Irregular pulse

[alicegreen]

Hi there everyone,

I know that my anxiety has made me obsessed with my pulse but it is genuinely so erratic that I am struggling to believe that there is nothing physically wrong with me!

If I have just been meditating it can be around 50, nice and calm but so easily rises. Even just standing up can send it over 100!

Also, I have noticed that it is affected a lot by even breathing. When I breath in it really speeds up then significantly slows with the out breath. I must confess that when I get a real full on attack of anxiety and it really thuds along at 160 I am terrified that it is going to become damaged, especially since finding out recently about the (all be it very trivial) mitral leak.

I hate feeling so worked up. When I write it down or try to explain I feel stupid! I was trying to tell a friend yesterday why I have not been out etc for ages and she just didn't get it at all. She suggested a nice holiday in the summer somewhere remote in the country to relax me and I felt a right fool admitting that was the last thing I wanted as I would be too far away from a hospital:blush:

[Going home]

Hi there, what you've described is really normal with your pulse rate changing, and you must have your finger permenantly pressed on your pulse to notice it change so often..take your finger away lol! No, but it does change depending on what you're doing and obviously when you meditate it can be quite slow and steady (how do you meditate and take your pulse at the same time though?) I don't think my pulse has ever been as low as 50 so thats great. Most of the time mine is between 69 and 80, and I only know this because I have a home monitor for my blood pressure and it shows the pulse rate too. Its also normal to have it as high as 160 when you're anxious or exercising etc, and won't damage your heart because your heart is reacting the way it should do at these times.

Anna xx :)

[jothenurse]

In a panic attack, mine has gone up to 160. I've had several EKG's in the ER showing this as sinus tachycardia, normal EKG, just fast due to a panic attack. Very scary, but I am trying to do what the doctor has told me - go back to exercising, if I feel palpitations, take a couple of breaths ad know my heart is ok. Of if I get anxious and the pulse goes up, relax, breathe, and know the heart is ok. I know - easier said then done. But I am trying to take walks and hopefully get back into my regular exercise routine (hiking, taking the dog for a walk, running). I am still afraid of the palpitations.

[mary3]

Hi,
my pulse rate is exactly the same, it fluctuates between 50 to 130 (thats the highest i recorded, im sure its been higher at times). When i breath in and out i can feel my pulse increasing and decreasing and often i have felt my pulse that has seemed to beat at one speed for 20 or so beats and then slowed down for the next 20 and then speeded up again!
I went to the Drs about this and they said everything i described was completly normal. I was taking my pulse all the time and now i have made a concious effort not to check it and although it has been really hard not to it has improved my anxiety so much.
I was really reasurred by seeing my GP about this, is your GP understanding? Im sure it would help if you went and eased your worrys?

[jothenurse]

All the docs in the ER that I saw when I went in were all very nice and very encouraging. My regular doctor has assured me that this is all anxiety - and I need to get reminding myself of that. There are so many symptoms (palpitations, gagging, lightheadedness, feelings of unreality, some agoraphobia) that it just gets so hard sometimes to deal with it all.

[RLR]

Realize that heart rate is affected by many factors, none of which being discussed here would constitute a problem with the heart or cardiovascular system. It is normal for the heart rate to increase slightly on respiratory inspiration and subsequently slow a bit on exhalation.

The reason that your heart rate can quickly accelerate on standing has more to do with your blood pressure than anything directly related to the heart. Realize that the body must compensate for changes against gravity. If you are seated or lying down for long periods and then suddenly rise, the body must compensate for gravity's action on the blood in your vessels. One of the body's most important regulation factors is to maintain perfusion, or adequate blood pressure, to the brain. Even mild changes are sufficient to produce performance changes.

If you suddenly stand from a seated or lying position and blood pressure is below a certain level, baro-receptors in your carotid arteries sense this and send signals to the cardiac center in the brain. The absolute quickest method to restore optimum pressure is to increase cardiac force and rate, which you sense as accelerated heart rate that is sometimes accompanied by pounding heart that can be felt very strongly in some instances. This is a normal physiological response.

It is very common in persons who are somewhat sedentary or that don't get sufficient exercise, but can indeed happen to anyone where blood pressure may need to be altered quickly.

Also realize that damage will never occur to your heart as a consequence of benign palpitations of the type being experienced. The heart muscle is incredibly patent and the events are far less of an impact by comparison to the sensation you experience.

You'll be just fine. The events are certainly frightening, but nevertheless can never harm you or cause any type of cardiac event. Never let your fears about something like this alter your lifestyle. You are certainly capable of going wherever you wish, because there is no need for a hospital. Again, these events will never cause you to suffer any harm. They are merely frightening. Nothing more.

Best regards,

Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)

[jothenurse]

RLR -
I know how she feels - I am afraid to get too far away from a hospital in case I get the hard palpitations (up to 160) and I can't relax enough to get them back down. I have been told many times by the ER docs that my heart is fine and that I should get back into exercising, which I am trying. I have to admit though, when I start feeling my pulse get up there, I get nervous.

[joannap]

i have a similar fear with my blood pressue - always been low until my thyroid went haywire last year and then i got readings that were in the 140's instead of my usual 120. i have a blood pressure monitor and readings can go from 110 to 140 within minutes - my gp told me to stop using it!

trust the gp's - when we exercise really hard our heart can go over 200 beats a minute - it is not important. i used to have a really bad fear of my pulse rate going high and i too used to panic if i was not near a hospital but i once had an attack so bad that i laid down and thought - right - if im going to die -i'm going to die! it lessened and now if my heart races - i let it race and go and do something like clean out the shed - facing it and accepting it is the only way to break the cycle x

[jothenurse]

Thanks for your reply.
I was monitoring my blood pressure and pulse all the time. My doctor told me to stop doing that.

[Zee]

My normal pulse is 80 bpm..Sometimes when I get up in morning im aware that its quite a bit faster and perhaps thats because I usually wake feeling anxious.After the deep breathing and starting my daily routine and ignoring the pulse worry it goes back to its normal rate.

[jothenurse]

Why does my pulse go up so much after I eat? Yesterday this happened, which it usually does after eating, but all of a sudden I had tachycardia and thought I would end up in the ER with it going so fast again. I took some deep breaths and drove around a little bit and it came back down. But I feel like it has set me back a little - scared me all over again.