Rapid heart rate :(

[fbmb]

First of all, merry Christmas :) I hosted Christmas this year and it was nice but it was a super long day. I'm beat. I hardly ate all day until dinner, then I ate a lot. After dinner I went to the kitchen with my husband to clean up dishes and it was so hot in there because my oven had been on since 10 am. I was rushing around getting things put away in a hurry and I did feel a little overwhelmed. I suddenly noticed my heart felt like it was beating so fast. It was beating hard and fast. I didn't want to appear worried so I calmly walked over to my Apple Watch and put it on. It was beating 207 beats per minute, according to my watch. So then I felt even more worried. I immediately went over to my back door and took some deep breaths of cool air, and then excused myself to go up to my room. I sat down and it dropped, quickly. I looked at the dashboard for my heart rate monitor on my phone and it went from (supposedly) 207 bpm to 117 in 2 minutes. Is that even possible? Especially after walking up the stairs to my room?

My heart has never beat that fast, except for when I worked out really hard once in college. I talked to a friend who is a nurse and she said she doesn't think the Watch was accurate when it said 207 bpm because it wouldn't have dropped 90 bpm in 2 minutes. I have no idea why that happened. I do have anxiety, terrible anxiety. Health anxiety. And I'm currently focused on my heart. I guess I don't know if this should worry me, if maybe the Watch wasn't accurate. I don't know. I was tempted a few min ago to go to the ER after googling it. But then I came here instead. Now my HR is around 80 bpm, resting.

Thoughts?

[Careful1]

I do not think your watch recorded your heart rate properly... I have had heart rates in the 280s before but it was during one of my SVT attacks and my heart rate has never went down that fast. Not to mention at heart rates that high, you dont feel good at all, you get very lightheaded and short of breath or that is the way it is for me anyways.

[countrygirl]

You can safely disregard your watch. They are notoriously inaccurate in certain scenarios. I too have svt attacks as previous poster and most people would be on the floor with a pulse of 280.
Having a very full stomach can give a fast hearbeat because vagus nerve lies at top of stomach and can get irritated. Add on heat and stress and tiredness.
If it happens again feel your pulse manually and count for a minute .
As its normal noe. Relax

[fbmb]

You can safely disregard your watch. They are notoriously inaccurate in certain scenarios. I too have svt attacks as previous poster and most people would be on the floor with a pulse of 280.
Having a very full stomach can give a fast hearbeat because vagus nerve lies at top of stomach and can get irritated. Add on heat and stress and tiredness.
If it happens again feel your pulse manually and count for a minute .
As its normal noe. Relax

It's really triggered me. I am up at 2 am with a strong beat. I had a dream I was in the hospital for a surgery and my heart was beating fast so they were worried. When I woke up it was beating hard, but at like 85 bpm. It must have been anxiety because it slowed down once I woke up and started breathing slowly. I guess that's a sign it's not something scary?. I'm afraid to sleep. I'm afraid that what happened last night is a sign that my heart isn't ok. I don't know why. My bp is good. Cholesterol is good. I had an EKG done last summer and it was normal. Why am I so afraid? I'm so afraid.

[girlgryphon]

This sounds like a panic attack! Try breathing in and out slowly for five minutes focusing on your breath

[ankietyjoe]

Definitely an inaccurate reading.

I have a HR monitor on my phone and it often records my heart rate at double rate for the first 10-20 seconds. I would imagine your HR would have been half the recorded 207, and then was a bit faster 2 minutes later because you'd (understandably) freaked out a bit at seeing 207bpm.

After a long day, a large meal AND a hot room I would expect to see a HR of over 100bpm anyway.

[fbmb]

I do not think your watch recorded your heart rate properly... I have had heart rates in the 280s before but it was during one of my SVT attacks and my heart rate has never went down that fast. Not to mention at heart rates that high, you dont feel good at all, you get very lightheaded and short of breath or that is the way it is for me anyways.

So you don't think it's possible for your heart rate to drop 90 bpm in 2 min?

[Mrs.Anxiety]

I agree with everyone else, sounds like your watch gave you a wrong number. After a heavy meal, a long day, and some Holiday stress, everyone would be a little flustered. I know I'd feel the same way if I was hosting!

[fbmb]

I agree with everyone else, sounds like your watch gave you a wrong number. After a heavy meal, a long day, and some Holiday stress, everyone would be a little flustered. I know I'd feel the same way if I was hosting!

Is a sign that it was stress related since it came down so quickly after leaving the kitchen and sitting down in a quiet room? I don't know much about how stress impacts the heart.

[Fishmanpa]

I agree that it's a false reading from the device. Technology is great when it works properly but in this case, all it did was freak you out.

Last year, my wife was very seriously ill. Due to her illness, her autonomic functions were beginning to be compromised and she was put in an intermediate ICU unit (a step below ICU). She couldn't evacuate body waste and her heart and BP were all over the place! She had "episodes" where her BP would be in the 190-210 over 100+ and her heart rate would climb to 200+. Really scary stuff.

I can see your heart rate in the low 100's during an anxiety attack as you noted but not more. The fact that it calmed down to normal levels as you calmed down affirms this.

Positive thoughts

[fbmb]

I agree that it's a false reading from the device. Technology is great when it works properly but in this case, all it did was freak you out.

Last year, my wife was very seriously ill. Due to her illness, her autonomic functions were beginning to be compromised and she was put in an intermediate ICU unit (a step below ICU). She couldn't evacuate body waste and her heart and BP were all over the place! She had "episodes" where her BP would be in the 190-210 over 100+ and her heart rate would climb to 200+. Really scary stuff.

I can see your heart rate in the low 100's during an anxiety attack as you noted but not more. The fact that it calmed down to normal levels as you calmed down affirms this.

Positive thoughts

That is scary. Can you have an anxiety attack and not realize it until you're in the thick of it? I didn't feel particularly anxious. Just flustered and rushed. That's why it bothered me. I was rushed all day like that and I never felt that way. Then it happened last night.

[Fishmanpa]

It's over and you're Ok so no sense trying to figure it out. Often, there is no rhyme or reason to the fears and reactions here. Move forward by helping yourself. There are free resources here and there's always getting help in real life.

Good luck and as always...

Positive thoughts