faster it will get as I know to my cost its totally tied up with your brain!

Obviously cut out all caffeine, chocolate or high sugar foods and alcohol for a few days. Don't lay in bed as you are then totally focusing on it get up and keep very busy. It can't harm you and exercise can also help it to reset itself.

If it goes about 150 bpm persistantly or you feel very faint then its sensible to go to hospital to get it checked out but its much more likely that this is pure anxiety perhaps with caffeine or sugar overload and will settle down if you don't focus on it.

[rsanchez]

I think it's very normal. My resting pulse is also around 60bpm. Now that what it is when I wake up in the morning ("resting"). Once I'm up and about and at work, it usually stays in the 80-90bpm range. If you have anything new or exciting, like a party, or anything worrisome, it's normal for it to go up 10-20bpm more still.

Now, judging from your post, since you say you've been trying to calm down but it doesn't stop, that tells me you've had high anxiety constantly over the past few days. With high anxiety your heart rate will be at 90-110bpm easy. It's not harmful. Some people live with this for decades.