Worried about dangerous tachycardia-fast HB

[star68]

Hello everyone,

I have a history of general anxiety, panic attacks but I have controlled the symptoms thanks to my psychologist she is brilliant and made me understand why I had all the horrible symptoms, and how to manage them and up until recently have done quite well.

Recently I have been having a build up of serious stress recently. My elderly mother hasn't been well and I worry a lots about her.
A couple of nights ago I went to bed I wasn't as stressed up by then, read my book and fell sleep. About an hour or so later I woke up bit disorientated like in another bedroom, sat on my bed, stood up to go to toilet and my heart started racing out of nowhere, then I fell short of breath and I started panicking called my husband, he was sleeping like a log :scared10: then my daughter came to see me touched my chest and said my heart was beating very hard, she got me the blood pressure machine and the heart rate was 115 bpm, and I think it was higher when it started, perhaps 140 bpm for about 2 minutes until I measured with the machine. BP was 140/90. Gradually the bpm came down so did the blood pressure. It took about 30 minutes for my heart to be normal again.
I went to A&E in the morning, my ECG, BP and bpm were normal but they said it's best to go when I have the actual palpitation, but I live 30 minutes away from the hospital s it's kind of difficult by the time I get there the palpitation has calm down, although I told them next time I will definitely go straight away. My ECG and bpm were normal.

I am worried that it could be a dangerous palpitation, now my anxiety has came back because it's very hard to diagnose it unless you go to the hospital when it happens.

Could you share your histories about palpitations? TIA for reading my long thread.

[Sparkling_Fairy]

I get a high heart rate all the time, seemingly for no reason.
Alcohol: boom! Too much food: boom! And definitely anxiety attack: boom!
A lot of us wake up with an anxiety attack, that obviously you can't fend off because you're asleep when it comes on. I've woken up the last few nights from a vivid dream (not even a nightmare) and felt sweaty and my heart was racing. But it goes down again after a while.
I wouldn't bother with A&E if it always goes down on it's own. It's most likely just due to anxiety.

[Fishmanpa]

Sounds like a combination of a rather intense personal situation causing increased anxiety along with some White Coat Syndrome.

I wouldn't sweat it since it came back to normal.

Positive thoughts

[star68]

Thank you both for your replies, but can anxiety bring a heart rate past 100 bpm? When your heart rate goes up, how high does it go?

[Fishmanpa]

can anxiety bring a heart rate past 100 bpm

Climbing a flight of stairs, walking, sex etc. can bring your heart rate past 100bpm as can anxiety/adrenalin rush.

Positive thoughts

[Sparkling_Fairy]

When I have it from alcohol/too much food it's usually around 105.
But when I have it from anxiety, I don't even measure it. It's much higher than that anyway.

[NoraB]

Thank you both for your replies, but can anxiety bring a heart rate past 100 bpm? When your heart rate goes up, how high does it go?

Yes it can!

Mine went up to 140 odd in Feb when I was in A&E having a doozie of a panic attack.

[hanshan]

Among susceptible people, anxiety can bring on a heart rate well over 100 bpm. But also, similar heart rates can occur for no discernible reason.

If you have been diagnosed as having episodes of rapid heartbeat, but with no underlying physical illness, you should be relieved.

At the same time, you should understand that you have a propensity for it to re-occur. You need to have in place a plan of action to deal with it, when it inevitably happens.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thank you both for your replies, but can anxiety bring a heart rate past 100 bpm? When your heart rate goes up, how high does it go?

When I was exercising on a cross country machine when I used to keep fit, I always went above 100. Always.

If you looked up your ideal cardio range for exercise, it will be above 100.

Your heart can handle that. They have been since man started doing anything other than sitting in his cave. :yesyes:

[Sparkling_Fairy]

When I was exercising on a cross country machine when I used to keep fit, I always went above 100. Always.

If you looked up your ideal cardio range for exercise, it will be above 100.

Your heart can handle that. They have been since man started doing anything other than sitting in his cave. :yesyes:

And just think: when people run a marathon, their heart rate is well above 100 for 4 or 5 hours at a time. All good.

[ankietyjoe]

I get night time anxiety on a regular basis (much less than I used to now though) and those kinds of HR numbers are normal during anxiety.

140 bpm poses no risk to your heart at all (unless you have a medical reason for it to cause an issue, which you don't)!

I have been told by more than one Doctor that your heart can withstand that for days on end, although they would like to investigate the underlying cause if it was reported to them. In your case anxiety/stress is a perfectly normal trigger, and taking 30 mins or so to come back down is normal too.

