If it's not one thing, it's another.

Published on December 22, 2005 By dharmagrl In Health & Medicine

The last few times I've been to see a doctor, my heart rate has been high. A few weeks ago it as 150 bpm - that's pretty high, but I was in a lot of pain that day so they wrote that off as being the cause.

Today at the pain management center, my resting heart rate was 110 bpm. And I wasn't in that much pain.

The nurse there asked me if anyone had ever worked my tachycardia up. I said no, that it's never been mentioned. She retook my pulse with a pulseoximiter, and again, it was over 100.

"Honey, you might want to get in to see your doc about that. That's pretty high..." she said.

So, figuring that she knows better than me, I called my doc this afternoon to make an appointment. When I told the tech what I needed to be seen for and how high my resting pulse was this morning, all hell broke loose.

"are you having any chest pain, ma'am? Are you feeling okay? Not faint or dizzy or anything??"

When I answered in the negative, the tech put me on hold and ran to find my doc. When he came back, he told me that Larry wanted to see me TOMORROW. That's unusual....it normally takes a couple of weeks to get seen for a rountine appointment.

Then I got handed over to Nurse R and she asked me a whole bunch of questions about whether I was having chest pain or shortness of breath etc etc. She told me to go get a blood test at 0730 tomorrow morning, and then to walk down to Larry's office right afterwards. They're ordering the test results 'stat' so they'll be run within an hour and Larry will be able to see if I'm having hyper-thyroidism. That could be a cause of tachycardia, apparently. She actually made me promise to go to the ER if I felt ill in any way or had chest pain or shortness of breath.

If it's not one thing, it's another. I go to the pain doc and think that I'll be on the road to recovery, and I find out that my heart's beating faster than it should and I have to go back to see Larry AGAIN.

I'm a little stunned that they're taking this as seriously as they are....and I'm also a little amused that they're reacting the way they are. It's not as if I'm feeling ill or anything; I feel fine. If I didn't feel well, I'd have gone and got checked out. I don't have chest pain, or neck pain, or even arm pain.....I'm not out of breath and I'm not feeling dizzy. I feel fine. I'm actually very happy. I just have a high heart rate.

I got the go ahead from Dr Tabakian to start exercising three times a week today. I'm glad that I'm going to get this tachycardia worked up before then.....because if there IS something going on, I could've done myself some real damage trying to run and jog. My poor little heart could've beat so fast that it exploded and I'd have dropped dead on the spot!

And THAT would have been a bit of a pain in the rear, now wouldn't it?

Comments

Spc Nobody Special

on Dec 22, 2005

That is VERY high. My resting's about 50, (which, admittedly, is a little low. S'cause of the running.) and only gets up around 150 when running at a good clip for awhile. Maybe why that's why you're thin too. Good grief. And good luck.

BlueDev

on Dec 22, 2005

This is certainly something worth getting checked out dharma. I hope all goes well and it turns out to be due to benign causes.

HC1240

on Dec 22, 2005

Hope it's nothing. I'll remember to send a prayer up for you tomorrow morning. ((((hugs))))

Tova7

on Dec 22, 2005

Hey D...my aunt has tachycardia....she controls it with meds....once they diagnose it, its not that big a deal. She's controlled hers for over 40 years with meds.

While in great shape my heart rate will go well over 200 when exercising. I've had every test you can have on your heart, resting and stress, xrays and sonograms or echocardiograms. Dr says it won't hurt me, my heart is fine. But I often wonder what keeps you from blowing a valve or something. (I also have athletic asthma which contributes to the high heart rate.) My resting is about 70....or is at the Dr...its probably lower when I am resting at home.

I am glad you are being seen because falling over dead would be a very inconvenient thing at this point in your life.

Make sure you tell us what they find. And REST easy woman.

Trudygolightly

on Dec 22, 2005

OH Dharma, from a heart patient to a dear lady, be glad, very, very glad they are taking good care of
you and your ticker! I"m sooooo glad they found this out before you started running!

Prayers, love, and good thoughts for you for tomorrow ( and everyday too

)

dharmagrl

on Dec 22, 2005

That is VERY high.

