Please help with my heart rate. I'm scared

[Moxxi]

Hello I'm 26 years old and I do have a bit of health anxiety. I have had a Fitbit for a few years and in 2020 it was showing my resting HR as 103...I was overweight and didn't exercise at all, had a very sedentary lifestyle.

Now it's 2021 I have started wearing my Fitbit again after losing some weight and going for some walks in the morning. It's showing my resting heart rate as 85.

I'm really concerned, during the day my HR is between 90-106. I am on beta blockers but still I'm terrified of doing intense exercise incase I die from sudden cardiac arrest. I did try some running at some point but my heart got up to 172 and I was too scared to carry on. I don't know what to do anymore. I'm also scared that doing regular exercise isnt going to reduce it.

Even when I'm sleeping my heart doesn't go below 79.

Anyone experienced this or got any help/advice?

Thanks in advanced

[romdowa]

My advice would be to bin the fitbit. It's clearly making your anxiety worse , which will drive up your heart rate

[StrawberriCream]

172bpm is fairly ballpark I would say for just starting running, the more you do the better it is, take it slow and steady and either don't wear the fitbit all the time as it seems to be making you more anxious or only check the data once a week or so and then you can see how your heart rate is overall per week rather than fixating on specific points

[interest12]

You need to exercise

[HalfShrunkMoreToGo]

Normal resting heart rate for a woman is between 60 and 100 beats per minute so you are within normal range and have nothing to be concerned about.

I agree that it doesn't seem that the Fitbit is helping your health anxiety.

[Wiltshire90]

My HR gets to over 200 when I'm doing sprint sessions

I'm not sure what specifically you're worrying about here. That your RHR is going down? That can only be a good thing and means the exercise is working. My RHR got as low as 37 at times when I was very fit so I really wouldn't worry OP - it's safe to have a huge range of heart rates. The more your RHR comes down the better.

Like others have said, just ditch it if it's making you anxious.

[Moxxi]

I appreciate all the responses. I'm just scared that if I'm not aware of my heart rate then something bad will happen to me. I'm sorry if I'm sounding crazy

[Lancelottie]

My vague memory is that ‘220 minus your age’ is a good ballpark for max heart rate, so you’re fine.

Mine certainly goes over 172 on occasion when I run, and I’m twice your age and not dead yet.

[AuntieStella]

Wrist devices aren't terribly accurate

Why are you on beta blockers? When will you next be seen by a doctor? Might be worth talking about safe exercise then. Or if it's ages in the future, ring your GP practice to make an appointment about safe start toman exercise programme.

Also look to see if your council runs Move More or other similar classes. These are very safe, as tailored for beginners with underlying issues.

parkrun returns soon. If you have ambitions to run, go to that and walk it. When you are more confident, do C25K (perhaps allowing 2 weeks for each step, so it's really gentle and well consolidated).

And well done, recognising that something needs to be done is the first step an you've got it

[dementedpixie]

If my heart rate doesn't get into the 170s during a workout then I feel I've not worked hard enough!
Short bursts of max heart rate are fine.

[Turniptracker]

You need to get rid of the fitbit or work towards doing so as you have an unhealthy relationship with it and it is probably making you feel worse in all honestly. My rhr is 59 and when I run it goes up to 180

[WaltzingBetty]

@Moxxi

I appreciate all the responses. I'm just scared that if I'm not aware of my heart rate then something bad will happen to me. I'm sorry if I'm sounding crazy

Why don't you do some reading around heart rates?

It seems odd to wear a Fitbit that you don't understand and that is adding to your anxiety.

If you want to reduce your HR then you need to get fitter.

Star with regular brisk walking if you're anxious and consider adding in some high intensity workouts as you get more confident.

