Tachycardia

[netie54]

Help please. My husband has got tachycardia. Had it since 10am. His heart bpm is 100 - 110. Should I ask him to A&E ?

[Hidden]

First try the Valsalva Manoeuvre below followed by deep breathing exercises webmd.com/heart-disease/atr...

I’m no expert on A&E but as I understand it, rates need to be much higher than 100 before they will do much so try this first

[netie54 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you. I’ll get him to try that. I’m loath to go to A&E but don’t want to do nothing. It’s so upsetting and I get quite worried.

[Hidden in reply to netie54]

Hope it works, good luck, I have to go out for a while so fingers crossed for a result!

[Finvola]

I agree with Flapjack - the Valsalva has nearly always worked for me too. A&E would probably only monitor - if you are still worried after trying the technique, why not contact your non-emergency number for advice.

Sometimes, tachycardia will right itself with distraction - eg watching a (quiet) film or reading a book. The main thing is to keep calm and encourage him to breathe slowly and deeply.

[BobD Volunteer]

Since normal sinus rhythm is from 60 to 100 they ae unlikely to do anything for him unless he has chest pain or feels faint in which case go.

[netie54 in reply to BobD]

No no chest pain. Not feeling faint so in that case I’ll hold off A&E. that’s for that reassurance Bob.

[sotolol]

youtu.be/8DIRiOA_OsA(Not working as expected?)

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to sotolol]

Gosh Sotolol, I searched everywhere to find this video you've put here - had no luck. I had a feeling this procedure might work too.

[sotolol in reply to jeanjeannie50]

It helped me once. ❤️

[mopaty in reply to sotolol]

An EMT showed me how to do this. Dr has never mentions it to me.

[Hidden]

Try to talk to your GP as soon as possible as they might be able to prescribe something. 100-110 bpm is not drastically high and can be caused by a short term issue like stress or diet.

[Mawes]

If in doubt call for ambulance they usually decide hospital or not. In my experience when in A & E they just monitor you and goes back to normal with no treatment

[Doggiemomma]

When a bpm is between 100 - 110, does that mean it's called sinus tachycardia?

The Valsalva Maneuver(s) and deep, slow breathing never did work for me, and watching a movie or reading a book didn't help either... but I'm hoping ideas work for you as it *does* help others!

[The_Lord_is_with_Us]

67-year-old male. 145 lbs.

I just dealt with rapid ventricular rate (tachycardia) with AFIB this past 7 months. As others said ... normal heart rate is between 70 and 100. Mine was hours every day and sometimes woke up with it at 125 to as high as 140 bpm. It liked to stay at 130 to 134 for hours on end.

Even at that rate, my Cardiologist said my heart was structurally sound, so he wouldn't be that alarmed if it went for weeks that way unless it went to a sustained 150+.

Nothing I could do would drop it down. After many hours ... sometimes it would just drop on its own for no apparent reason. When it spilled over into a second day, that's when I went to Emergency.

At Emergency, they gave me Diltiazem (Cardizem) a rate control drug, which brought it down under 100.

In any case, I would monitor. It might go down on its own. If it doesn't ... I wouldn't go into Emergency, but call your GP for advice first.

If it gets worse ... then go to Emergency. It's common. Night I was there ... they said they had 3 patients that day with tachycardia.

I had an AFIB ablation OCT 23, 2020 and, since then. both AFIB and tachycardia are gone.

[Hidden]

Good morning, any improvement?

[jeanjeannie50]

Just the question I was going to ask? How are you today?

[Ppiman]

Has your husband any beta blockers prescribed by his doctor? I get this occasionally and it makes me feel quite ill and anxious but bisoprolol (1.25mg) works quickly to reduce the rate (it reduces it a bit too far, really, but that soon wears off).

Steve

[mark66uk]

My heart rate is regularly up to 150 and is “normal” at around 100. I take 300mg of dilitizem daily. I had a referral back to cardiologist last September and was given an appointment for June this year.

[mark66uk in reply to mark66uk]

I missed the point of my post which is 100 to 110 isnt that high. They dont panic with mine regularly hitting 150+ but i have had a diagnosis and treatment. If you are worried go to A&E especially if it is new to him.

