I’m a bit loss understanding both terms and seems to get different answers off the internet
I get breathing issues plus a fast heartbeat 122 whilst in bed was recored for example
Is AF and a tachycardia the same thing or always go together or very different
AF is an irrgular irregular heart beat which can be fast or slow (more often fast. ) Tachycardia is merely a fast heart beat (over 100) but regular.
BobD: Tachycardia is merely a fast heart beat (over 100) but regular.
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Not correct. Tachycardia can be regular or irregular. Afib is a type of Tachycardia.
mayoclinic.org/diseases-con...
Jim
Different cultures Jim. This side of the pond tachycardia is not considered an arrhthmia as such but a fast rhythm. AF is an arrhythmia and in fact the most common one.
BobD: This side of the pond tachycardia is not considered an arrhthmia as such but a fast rhythm.
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According to BMJ (Brittish Medical Journal) afib and other arrythmia's are considered tachycardia's if the heart rate is over 100.
bestpractice.bmj.com/topics...
Jim
Not all tachycardias are arrhythmias Jim. Common sense says a regular rate of 160 whilst in the gym is not an arrhythmia. Keep it simple. By your own words tachycardia just means your heart is beating fast (over 100) just as bradycardia means its beating slowly (under 60.)
Yes you can have arrhythmatic tachycardias (atrial tachycardias or SVTs) caused by outside influence just as the majority for normal people will be sinus tachy. (Pain, fever, fear etc )
"Not all tachycardias are arrhythmias Jim"
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Never suggested they were. I stand by my definition supported by both US and UK sources.
Jim
I agree. My cardiologist named my fast heart rate when in a.f. tachycardia.
Then there's flutter too.
"Tachycardia" just means your heart rate is beating fast, over 100. So if your heart rate is over 100 in afib, then it's a tachycardia.
However there are many types of tachycardia which are not afib. So the only way to know what type of tachycardia your "122" heart rate was is by ekg. If these episodes are sporadic and cannot be caught in the office, your doctor will hook you up with some sort of Holter monitor. Alternatively, you can invest in a home device like Kardia which will generate an ekg that you can then share with your doctor.
Jim
Hi Jim
I had 2 monitors but I honestly didn’t really understand what he found other than it’s never low always high he used the term AF but google sent me more down the tachycardia route
Fast afib is one type of tachycardia. If your cardiologist or ep said it was afib, then it probably was. It's all in the ekg.
Jim
So the assessment showed that you were Tachycardic but that you may have also experienced an Atrial Fibrillation event during that time as well?
Basically you can have a Tachycardia condition but not have Atrial Fibrillation.
And you can have Atrial Fibrillation with or without Tachycardia as well.
Atrial Fibrillation is an irregular heart beat which can occur with or without a fast heart beat or Tachycardia.
Sometimes , especially in very early stages, AF events can be sporadic ( only occasional with no common pattern) or self limiting ( rectifies itself quickly without medication).
Many people would not notice early AF symptoms or events if they aren't ongoing or happening regularly.
Sometimes the reason people discover they have AF , a flutter or other heart issue is because they also suffer Tachycardia and this has caused more recognisable symptoms.
So if you get an incident of AF on a test which shows you mainly suffer from a high or tachycardic heart rate you may not receive a treatment for AF at that point but they would still advise you to contact the GP if you have symptoms and suggest that your GP reviews you regularly in the future.
Sometimes constant Tachycardia, particularly Atrial Tachycardia can eventually trigger the development of AF if the Tachycardia isn't being managed. So in that case, Tachycardia may need to be treated if self care or relaxation methods are not enough to control your high heart rate and reduce the risk of future problems.
So , to Tachycardia. It's not just about beats per minute.
Obviously, we can all have periods of time when are heart rate is over 100beats a minute , particularly if we are taking part in cardio or high impact activity or exercise.