If you have concerns about your heart then check with your GP

[Moxxi]

Thanks guys, you're right, when I'm sat in the lounge watching TV and I look at my watch and it's 94 (sitting quietly doing nothing but watching) it freaks me out I really want to get it lower - like in the 60s is the only way to get there through diet and exercise? I'm 5ft 7" and used to weight 107kg since last August I'm down to 81kg now, still have more to go but i just wanna feel human again and not scared all the time. I will ditch the fitbit.

[Moxxi]

I take beta blockers because in January my heart suddenly shot up to 172 and I had to go to hospital as I felt very unwell, I was in the bath when it happened, been on them since then. I have had ecgs and heart scans and they're all normal just don't like seeing the high figures still.

[wotchhha]

Are you on beta blockers because your HR was too high? Then it's understandable that you feel anxious.

Talk to your GP about what happens when you run.

[Wiltshire90]

@Moxxi just keep exercising if you want it to come down. 90s RHR is high for a young person so keep moving, you will only ever feel better for it.

[wotchhha]

Perhaps start with fast walking, aerobics so your heart doesn't go too high?

It's very scary to have a high heart rate when you are going nothing. It happened to me when I had pneumonia.

[romdowa]

@Moxxi

I take beta blockers because in January my heart suddenly shot up to 172 and I had to go to hospital as I felt very unwell, I was in the bath when it happened, been on them since then. I have had ecgs and heart scans and they're all normal just don't like seeing the high figures still.

Google pots and see if it fits what you experienced in January

[Moxxi]

@Wiltshire90 do you know how long it takes to notice a difference? It's awful :(

[Moxxi]

I'm just scared that I will die before I ever get to notice a difference. I know that sounds silly but I'm scared my heart is under too much pressure.

[borntobequiet]

I have atrial fibrillation (I’m a lot older than you) and also on beta blockers. I take the lowest dose I can get away with, as they cause me breathlessness and make it more difficult to exercise. I won’t use a Fitbit or similar as I know I’d check it too often, instead I check my pulse using the second hand on a clock/watch (15 sec and multiply by 4, it’s surprisingly accurate). Exercise more, not less, but not intensely. Keep losing weight. Walk or slow jog, swim, use light weights, maybe join a class such as yoga or Pilates. Your heart rate should go down over time, though it will probably always be on the high side of normal. Get rid of the Fitbit. If you feel OK you probably are OK.

[museumum]

I think one of the best things you could do for both your heart and anxiety is yoga or meditation.
Try something like this video m.youtube.com/watch?v=bJJWArRfKa0
Your HR sounds perfectly normal but everyone can benefit from yoga or meditation.

[ErrolTheDragon]

If you want to improve your heart health, you need to exercise it. Brisk walking is always a good place to start. Hills give extra challenge. When and if you try running again then the 'couch to 5k' type approach is usually best for most people - short intervals of running interspersed with walking.

Tabata type intervals are reckoned to be very good too for improving quickly. Really simple and adaptable ... just do anything you can do (running, jumping jacks, step ups, marching on the spot etc etc) for 20 seconds as hard as you can, rest for 10 seconds, repeat this 8 times. Then rest for a couple of minutes and do another set of 8. There are loads of tabata timer apps.

[Lancelottie]

Ah, the sudden racing heart is enough to alarm anyone. I’ve had that happen with a post viral problem (pericarditis) - walking along minding my own business and suddenly had a heart rate thrumming along at 180. It’s good that you’ve had scans and ECGs to check that out.

[Moxxi]

@borntobequiet what is your resting heart rate? I'm just really worried my will never get to where I want it to be :( I will keep up with the exercise those. I have done some googling in the past and I wish I didn't read that a fast heart can cause heart disease and heart failure because that's what I'm terrified of, I'm 26 I should be living my life but my HR stops me :(

[Wiltshire90]

@Wiltshire90 I can't really say how long it took to come down as I didnt always wear a wrist HR watch, but I noticed it got a lot lower in about 6 months when I was going a lot of running and walking.

I'm pregnant now though so it's gone back up again by 10-12bpm

Even just walking will get it down. Try finding interesting new routes on OS maps and making it fun!