Fast rpm but regular rhythm?

[Mamamarilyn]

Anyone know what this could have been? I went for a short walk yesterday but turned back early as I was getting just a little breathless. On return my heart rate was 104 (normally 59/64) and it stayed up for a couple of hours although I was resting. There was no irregularity in rhythm at all. Any clues?

[Bryonny]

Dear Mamamarilyn, it sounds like an episode of supra ventricular tachycardia. I guess ECG monitoring is the way to tell what type, but others may have a better idea than me. Hope things have settled and you are feeling better.

[BobD Volunteer]

104 is ONLY JUST tachycardia. Normal HR is considered to be between 60 and 100. Could be all sorts of things from SVT to atrial tachycardia but unless you can catch it on ECG could just be one of those things. Really not that high. HR does go up on exertion We all get changes in beat but we AFers seem to be so fixated that we notice every little blip.

[jeanjeannie50]

Sorry to hear about this. If your heart rate is normally 59/64, then for you this is tachycardia. For someone who normally has a higher pulse rate, say 80 to 100 this could be classed as normal. For you its not. Did you try taking any extra medication to bring the rate down?

[Hidden]

Hi Marlyin,

Sorry to hear that you've been breathless.I don't recall you ever mentioning that you have felt breathless previously.

If you havnt already done so I think you should have a chat with your GP about it just to put your mind at rest...

Take care,

Carol...

[Mamamarilyn]

Many thanks for all your responses and special hi to Carol....thought you had gone to earth! Are you pleased with the results of your ablation? No I don't usually get breathless so I thought of doing a similar walk tomorrow and seeing if it happens again. If it does, I'll check in with my GP .

Actually Jeanjeannie....you've busted me! I have been trying to reduce my heart meds ever so slightly..........ever so, honestly. So yep, maybe it's that although I've been doing that for 4 weeks and it seems to have been going well.

Jo I know exactly where you're coming from as regards going out and about. I used to go anywhere and everywhere on my own if I felt like it but now I always keep to less isolated places, which isn't nearly as exciting, is it.

Bob, I know the ' Normal' range for BPM is 60-100 but when I'm at the gym I can take the rate up to 130 and be fairly confident that it will return to 60ish in a few minutes, so that's why I was concerned when my BPM stayed high for a couple of hours.

Bryonny, thanks for your good wishes and I will look up the condition you mention forthwith!

Keep well all of you.

[Hidden in reply to Mamamarilyn]

I've been living with periodic a-fib for about 8 years now but I recently had an episode where my rate went to 160 and stayed there for a couple days so I went to the ER and they said I was in SVT. The staff cardiologist said I wasn't in a-fib but it was a-flutter which is similar but different as a-fib produces an irregular heart beat where a-flutter produces a very fast but very regular heart beat (he described it as a saw tooth pattern). Thankfully a High dose of IV Cardizem snapped me out of it fairly quickly and I was on my way.

The EP I'm seeing now told me the a-flutter was likely caused by the (failed) ablation I had back in 2009 and I've probably been having a mix of both for the entire time. He went on to say a-fib and a-flutter tend to go hand in hand but you can't be in a-fib while you're in a-flutter and vise versa. Unlike a-fib, the a-flutter is a relativly simple 25 minute procedure to fix with something like a 95% success rate since it comes from a fairly well defined area so it's easier to isolate.

So, I'm going in to have the flutter fixed next week but while they're in there they're also going to take another "stab" at the a-fib, wish me luck.

[Mamamarilyn]

Hi Whaler many thanks for your reply, I will certainly take on board your experiences as they sound very similar, except that yours was more extreme. I too have PAF but don't want to have an ablation unless I get a load more episodes.....ablations sound a bit of a gamble! All the best for your flutter treatment next week. Let me know how it goes.