During intense activity technically your heart rate is in the tachycardic range but because it is appropriate for the cardio output your body needs to healthily function during fast exercise or a fearful/ excited moment you are not classified as having : Tachycardia.
Medically speaking , you are classed as suffering from a type of Tachycardia if 1: your heart rate is 100beats or more when you haven't done an activity which should cause an increase in heart rate or high heart rate, or if it happens when you are at rest. Or 2: you have a heart rate of over 150 BPM while doing normal activity or cardio exercise which causes symptoms and doesn't quickly reduce to your normal rate when you stop and rest.
The most basic form is Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia, and although this is a condition which is often ignored or dismissed by doctors ( or misdiagnosed as having Anxiety as a cause) it often doesn't receive treatment unless it also causes other symptoms like dizziness , fainting and headaches.
Because it happens with very little activity and sometimes at rest there is nothing "mere" about it.
It can cause breathlessness, tiredness, fatigue, nausea , insomnia , rapid headache , chest pain and even vertigo. It also makes physical activity hard to do , especially reducing your exercise tolerance, because you can't increase your heart rate too much higher than it usually is without getting wiped out.
There are various other types of Tachycardia.
These can be seen sometimes on an Echo if they begin in either the atria or ventricles.
Many Tachycardia problems with a regular heart beat are harder to pinpoint.
There are also Orthostatic versions of Tachycardia which can happen because of a genetic macro heart nerve issue or can happen because the Autonomic Nervous System is dysfunctioning for some reason which can happen in the short term or long term (Dysautonomia).
One of the most common , but difficult to have diagnosed orthostatic tachycardias is called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. ( P.O.T.S)
This can happen when your heart rate jumps by 30bpm or more on standing up or drops by 30bpm or more on sitting or lying down. The fast swings cause symptoms.
It is a very difficult condition to manage either with self care or self care and medication because just regular movements can bring on symptoms.
Sometimes Tachycardia can be linked to Blood Pressure and circulation problems too because the heart rate increases to try to improve the BP and blood flow.
Orthostatic versions of Hypertension or Hypotension often cause people more symptoms at night or at rest and they can cause your heart rate to increase to compensate for the problem , so you feel the thudding palpitations in your chest when you lie down.
If you suffer with Tachycardia long term it can put you at risk of developing various other health issues , not just cardiac ones, or make other health problems feel worse.
So , if you do suffer from Tachycardia it is very important to find out the root cause of it and then treat and get it under control to make it easier for you to do day to day activity.
Discovering the cause of Tachycardia is usually a process of elimination ruling out everything from nutrient Deficiencies to inflammatory conditions like arthritis as well as adrenal , thyroid and autonomic function problems if a cardiac problem hasn't caused it .
As although tachycardia involves your heart rate sometimes the cause of it isn't because of a heart problem.
Are they considering treatment for you for Tachycardia or AF now?
Hope that helps, Bee
Excellent post one I will read it a few times
It’s very kind of you to explain this in such fine detail
I have the thudding as you describe. Never knew what it was. No other symptoms
Most people get a certain amount of mild symptoms because of either heart rate or blood pressure as they change position it is healthy, but these swings can sometimes be large , which is what makes a person feel lightheaded or a bit dizzy when the move too quickly , or more long lasting with certain health conditions and age.The thudding feeling shows that you are having a fast pace of heart rate when you lie down , it's not always as high as Tachycardia, especially if you have a naturally low heart rate in tests. Some people also feel it hear it in the ears.
If it only happens with other symptoms like lightheadedness or dizziness when you lie down it can often be because your blood pressure problem, if you have been diagnosed with one, is also Orthostatic, or Supine (that means symptoms start when you lie down). Or your heart rate Tachycardia or Bradycardia is also Orthostatic (triggered by changes in position).