I have been to hospital a couple of times where my HR wouldn't come down and my HR was about 120bpm, but in both cases I had an infection and was fighting a lengthy and expensive legal battle and in both cases there was nothing medically wrong and I was told to 'try and relax more'........:whistles:

The highest HR I've recorded during a panic attack was in the region of 160-180bpm, but even that's not dangerous in any way.

I have daytime panic under control now, and only suffer at night, and only after I've fallen asleep. All I do now is roll my eyes at the anxiety, wait for it to pass (5-10 minutes) and then go back to sleep.

It's one of those things that if you pay no attention to it, it goes away. :)

[dfoxworth]

I get night time anxiety on a regular basis (much less than I used to now though) and those kinds of HR numbers are normal during anxiety.

140 bpm poses no risk to your heart at all (unless you have a medical reason for it to cause an issue, which you don't)!

I have been told by more than one Doctor that your heart can withstand that for days on end, although they would like to investigate the underlying cause if it was reported to them. In your case anxiety/stress is a perfectly normal trigger, and taking 30 mins or so to come back down is normal too.

I have been to hospital a couple of times where my HR wouldn't come down and my HR was about 120bpm, but in both cases I had an infection and was fighting a lengthy and expensive legal battle and in both cases there was nothing medically wrong and I was told to 'try and relax more'........:whistles:

The highest HR I've recorded during a panic attack was in the region of 160-180bpm, but even that's not dangerous in any way.

I have daytime panic under control now, and only suffer at night, and only after I've fallen asleep. All I do now is roll my eyes at the anxiety, wait for it to pass (5-10 minutes) and then go back to sleep.

It's one of those things that if you pay no attention to it, it goes away. :)

How did you get your daytime panic under control? My racing heart, no appetite and trouble sleeping came on in May of last year. Everytime I got up my heart would take off, even when I was sitting or just waking up in bed. And we're talking 145bmp and more! I was scared out of my mind, was afraid to get up to go to the bathroom or do anything, and lost 20 lbs.

Had to go to the ER twice where they had to give me Lopressor, Ativan and fluids thru an IV to bring it down. Got referred to a Cardiologist who put me on Metoprolol 25 mg day and night for my racing heart, did an EKG, Echo, and 24 hour Holter monitor. He said everything was fine and referred me to the Mental Health Center.

I got on Sertraline, 25 mg for the first couple weeks then 50 mg after and felt improvement in just two weeks. I was on the Sertraline for four months and got back to my normal self so I decided to quit the Sertraline as it was costing a fortune to see the psychiatrist, not even in person btw, over a webcam, since I have no insurance. And I was fine for four months after quiting but the racing heart came back at the end of February this year.

After dealing with it last year, I was better equipped and didn't let it scare me as bad. I could get an appointment with a GP until March 27, and when I went, she prescribed me Sertraline again. But it is from a different pharmaceutical company and in a bottle this time instead of a pack like I got last year. I started on 25 mg for a week this time and then went to 50 mg.

But my anxiety got worse after starting it this time. I started having bad adrenaline rushes, felt like burning starting in my stomach and going to my chest then went through my arms leaving them tingling, my heart rate shot up and I just felt terrible and a sense of doom. Now I'm back to where I was last year, scared to death because I never had these panic attacks) adrenaline rushes before. They are horrible!

I was alone and had to call the ambulance last Wednesday as I couldn't sleep all night and at 9:30am I had a attack and my heart rate went to 165 bmp. The EMT was getting the Adenosine ready to restart my heart because she thought it was SVT, but she read the EKG and found out it wasn't. I have since been having attacks daily and can barely eat. I'm so scared that the Sertraline won't work because last year it didn't make anxiety worse like this year, and it's​ from a different pharmaceutical company so maybe it's a different formula?

I've been on it 10 days now and last year I was improving and off the beta blockers within two weeks. I had to start back on the Metoprolol this year too but it doesn't seem to be doing much for my heart rate, that's why I had to call the ambulance because I took the Metoprolol and my heart rate wouldn't go down. I'm not afraid of anything being wrong with my heart anymore, but I am afraid that when my heart gets that high that it won't come down. I'm having an attack before I get out of bed everyday now and I have to wait 30-45 mins hoping it will come down, and it just gets me stirred up all day. I live with my mom at the moment and she has to work and it is just awful when I'm here alone. :(