sudden fast heart rate help

[foxglove1]

Dear all

I need some advice please.

had my ablation 18months ago and still in SR all good. However today I was climbing a steep ramp at a station and at the top set off fast heart rate. It was over 102 which I know some might say isn’t dire but I felt AWFUL sitting waiting for my train. Got out and took taxi home only 3 streets away. My hr is now back to its usual low 70.

I exercise every day for at least 35 mins and also up a much steeper hill than the station ramp, but now I’m anxious to exercise walk in case this fast hr starts again.

On Apixiban only. Was going to call arrythmia nurse but having advice from any of you lovely people is what I know will calm me downx

Thank you in advance

[BobD Volunteer]

Normal HR is 60 to 100 so unless it was irregular , you felt dizzy or were passing out I wouldnt get too worried about it.

[foxglove1 in reply to BobD]

Thank you Bob you make sense (as always!) but tbh I did feel slightly dizzy when it happened. Im wondering if Im ok to exercise. Anxiety as taken over. 🫢

[BobD Volunteer in reply to foxglove1]

Listen to your body.

[foxglove1 in reply to BobD]

That’s just it Bob. I did and felt awful

[Karendeena in reply to BobD]

That's what I was told Bob by my EP

[jeanjeannie50]

Heart rates do go up when we walk up a steep ramp or hill but as BobD has said it's how you felt at the time that counts. I've just walked up about 50 steps and then just under a mile uphill to get home and I'm shattered, felt as though I could collapse towards the end especially with the heat. My bus didn't turn up! I think the feeling is quite normal. See how you get on.

[foxglove1 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Jeanjeannie I follow you and Bob amongst others Thank you!

Thing is I climb a very steep hill every day for my normal walk and although hr goes up to over 100 at the top of the climb it’s not uncomfortable and goes down again as I continue my walk.

Today was different. I thought I was going to have to grab someone to hang on to on the train platform. . Iet a train go and then got the next.

I’ve been so fortunate with no AF for 18 months since my ablation. And still no AF following this horrible tachy today so I should not be complaining but you know how it is

Thanks so much for getting back x

[Fullofheart]

I wonder what other factors might have contributed...I find sometimes I'm OK with steps or inclines and sometimes not. As a woman hormones can play a part, hydration, weather, whether I've eaten, energy levels, whether coming down with something/ fighting something off etc. It might just be a one off... but keep an eye on it maybe?

[foxglove1 in reply to Fullofheart]

Thanks Fullofheart sgree sometimes ok on steps, sometimes not and could be different factors but I was fine until that point. it was very hot and I just didn’t feel good. Anyway because of the heat in London the last two days I’ve been forced to stay in doing exercises at home and all is well.

Thanks for comments

[Crumbling]

my heart rate goes up high when walking uphill, it’s touched 130 but it soon settles down, I think as long as it soon settles back down it’s normal to go high when being very active. Mine goes high if I’m doing strenuous housework too but soon settles.

[Ppiman]

Walking up stairs has brought on the two worst events of my life. These were both in the spring of 2019, with the first being at home and the second being in the Bodleian library in Oxford. Both days were ruined. The second occasion took me to an emergency doctor and then to hospital, where I was found to have had atrial flutter episodes. In the summer of that year, this was cured by an ablation. Of course, I had walked up many other stairs, daily, without ill effect.

I have decided that there's something about certain ways of walking when we have a heart arrhythmia that can trigger it. This year, now with far worse issues, I am finding I am far more generally sensitive to the problem and on certain days, rushing up even the house stairs can set things off - but not always.

In terms of your heart rate, which is similar to mine on these occasions, while it's within the normal range, I find that irrelevant to how it can feel or what it can do. There is an added quality to it that creates a genuinely disturbing response, which, of course, anxiety will likely magnify, easily. I can't explain this but it is likely a much more forceful beat than normal, rather than one that is especially fast. I also have LBBB, a slight heart block, and I put it down to this.

Steve

[foxglove1 in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks Steve interesting what you say about “ways” of walking as my last two episodes of feeling terrible were the steep station ramp I described and walking up it quickly as my train was due and on another occasion at a gallery with A LOT of steps facing me. I wonder too about the anxiety factor.

But on the other hand my daily walk includes a very steep hill with an hr increase at the top and that hoes back to normal as I go down.

Thank you and everyone else for replying. It’s very reassuring talking to members who are going thru or have gone through similar experiences

[Karendeena]

I had my ablation in March and feeling pretty much the same as you!My heart rate since ablation has increased at rest from around 62/64 to 72/74 but often climbs much higher especially after walking up stairs or eating etc. I sometimes wake up in the morning and my heart feels as if it's going too fast. I told my EP about this when I saw him for my first follow up on the 8th of July but all he said was "Don't worry about it, there are a lot of nerves in the heart which can be affected by ablation, just forget about it"

I often think it's the anxiety that increases the fear that increases the heart rate

[foxglove1 in reply to Karendeena]

Thanks Karendeena

My ablation was actually 18 months ago and no AF since. Thankfully this high rate didn’t trip over into AF but it did make me feel rough. As I walk daily and reach over 100 easily at the top of a local hill there’s never a problem it just goes back down again when I go back down the hill. yesterday was different. Im putting it down to the heat in London. I don’t take beta blockers but have some Bisoprolol from previous prescription and wondering if that would help temporarily. They’re 1.25mg and given to take if needed after my ablation.

Thanks for writing x

[Ppiman in reply to Karendeena]

Just forget about it! Oh yes - that sounds like advice from one who can cure but who does not suffer!

[Karendeena in reply to Ppiman]

Too right Steve!! 😜

[foxglove1 in reply to Karendeena]

Missed that bit about “just forget about it”!

[Snowgirl65]

Something similar happened to me too in the past, whereas I'd be having one of my usual walks around the neighborhood with slight hills, when one day my heart went berserk and I had to turn around and come home. I never discovered what caused it, but there could be many factors why one day exertion seems fine and another day it causes breathlessness. In my case, seasonal allergies -- and cat dander -- constrict my chest, and on days like that, walking my route is more strenuous. Maybe you have certain health factors that come and go too.

[foxglove1 in reply to Snowgirl65]

Interesting that was me! Couldn’t get home

Want to get back to walking.

My hospital have arranged a stress ECG which I’m Not looking forward to as it’s speed speed and more speed until one has to stop and not sure I’m up to that.

Thanks for support x

[Snowgirl65 in reply to foxglove1]

I took one of those stress tests too -- they're not as bad as you think and you're monitored the whole time. I passed with flying colors, but when I'm out on my own is when my heart goes nuts!

[Sozo]

I hear you saying that its not the point that your heart rate went up but that you felt terrible from it. It sounds to me that Fullofheart has the right advice/thoughts here. She named several things that could have been the cause, and I will add to it, a lack of good sleep or something that heavy on your mind and of course a number of other possibilities. Hope you are feeling better now and that doesn't happen again. Blessings...

[foxglove1 in reply to Sozo]

Thank you. You’re right and I’m Trying to say that to myself. I was feeling so happy being post ablation 18months and back to exercising. I do get tired but I’m 76 so suppose expected but I’ve always been fit. I

Love this forum as it’s very supportive and always someone with the same issues as you thanks again x

[MikeThePike]

How long did your heart stay above 100 bpm after you stopped the activity? Did it start climbing down immediately or did it stay there for some time? That could be an indicator of arrhythmia.