Compared to yours it is, yeah! Dave's is about the same as yours, but his is due to Atenenol for his hypertension.

Maybe why that's why you're thin too

That's what the nurse said today. It could be due to my thyroid being overactive, and if it is.....then that would account for my being relatively slim (I wouldn't say that I'm skinny, but I'm not fat, that I know)

This is certainly something worth getting checked out dharma. I hope all goes well and it turns out to be due to benign causes

Thanks, Dev. I'm sure it's nothing serious, and I know that there are meds they can use to slow your heart down....beta blockers work well for it, I'm told. Even if it is due to my thyroid, it's still treatable.

Reply By: HC...Posted: Thursday, December 22, 2005
Hope it's nothing. I'll remember to send a prayer up for you tomorrow morning.

Me too, and thank you....the prayers are most appreciated.

I am glad you are being seen because falling over dead would be a very inconvenient thing at this point in your life

Hahah! You got my humor! That rawks!

Dr Guy

on Dec 22, 2005

This is certainly something worth getting checked out dharma. I hope all goes well and it turns out to be due to benign causes.

Can I interrupt? My BP is fine, but sometimes my pulse goes over 100. (to about 102 or so). My Doc says dont worry. Are you saying I should? ANd Dharma, let me know what your doc says!

dharmagrl

on Dec 22, 2005

My BP is fine, but sometimes my pulse goes over 100. (to about 102 or so). My Doc says dont worry. Are you saying I should? ANd Dharma, let me know what your doc says!

From what the nurse at the pain doctor's office said this morning, it's something that's worth getting a work up done for. It might be benign, as Dev said....but all kinds of things have to ruled out. Hyperthyroidism, Graves disease, ventricular fibrillation, ventricular tachycardia.....there are all kinds of things that can make your heart beat abnormally fast that might give you some real problems down the road. There are lots of medications too...all kinds of beta-blockers and calcium channel blockers are effective in bringing down a high resting heart rate. Dave's on Atenenol for his high blood pressure, but it's also helped with his pulse. He went from having a resting rate in the low 90's before the meds to a resting rate in the 50's since he's been on them. He's not out of shape either; this is the guy who runs 4 miles 4 times a week and ran a half marathon without really feeling it. He simply has a genetic pre-disposition to hypertension, and that high blood pressure pushed his heart rate up, poor guy.

Anyway, DG...sorry for being long winded, but if I were you...I'd get it checked out. Better safe than dead of a heart attack.

AngelaMarie88

on Dec 23, 2005

I'm glad you're feeling OK in spite of your curious heart rate. Hopefully the doctors decide that it's not a big deal, but stay in close contact with them just in case.

I'm commenting because this reminded me of a sweet tiny gal I knew in in the army who ran the 2-miler in 13 minutes flat. She had an extremely high resting heart rate and when she ran, surely it skyrocketed. But she took some sort of medication to keep everything in check. She was as healthy as could be.

dharmagrl

on Dec 24, 2005

I'm very surprised that with all these tests that have been ordered, no one has mentioned the possibility that the elavil may be the cause, and suggested you STOP TAKING IT until they can determine what the problem is.

That was the first thing my doc said to me, that it might be the elavil. But, after reviewing the records of my visits for the last year, we saw that that even when I was off elavil my heart rate was high. I stopped taking it for a couple of months this past summer because I had changed pain meds and it was contraindicated with the med I was taking. My heart rate remained the same whether I was on it or off it. So, we ruled that out as the cause.

But she took some sort of medication to keep everything in check. She was as healthy as could be.

I think that I'm going to end up getting put on a beta blocker like tenormin to slow my heart rate. The thing that the docs worry about with tachycardia is that your heart can wear itself out quickly - it's designed to run a marathon, not a sprint, and when you have tachycardia your heart sprints all the time. So, it gets worn out quicker. I don't mind adding another medication to the mix; I'm taking 4 different meds as it is so one more isn't going to make much difference.

I actually had to go buy one of those pill counter things today so I won't get confused about what I'm supposed to take and when. This is the most medication I've been on, ever.

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