Thank you
That’s a excellent post thank you for that
Treatment wise I am in 10mg Bisoprolol and Flecainde
The beta blocker amount is very high but it’s a great help even at times I had to take 5mg more to control my breathing problems which for years were put down as asthma by my GP nurse
Wow!
this could be why I’m so confused by Google 😄
Look at the 2 sources I liked above.
Or think of it like this. "Tachycardia" is a catch-all term like "virus". There are all types of virus. The virus for the common cold, the flu virus, the Covid virus, etc.. While they are all viruses, they present very differently and are treated differently.
Same with Tachycardia. Some tachycardia's do not need to be treated because they are a natural result of your heart beating fast say during exercise. Others, like afib, aflutter, SVT, etc, do need to be treated.
So the important thing is not whether you have tachycardia, but exactly what type of tachycardia you have. You mentioned that your doctor said it was afib.
So, I would then focus any outside research on afib and not the general term "tachycardia".
Jim
To confuse matters more, you can have more than one type of heart rate in an episode, I get Afib, atrial tachycardia and AFlutter with mine. All can cause the symptoms you describe, So yes, they can go together.
Then there is Tachy/Brady syndrome, too!
Hi NLGA, you're jumping into a very complex area which is why we have the cardiologists and their teams. The heart is fiendishly complex and trying to understand it is in simple terms is probably not possible hence some of the dialogue above.I have reason to be looking too. If you put in SVT heart into your browser you should get a Wikipedia link. It's worth a look to begin to understand this complexity and why at the end of the day you need the help of an expert, one who is trained and has the T-shirt!
You will see references to normal sinus rhythm, which is an important aspect of the heartbeat.
This site is brilliant for support and often to point you in the right direction. If it makes you anxious it's probably not good or verified advice. You often have to decide between fact and opinion and will need to do your research. BHF have good information as does the NHS website for UK based queries. Hope this helps.
Well, I have both occasionally and yesterday had tachycardia. It was quite mild. What made it tachycardia was that my resting heart rate wouldn't drop below 100bpm. If left uncontrolled over days, weeks and months (this depends upon the individual), tachycardia can weaken the heart valves and reduce the pumping ability of the lower chamber, the ventricles. Beta-blockers are often used to help reduce the rate and keep the ventricles and valves healthy.
Atrial fibrillation is a state where the top left chamber of the heart causes both top chambers to twitch rapidly, stopping the rhythmical pulsing that sends blood down into the lower chambers for distribution to the lings and body. The twitching ("fibrillating") is caused by a conductivity failure in the upper left chamber's heart cells. Instead of being pumped, the blood now falls down due to gravity as well as being sucked down by the lower, still pulsing, chambers or ventricles. If these go into fibrillation, too, we would soon be no more without rapid medial intervention and defibrillation (but AF never causes that, so fear not).
Sometimes, reducing the tachycardia can stop the AF as there is a connection between those aspects of the heart; sometimes other means are needed such as an ablation, electric shock cardioversion or an anti-arrhythmic drug such as sotalol or flecainide.
Steve
I would sack Dr Google and stick to BHF and HU 😀
Hi NLGA. If you are experiencing a fast heart rate and are having symptoms such as hard to breathe, dizziness, etc you may have AFIB or it could just be a fast heart beat. If it keeps happening you need to see your doctor and probably will have a heart monitor to record these episodes. A fast heart rate is not necessarily AFIB so you need to have it checked out if you are having symptoms. Easy way to see if it is AFIB is to check your pulse for any irregularities in the heart beat. Or put on a blood pressure monitor or smart watch if you have one. I have attached an article which should help you. Just cut and paste in your browser.
medicalnewstoday.com/articl...
Hi
Yes I have a monitor it shows a irregular heartbeat constant
I am on beta blockers to control the high pulse as it raced to 140 without them
It’s the breathing issues I just can’t understand
Atrial Tachycardia ablation
Sinus Tachycardia after a bout of AF.
Staying fit with persistent AF/tachycardia
Tachycardia 
Kardia readings Tachycardia, followed by AF
