hello! i’m a 20 year old female and this year i have been having chest pain, significant breathlessness, fast heart rate and bad palpitations amongst a fairly long list of other things including puffy fingers/feet/ankles and an uncomfortable bloated tummy (definitely not pregnant). there is also a pretty extensive family history of heart attacks. i am happy to supply more information about the symptoms as well as what has been discounted so far in terms of diagnosis if it helps.
i had an echocardiogram a week ago. i have not heard anything yet and all my GP account says is sinus tachycardia. i think i have a letter coming but i'm not 100% sure. i was wondering whether anybody knew what sort of things include sinus tachycardia? such as what causes it and what it could be a sign of.
i had the echo done because i had two doctors mention heart failure as a possibility. i don’t really know how this is confirmed or denied.
at the moment i am on 9 propranolol tablets a day whilst investigations are still happening. i have a review of this dosage the end of this week so hopefully i will have a talk about the echo then.
thank you and i hope you are all looking after yourselves,
hannah
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dorito26
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Welcome to the boards and sorry to hear you’re having a bit of a rough time.
I’m not medically qualified, but my understanding is that sinus tachycardia literally just means raised heart rate above 100bpm, but with a normal, regular rhythm. Exercising leads to sinus tachycardia, as do other things that would be expected to put the heart rate up: certain food stuffs, medications, and substances, stress, pain, fever, emotions like fear. Abnormal sinus tachycardia would be when your heart rate is elevated above 100bpm for no apparent or obvious reason. The most common standalone, but poorly understood and insufficiently diagnosed reason for that would be inappropriate sinus tachycardia. This is where your average daily heart rate is above 100bpm for no other identifiable reason, or it shoots up inappropriately with speaking or moving, although it’s difficult to get diagnosed if the issue is just the latter due to a lack of understanding. However, sinus tachycardia also occurs as a secondary symptom of lots of conditions, including, but not limited to, congestive heart failure, lung diseases, infections, hyperthyroidism, and even anaemia, so determining the underlying cause can take time.
An echo is a good test for diagnosing lots of cardiac things as it looks at the structure of the heart, along with blood flow and pumping action. It can be used to help diagnose things including congenital heart issues, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, and endocarditis, which is an infection of the heart valves, which is why it’s so frequently undertaken when there might be a heart problem at play. It can sometimes take a couple of weeks for the report to reach the GP (or even the consultant) but they do tend to send it a bit more quickly if it shows something that needs further action. Hopefully by the time you speak to the GP later this week they’ll have had a copy, but don’t forget that GPs are not experts. They know a little bit about lots of things, but they can’t always give you the answers either, other than to refer you on. I’m assuming you’ve already had ecgs and a holter test, where you wear a monitor for 24 hours or more? In conjunction with these, and blood tests, an echo is the other basic test done when concerned about heart problems. What’s found (or not) determines what tests are requested next, if any.
thank you for such a detailed reply! you have been very helpful and i’m grateful you took the time to respond.
my tachycardia has been rather inappropriate/abnormal and it’s made me exhausted. resting is around the high 110s and it shoots to the 150s/60s within seconds of moving even slightly. that combined with the palpitations, breathlessness and pain have been really knocking me down.
all blood tests have been for infection, glandular fever, thyroid function, anaemia, and blood clots. i was advised by paramedics and an a&e nurse to have a blood test for a heart distress chemical (i can’t remember the name) but the doctor refused and i was sent home. i’ve had ecgs and a holter but palpitations seem to love to disappear when tests are done! it happened for the echo too.
hopefully i’ll have more answers and next steps soon
Hi,110 resting is high but it is interesting that you say that it goes to 150/160 within seconds. This may be due to superventricular tachycardia (svt).
How do you know this? Are you measuring it somehow?
I cycle a lot so I use a chest strap heart rate monitor linked to a cycle computer (garmin). This picked up my svt in that it showed it jumping up instantly and then later dropping back again instantly as if a switch was being flicked on then off later. For info I had an ablation and I don’t get svt any more. Just a thought.
hello, thank you for your reply! the first time i saw it in numbers was when i went to the doctors for breathlessness and he did a pulse oximeter of me at rest then after walking a few steps. i could feel the change but had no idea of the actual rate until then.
due to the amount of propranolol i’m on i was advised by my GP to check my blood pressure so i got a pulse oximeter as well. i’m not the best at calculating heart rate by timing as it can be so fast so it’s been a wonderful machine.
i’m waiting on results of my echo but it’s good to hear that there are options for making this stop. at this point i’m willing to have anything done as long as i can get my life back
If it’s linked purely to movement, it’s not likely to be SVT. For example, if you were moving, it shot up, and then stayed there without coming back down even when you stopped, that would be suggestive of SVT: it’s a condition where the heart gets ‘stuck’ at a tachycardic rate, and is distinguishable on holter from sinus tachycardia. If the minute you stop moving your heart rate starts coming back down again, that’s not going to be SVT. I say this as someone with both SVT and an inappropriate sinus response. Lifting my arm to scratch my head raises my heart rate by about 30bpm. I’m on medication to reduce my heart rate to manage the SVT, but I still easily hit 180 on the exercise bike without trying, and a walk to the kettle has me at 120bpm, when my resting rate a second earlier was high 50s/low 60s. The minute I stop, it starts coming back down, but even talking elevates it inappropriately. We don’t know if this predates the SVT or is related to it somehow, but both conditions involve the same node in the heart.
I got it from Wiggle, an online cycle shop. Halfords may have them. I got a garmin Edge 500 with a hrm included. Not cheap unless you want it for cycling as well. The 500 is out of date now. It might be a 25 that is its equivalent.
I’m not saying that you have svt but I’d consider it. My first symptoms were that I’d suddenly get out of breath for no apparent reason, when my hy jumped from say 90 to 140 instantly. I’d be very tired until it would suddenly drop straight back and I’d be as good as new again. I actually found out that if I lay on my back and relaxed I could usually get it to reset. Not always easy depending on where I was. I had an implant loop recorder put in my chest to monitor my hr. The readings from this convinced my cardiologist that I had svt. I hope you get it sorted
Hi Tony here I had heart failure on (Jan) 2020 I was breathless like you. I had no idea that I had any heart issues prior to going to kings collage hospital London in an ambulance because I couldn't breath. The main diagnosis was an x-ray of my lungs which were full of liquid followed by an angiogram ( dye injection into vein ) then a echocardiogram which read (22%) this is a diagnosis of heart failure . Scary word heart failure but it just covers a lot of goals .I had a triple bypass ( blocked veins ) I can now breath normally and the (operation) is a very standard procedure you are young and they will look after you you have long life ahead of you so good luck Tony.
hi tony, i hope you are well and thank you for taking the time to write a reply. so far my chest x-rays have been okay but my feet/ankles have been getting increasingly puffy and achy so i’ll mention that at my next appointment which is this thursday. my tummy has also been getting more swollen/bloated and rock solid as well.
still no echo results yet but the doctor said after i had it done that tests to check my arteries might be an idea. i suppose an angiogram is what he meant.
i’m glad your procedures went well and i hope you have lots of happy years to come.
i hope once i have a diagnosis and options i will get somewhat back to how i was. it was my last day of the first year of uni today and i would love to be able to go out with all of my friends but it’s not possible at the moment. got to keep looking forward and being positive!
thank you tony, once i know for sure what’s wrong i’ll let you know. this is my cat dorito and i am hannah ☺️ he is such a good boy and he provides lots of comfort
photo of a ginger cat wearing a blue collar with white spots
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