Fast heartbeat

[nikkixx]

Hi,

Just wondered if many of you suffered from a rapid heartbeat. Mine is generally around 70-75 but first thing in the morning it is much faster (I don't take it coz I'm too scared!) and when I had a hospital appointment the other day it was racing at 138.

How can I slow it down?

Nikki x

[countrygirl]

Don't worry about it its just your body reacting to stress/anxiety. When I am calm and relaxed my heartrate is normal at 60bpm but the slightest nervousness on my part and up it goes.

Hospital tests and appts are the worst or Dr visits - mine can be as high as 120bpm. I always tell them that if I am nervous my heartrate will be very high but as soon as I get out of hospital etc then it goes back to normal. Worst time is before a hospital test that I know will be unpleasant.

I recenlty had a colonsocopy and the prep was horrific so I felt very ill anyway and had to be at hospital for 9am next day after over 24 hrs of no food, clear out like you cannot imagine of the bowels, so I was a nervous wreck, felt like death and I knew they were going to do nasty things to me. My blood pressure was normal!!!!!!!!!!! but my heartrate was 120bpm. The stupid nurse said she would keep taking my pulse on the moniter to see if it came down - I kept saying the longer she kept taking it the faster it would go and eventually she agreed. After the proceedure it went down tremendously.

My Dr said as long as your resting pulse is not constantly at over 100bpm just ignore it.

[nikkixx]

I'm even more worried now. Does that mean nobody else apart from countrygirl gets this?

Nikki x

[ymp3101]

Hi Nikki,

Please don't think you are alone in this. I have been suffering from a rapid heartbeat for months now and apart from anxiety/panic there seems no reason for it?!?! I say this as I still think its my heart although everyone (3 GP's included) have said no. I started taking an anti-depressant over 2 weeks ago and I think it has helped cos the worst times were during the night, first thing in the morning and after I had eaten. I have them every 3-4 days now during the night, seldom in the morning and occasionally after meals. I was at the supermarket today and could feel my heart racing like I was really, really unfit but I kept telling myself it was stress as I don't go out much.

So please, please don't think you are alone. But it will turn out to be anxiety or stress or panic and that's the first step on the road to recovery. I'm walking it too!

[Captain America]

oh you're not alone. i had a holter monitor on for 24 hours...had 22 episodes of rapid heartbeat in 24 hours! but the heart was fine the entire time...just nerves. also it's going to be faster in the morning because adrenaline kicks in when we wake up after we've been sleeping. it's generally higher for the first few hours we're awake.
basically i was told we have 2 nervous systems that control our heartrate. the one that speeds it up is the sympathetic nervous system, and the parasympathetic slows it down. anxiety triggers the the former, and prevents the latter from doing its job. exercise, adrenaline, etc, all trigger the sympathetic. so even for 'normal' people they will have a higher heart rate at certain times per day. they just don't notice it.
as for how to slow it down...breathing techniques are good. i sometimes use drinking water while holding my breath (any hiccup cure). and there are tons of suggestions on this site too.
anyway i'm sure 90 percent or more of us have this.

[jodie]

hiya

i get a fast heart rate from time to time i have been to the docs about it and he told me to put my hands into ice water and it slows the beats down ,i have tryed it and it dose work well ,give it a try

jodie xx

[yanksforever]

when my mom had depression in 2006 (totally well now ), she would wake up and her heart would be like at least 100bpm. It was nuts.

You're not alone.