Is it normal to just have a fast pulse?

[fastheart2]

Hi,

just discharged from hospital for something unrelated, but each time they did my obs they would panic because it was so high. It was up and down in between 80 and 140. Eventually on the last day my heart went up and didn’t go back down and went above 170. I was given fluids and told to keep eating and it went down slightly to 145 and stayed there for the next 12 hours which started to feel unpleasant. They did ECGs which they said wasn’t giving any proper results because of lots of noise and they weren’t sure why because I was staying still etc, but for some reason none of the ECG machines seemed to give a good scan. Eventually they got an ok one which seemed to show sinus tachycardia or something like that, and no atriol fibulation (or something like that, not sure how it’s spelled!) they were happy and discharged me and said to go to my GP if it bothers me

thing is, it doesn’t really because I’m used to it now. It just feels like thudding in my chest and suddenly out of nowhere I’ll notice it thudding a lot almost to catch up and then it stops. It doesn’t happen with standing up/sitting down etc it just happens at random usually when sitting down and I’ll just suddenly notice it. And it’s always had episodes of going really fast

if the ECG was normal today, does that show that actually it’s fine and there’s nothing concerning? Obviously I know to go to my GP for help with the symptoms if I needed it, but realistically the ECG ruled out any nasty cause didn’t it?

it’s been at 140 for the last 12+ hours and doesn’t hurt, it just feels a bit tiring IYSWIM

in case relevant info- I’m 25, female x

That doesn't sound right at all, keep telling doctors you are not well and that they need to help you. I'm surprised you haven't been on beta blockers. I know someone who had this and they did have atrial fibrillation, all it took was cardioversion and it fixed it.

That definitely does not sound right - do you know what your normal resting heart rate is?

Normally I think it’s between 70-150, when I was in hospital obviously it was affected by the fact I was unwell but towards the end of my stay when I was better my heart rate was going between 70-150 at rest, then it climbed during the night on the last day to 170 ish when I was lying in bed trying to sleep, then it went back down after getting a drip to around 140 and has stayed there ever since. It was 145 on my last check before being discharged x

Has your thyroid function been checked? My nephew had a similar crazy heartbeat (and lost a lot of weight in a very short space of time) when he was about 20, he had an overactive thyroid.

Oh jeez! I think the ecg today ruled out atrial fibulation thankfully because they said if that came back from the scan then they wouldn’t be happy with me leaving hospital x

Ask your GP to refer you to cardiology, for a 24 hour, or 7 day tape (it will depend on what cardiology decide as to which you get).

That will give a longer and better picture of what is going on

They will have been able to tell from the squiggles whether it is atrial fibrillation or sinus tachycardia (normal but fast)

A longer view will give an idea of what is going on, any patterns, and if they need to do any further investigations.

Not a doctor but that sounds very fast. Are you otherwise fit and healthy? I would definately try to this explored is GP an option?

I mentioned it at hospital but can’t remember if they thought it might be related or not, but I do a lot of exercise so unsure if that’s why it’s maybe higher than average? I play quite intensive sports so obviously I would expect it to be higher during this but maybe that’s making it higher all the time in general?

Go to the GP. I’m in my 50s and my HR is 50-55/min at rest. At your age, I would expect it to be around 40-50 BPM, although the average is somewhere around 70.
I get to 160 if I run for 30 minutes. That’s just to give you an idea. Basically your heart is galloping as if you were running, and that’s tiring. Please go to the GP.

No, it’s the opposite - the fitter you are the lower you Le heart rate should be.

No, sportspeople have lower than average heart rates. It's quite easy to look up but from memory elite athletes in their 20s are at more like 60BPM. Some athletes have heart rates in the 40s I think.

No, HIIT should give you a low HR at rest, it goes to whatever during training (I do body pump, for example, I get to 150 or so), but it should come right down afterwards.

Do you have periods where it suddenly goes very very fast and then just as quickly 'clicks' back into a lower rate?

You might have SVT (an annoying but benign condition), although that would not explain it being elevated constantly. But 170+ is definitely tachycardia and not normal.

Go to your GP and they should offer you a heart monitor to wear for a few days, this should be able to identify the problem

As above, a referral to cardiology might be in order

could also be IST - inappropriate sinus tachycardia. Sinus just meant a normal/expected heart rhythm and I think the rest is self explanatory! No cute and usually things like beta blockers are the “treatment”

As above but also ask for blood tests to rule out thyroid problems or anemia.