pounding heart in morning.

[pacots]

I wake up every morning with a pounding heart. I have A-Fib but was wondering what is the difference between this and tachacardia.

[CDreamer]

Tachycardia literally means fast heart rate so refers to the speed your heart is beating. Normal resting HR range = 60 -100-120 so anything faster than 120 is referred to as tachycardia.

AF refers to an arrythmia which refers to the rhythm of your heart - 4 chambers of the heart - 2 upper, 2 lower and what they should do is to work in sync with each to pump blood efficiently around the body. AF = atrial fibrillation which means that the left atria (top left chamber) is not in sync - it is fibrillating ie quivering with no co-ordination caused by too many electrical signals and some of those signals get passed down through to the bottom chambers, the ventricles so your heart goes too fast and isn’t pushing blood efficiently around your body - you feel your heart pounding or palpitating or both.

You can have both slow AF - HR less than 120 or fast AF - above 120.

If you wake up with palpitations or pounding heart and often get it at night it can often be caused by lying prone or on one or other side. Sometimes if you can sleep with more pillow, half propped up or experiment to see if sleeping on one side or the other helps or hinders. Some people find they can’t sleep on their left side without being woken with palpitations.

[Hidden in reply to CDreamer]

I'll just add that Sleep Apnea can cause these symptoms, have you had a sleep study?

[pacots in reply to Hidden]

No not yet, but I snore loud & have some other symptoms which would make sense. I am tired & weak during the day also. Going to call doc next week.

[Gowers]

Yes, from time to time I do.

My cardiologist called it early morning adrenaline rush and you can look it up. It last about 5-10mins.

I sleep propped up on 2-3pillows & try not to sleep on left side as advised by others.

It is not easy to cope with as you immediately think you are in for a long bout of af. Deep breathing and trying to relax helps.

Have you been diagnosed with af & on medication?

[pacots in reply to Gowers]

was diagnosed with af & am on flecanide but that was awhile back now I know there are new meds out there now. This pounding heart is especially in the am & also after I eat I notice it a lot more.