[Cha275rL]

I found, by accident, that lying in a warm bath stopped mine after several hours of it. Hope he’s ok now.

[jrd210]

Hoping it has settled by now. I have had bouts of tachycardia for 30 years and everyone is different. No it is not urgent but some are quite symptomatic with it (I am) and then valsalva is good or for long-term B-Blockers and I was given lorazepam to use when needed (I try never to take two days running and use it about once a week for tachycardia). I have a pacemaker (number 6 since first one). But you do need to get to your GP pretty soon. There is generally a reason why it is at 100 instead of around 70. Can be heart, can be thyroid, etc etc. Good luck. I know it does not feel great, I get nervous and irritable and cannot lay down to rest and a little short of breath of needing to climb stairs etc. With no chest pain, is is generally not a Casualty(Emergency) visit.

[Barb1]

That's not an A and E job unless chest pains. My resting hr is 95 to 105

[Shcldavies]

Yes you should, not because its life threatening but to get an ECG when he is in tachycardia, by doing this now it will save a lot of time for both you and the NHS, as only with an ECG result would the Docs be able to take the right action.

[Sheross]

My HR was 116 for about 45 mins last night and I tried holding my breath, coughing, drinking cold water, and putting my face in cold water, it went back to normal - not sure if any of those things worked but I was glad when it went away. Sometimes it does and sometimes I have to go to the ER.

[jeanjeannie50]

Netie54 can you just let us know that you're ok please.

Jean

[netie54 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hello Jean. I was just about to do that. We had a quiet night . No late night rushing to A&E and by the time we woke up things were back to sinus rythem thank goodness .He has a pacemaker so his HR never drops below 80 anyway but fingers crossed it will be stable today.

If things had been worse I would have gone to A&E today but it’s nots a great place to be at the moment.

I seem to worry more than my husband which I think is quite often the case on this site. But I don’t know where I would be with all your support. Just me and hubby you see. No children do this site has help me through everything. Thank you so much.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to netie54]

Pleased to hear that all is well now.

[dunestar]

I had to go to A&E last November because of tachycardia. This is just me, so you have to make up your own mind, but I wouldn't go again unless I was desperate. Because I was showing signs of hypoxia (low blood oxygen levels) - a symptom of Covid - they treated me as a Covid suspect patient and moved me to the "red side" of A&E. I was sharing a toilet with many patients who had classic Covid symptoms. They then admitted me for observations - to a Covid ward! I never saw a cardiologist while I was there and they didn't treat the tachycardia other than give me a saline drip.My one caveat is that I think you need to keep track of your oxygen saturation levels with a pulse oximeter. I'm not sure though what the criteria would be to decide when to go to A&E. I seeing a cardiologist soon, so I'm hoping to be able to establish when I need to go. If I find out more I'll let you know.

I hope by now things have calmed down for your husband. Tachycardia is pretty miserable.

[netie54 in reply to dunestar]

You poor thing. That’s exactly why I thought A&E was a bad idea. It’s a nightmare at ours in Norwich at the moment. It started to settle before bed and back to sinus rythem this morning. He has a pacemaker so it never drops below 80 anyway. Quiet day today I think. Any snow where you are ?

[dunestar in reply to netie54]

Glad to hear things have settled. No snow here - I'm in Ruislip. We had a load last Sunday!

[macdongr]

Needs to be above 100-110 bpm. Try to find some calming technique that works for him. Keep excitement to his condition non-existent.

[Karendeena]

Is your husband on any meds for it? If so, sit it out that's what my EP told me to do and eventually it returns to NSR, sometimes takes over 24 hours

[netie54 in reply to Karendeena]

Hello. Yes he’s on med and he did sit it out in the end. It’s was back in sinus rythem this morning. But he’s very tired today. But all well now. Thank you for your support and advise.

[Karendeena in reply to netie54]

That's just how I feel after an episode of fast tachycardia, I find it more irritating than over worrying now. Take care x

[chicolini]

I was told years ago that with tachy, you must check for irregular beats. Doc said if its tachy but feels regular, and patient is not dizzy or chest pain or nausea, then do the various manoevers to abort it ie cold water, breath hold etc. But if the tachy is at all irregular/erratic then call ambulance, regardless of how the patient feels.! Hope hubby is ok now.