sudden high resting rate
 

I had a pretty exhausting day this week with a lot of walking. Since that day(wendesday) my heart rate is about 90-100 while resting in bed and doing nothing. It seems to be a bit lower in the morning.

What does it mean? Should I continue with light exercise or could it be a warning sign?

Resting heart rate can rise with stress, or for numerous other reasons - medications, tobacco, excess weight etc.

Are you feeling unwell? I'm wondering why you're feeling the need to take your pulse when you're resting. Do you take your pulse regularly?

Regular exercize can actually help lower a resting heart rate so if you're concerned about it you should speak with your doctor.

I am feeling very bad since a couple of weeks, especially mentally because my overall condition does not improve and I have big sleeping problems.

I do not have to take my pulse. I can hear in the ears how high it is. My blood pressure seems ideal though.

As I said, it has appeared after an exhausting day, and did not resolve after 4 days of complete rest. I never had this before.

Personally I would suggest that counting your pulse via your ears may not be at all accurate to say the least.

You may be wasting valuable time worrying about something that is in fact inaccurate.

Lara, of course I measured my pulse with a device, after hearing that it seems to be high.It was always around 95. The only thing I actually bother about is whether this could be a warning sign to reduce activity.

Here is a link to the American Heart Association. It explains fast heart beat.
http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Condit...8_Article.jsp#

The pulse sound/ whooshing in your ears is called bruit.

I get that sound when my neck muscles are tight, strained or in spasms..
- you might be able to lessen that sx if you can get PT or some massage or treatment for the neck muscles..

Thanks for your help. It looks like that fast heart beat is not a common PCS symptom. I saw just a very little number of users that had this too.

What I completely forgot to say is that I take amitryptiline. The so called palpilations are a very common side effect. I will wait how it develops.

I'm not sure if an elevated heart rate is common, but since my concussion and before I was placed on any A/Ds, my heart rate is approximately 25 bpm higher than what it used to be. I've mentioned it to my health team and no seems concerned. Initially I thought it might be sympathetic dysregulation but since it never changes, I'm not sure.

Amatriptyline helped a lot with my nerve pain, but it made my heart race. I had to take atenolol (beta blocker) to slow it down. Could you call your primary doc and ask for an ekg? Mine will do one if I ask. You could also go to the ER. They take heart stuff seriously and there's nothing wrong with getting checked out just to make sure everything is OK.

Also, please call the doc who prescribed the amitriptyline and report your side effect. They need to know.

The last time I had an episode of racing heart was because my surgical incision was infected. The all day resting heart rate of 95 was the first symptom I had. It's possible that your heart is telling you there's something physically wrong.

I hope you find an answer soon. That constant pounding is no fun!

Hello,

I already did an ekg. It was a bit arythmic but the rest was ok.

I notice that my heart rate even goes up to 130 or more when I have little stress. No physical activity.

Im a bit worried that it could affect the recovery.

I had a resting heart rate of 105-120+ along with high blood pressure that started after the concussion. I had my first panic attack after lying in bed trying to go to sleep but hearing the pounding of my racing heart in my ears. My dr put me on a beta blocker and had me monitor my bp and hr daily for a while, ekg was normal. It was always worse when I was tired or stressed. It has gradually gotten better and now 3 yrs after my concussion I am back to 78-85 for resting hr, my bp has improved some and I am on a lower dose of medication but I am not off it completely.

Is it just your resting heart rate that is high? Have you checked for other positions? (Like sitting, standing?) You may want to go to a cardiologist if this is a constant issue, or at least bring it up with your GP.

My pulse is generally a lot higher than it should be.

When I wake up after a good night it is around 60. It goes up to 95 when I have a stressless day inside the house. While sitting it remains around 95. Light Excercise will bring it up to 120 or more.

When I am outside the house it stays at 120 and more even when sitting. I have no chance to bring it down than. So stress has to play an important role. I will try the beta blocker as long as I take amitryptiline.

Have you been to a cardiologist? THis sounds like something that should be looked at. You may want to ask about having your heart listened to, and an EKG and/or echocardiogram, and a tilt table test.

Could a persistent pulse rate of 95/120 have a negative effect on the healing? What does the research say?

I doubt that pulse rate effect healing. I have never read anything that suggests a problem.

What do you use to check your pulse ? Does it check your blood pressure, too?

My bp measuring device also shows the pulse rate. It is just like you exercise the whole day when the rate stays that high. I dont think that this can be good.

