Fast heart rate

[Melaniejm92]

Hi, I recently had my results back from a 24hr holter monitor. My doctor rang me and told me my results over the phone, she said that my results were normal but the only thing it showed was a fast heart rate (didn't say how fast). She said I could go on medication for this or it could just be something I can live with. Is it worth going on medication as I have heard it can make things worse or it can even do nothing at all to help things. I originally went to the doctors about missed heart beats and had an ECG (this had shown a fast heart rate aswell) and then they give me the monitor for 24hrs (no missed beats had shown up on it). Any advice on what to do would be really appreciated

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

It is frustrating that you were not given a BPM figure. The normal range is 60 - 70 but can be lower in very fit people (mine was 45 resting decades ago when I did cross country). It is considered raised at around 90 -100 BPM but is of no real concern if there are no other issues. Above 160 suggests intervention is needed. Have all external sources like illness, thyroid problems and excessive caffeine (the reason for its ban prior to any heart scan/gram). I would go back and ask for the figure and talk to the GP if over 120.

[Hustina]

Before I had fast my heart call is palation found it anytime I had feel funny my heart like butterfly fuffy, when my heart is fast I rush lots pint waters drank then half hour later I drank more my heart was back slow down better, I think blood dry up head and body was dry why let drank more , sometime feel nothing stress heart can fast try not thinking inside look chest heart I keep forgot it look round brow nice field and flowercthing then heart cam clam down quiet smooth

[Hustina]

Yeah 12 years ago I had a operation my spine 24 screws and rods , go special care room I had lots machine heart and drips things I feel very painful my spine then heart was high high alarm monitor 🚨 loud over 200 nurse run phone doctor then they rush injection my tummy help my heart calm down not let high only few sec wow injection was great help save my heart not let happens thank god save my life doctor say I was painful lots my spine make heart high fast I was realison too my heart was ok

[Hidden]

As per other posts, it depends on just how fast your heart is going. The general range of ‘normal’ HR unless you’re extremely fit is 60-100 bpm, but even on medication my HR can go to 130ish literally just walking to the kettle. As it returns to normal extremely quickly, they’re not concerned about it, but medication is definitely necessary for me because without it I get episodes of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and with severe bouts where I feel really ill, my hr is stuck at 200+ bpm and I end up in A&E needing to get my heart stopped for a couple of seconds to get back to a normal rate.

I’d suggest you find out from your gp just how fast your hr is and take it from there, but imo, if it was worryingly high or of real concern they wouldn’t be giving you an option, they’d just be telling you you need meds. Have a conversation with your doc. As for whether or not meds help, all I can say is that I’ve been on 2 different types over the last 9 years, and they very definitely work for me - without them, my resting HR is regularly 110+, on them my resting HR is around 70. I have some minor side-effects with the med I’m on now, which is a calcium channel blocker, but nothing intolerable, and for years I had nothing untoward at all on a beta-blocker which is usually the first line treatment for many with tachycardia or SVT.

Hope that helps.

[Melaniejm92 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks for your reply I have taken my pulse at rest before and it was between 100-102. I literally only ever get this when I am sitting doing nothing at all, if I'm up and about and doing things I never feel anything with my heart. I'm very aware of my heart beat though especially when sitting doing nothing so I don't know if I'm just sitting thinking about it too much which is probably making it go fast.

[Hidden in reply to Melaniejm92]

And there’s the difficulty, lol! As you say, if you’re ‘worrying’ about it, or even just concentrating on it, then your hr will often automatically be higher. The human body is amazing, but also a pain in the bum from time to time. That said, if the gp is saying the halter picked up that your rate is high, that would mean it had to be higher than ‘normal’ for a significant portion of the 24 hours for them to comment on it. The issue really is the degree, so how far outside of normal it was, but like I said, if it was very high or of concern to them they’d be starting you on medication without question. I think it boils down to speaking to the gp and considering how much of a problem it is for you. If you’re not aware of it particularly, you’re not feeling unwell or suffering with symptoms beyond an awareness of it occasionally at rest, and the gp is happy, then it could be that just keeping an eye on it in the first instance is the way forward. It all depends on what’s right for you. You could always ask about trialling medication for a week or two and see how that makes you feel - if you feel the same in yourself and it makes no real difference to the awareness of palpitations (palpitations aren’t dependent on hr being high, I still get them strongly at rest sometimes, even at 60-70bpm, nor are they necessarily an indication of a problem with your heart in and of themselves) then you could stop. If you took them and found you feel better in general, then it would be worth continuing to take them - prior to my first severe episode of SVT at 26, I had no knowledge or physical awareness of my hr routinely being high, no history at all of palpitations, but once on medication found that I unexpectedly felt much better in myself generally. Clearly it had been effecting me for a while beforehand, but I just hadn’t been aware of it being an issue day to day until it was being controlled. It’s also worth saying that if medication doesn’t lower a person’s resting hr, then that could be an indication that the root issue is stress and anxiety rather than the heart rate itself.

Anything related to the heart is understandably worrying stuff for anyone, but I’ve learnt that whilst the sensation is unpleasant, sometimes it’s something you just have to learn to live with once they’re certain that there’s no underlying medical problem causing it. They’ve never found any cause for my SVT, generally raised hr or my ongoing palpitations, it’s just something my body does for no particular reason. It’s also worth considering what you’re eating and drinking too - caffeine is a bugger for hr, so if you’re regularly drinking tea, coffee, coke etc. that will have your hr consistently elevated on a daily basis. The same with alcohol - a couple of drinks will have anyone running higher than their usual. I don’t know how applicable it is to general, baseline tachycardia as in your case, but I know (partly from unfortunate experience) that in heart conditions involving a fast hr such as SVT and atrial fibrillation, foods including ginger, white and dark chocolate, and even some cough mixtures, are well known triggers for episodes and advice from the medics is to avoid them outright.

Good luck.

[Lynny12]

You could try it but the side affects are awful for some people.I had normal heart beat but they wanted to slow it down so they put me on beta blockers. It was horrendous. Feel fine now I have been off them 3 weeks.