Today I even had 130-150 for a short time, only because of light activities at home.

And I also noticed that a bad sleep and too much cognitive activities(thinking is enough) are a trigger.

Speaking from a medical background, your resting heart rate (based on so many things) should be under 100. I don't get too nervous as a health care worker unless resting its over 120. But, I think that people who have increased stress and anxiety have higher heart rates. EKG showing Tachycardia doesn't show anything really. Have a stress test? That may help show some stuff. I have had one. It's not bad.

Reasons other than stress your heart rate could be elevated while resting: PSVT(Paroxysmal Supraventricular Tachycardia) Fancy big word that says your top chambers of your heart beat way faster and do not effectively pump any blood.
Infection. You may have a small infection that you don't notice. Check your temp, monitor yourself for that.
Headaches. They can raise your pulse
Caffeine. Definitely can raise your pulse
Dehydration. Try drinking some gatorade/powerade to get your fluids up. Drink lots of water also.
Blood sugar issues. Check your sugar if you have a glucometer at home. If not, just watch what you eat. Notice any changes.

Let me know how you are. Take care.

Thanks for your post medic. I will check each point you mentioned.

My pulse rate was absolutely crazy today. I was at home all day Sometimes down at 60 while sitting, sometimes reaching 140 or more while standing and slow walking. Now I have constant 95 while resting in bed. Really strange. No chance to bring it down.

I reduced amitryptiline to 10 mg. I doubt it comes from that.

I'm confused. You said 95/120. Is your pulse 95 or 120 or is that your blood pressure. A BP of 120/95 is not bad. The 95 could be a bit lower but 120 is fine.

Have you had a hormone assessment ? Adrenal function would also be worth investigating.

How often do you check your pulse ?

Chris,

If you go to your Primary doctor often, you may ask for a 48 hr holter monitor. it would show all the abnormalities and rate changes. That would be your best diagnostic from here. seriously.

Mark I ment that my resting pulse is 95 and being on the legs will bring it up to at least 120.
Thats why I said it is like I always di a bit of excercise. My bp is mostly 110/75.

Today I took atabonil the first time. 12,5 mg have put it down to constant 50-55.

I did not have a hormone test or adrenal test/stress test. How does it look like?

Adrenal and hormone testing is done with blood testing.

What is atabonil ? I don't see it listed anywhere.

Atenolol? 50 to 55 sounds a little low. Keep an eye on your blood pressure.

A stress test is where you walk on a treadmill while hooked up to an EKG. I lasted a minute and a half before my heart went whacky. It was the quickest, easiest diagnosis I ever received.

Yes, I wanted to write atenonol. Bp was still ok with 106/70.

I thougt a stress test shows if my heart rate goes up with mental stress(being scared for example.

I dont think I can do a treadmill test, the higher pulse and bp will result in headache.

Chris,
I bet you can tell whether or not your heart rate goes up with mental stress just by feeling it pounding in your chest and taking your pulse at home. I completely understand your concerns about your heart rate affecting your recovery and I can see why you'd be reluctant to do the treadmill test. A doctor would have to answer these questions for you. I can't remember--have you seen a cardiologist?

I took atenolol in 2012 for supraventricular tachycardia, but an EP Cardiologist told me that having an ablation was preferable to a lifetime of medicine. I had the ablation and it fixed the problem. Right after that, I started having head and face pain. I tried so many medications and amitriptyline was the only one that helped with the pain, but it also caused my heart to race. A headache specialist put me on 50mg of atenolol and my heart settled down.

After my MVD surgery, I weaned off the amitriptyline. A couple of weeks ago, my PCP told me to stop the Atenolol. When I stopped it, my heart started pounding and racing something fierce. I called him yesterday and he told me that my body got used to it and now I was stuck taking it forever. I hope he's wrong. I have an appointment with my cardiologist on the 28th.

The point of this long-winded story is that I think it would be beneficial for you to speak with a cardiologist before your body gets too used to the atenolol. If nothing is wrong, then you'll be reassured. And you can talk about the benefits versus risks of taking one med to counteract the effects of another. I wish I had done that.

Take care of yourself and keep us posted. Hope you have a restful weekend,
Cheryl

If your heart rate goes up significantly (30+ bpm) when you stand up you may want to be tested for POTS or other autonomic disorders. A tilt table test by a cardiologist is the standard. Obviously check with your dr about all these things.