Should I worry about my resting heart rate going up quite a lot?

[ReadWithScepticism]

I got a fitbit during the summer and was quite pleased to discover that my resting heart rate was reliably in the range 56-59. (I'm 61 years old). It stayed that way for months, but during the last month or so it has been creeping up. It stayed around 61 for a while but this morning is 64.

In general I'm not feeling brilliant - achy joints and muscles, and a persistent sense of fatigue.

The biggest difference between mid summer and now is that, at the time I bought the fitbit, I was going on weekly very long walks, in preparation for the Yorkshire Three Peaks Challenge. In addition to being physically good for me, they were mentally very therapeutic.

THen I had a very stressful time, including my dad's illness and death. My mental health took a plunge and the long walks more or less ceased.

I go running a bit. I also work on the elliptical trainer about once a week and push myself as hard as I can for 20-30 mins.

Why isn't that enough to keep my heart rate healthy? I know I am punishing myself a bit with that type of exercise. I am also dreadfully stressed and miserable. I comfort eat, a bit chaotically (I'm not overweight though).

Could the rise in heart rate be a sign of illness, or is it just a response to my changed exercise and increased stress?

What sort of exercise will help me, given that I seem to be stressing my body a bit too much? (I do yoga once a week, but I am so achy and stiff that I don't really feel in the right place for it atm.)

Sorry,long. Thanks for reading.

Take the Fitbit off and throw it in the bin.

All it's doing is causing you anxiety about a perfectly normal heart rate.

that up in heart rate isn’t that high and is within the normal range.

60 - 100 at rest is normal OP stop worrying over nothing.

Thanks all. I was thinking that I ought to worry about the change in heart rate, even though the rate is still in the normal range. Doesn't that signify something?

(I appreciate that I am prob being over attentive to something I wouldn't even know about without the fitbit!)

Your heart rate is normal.

Just take the Fitbit off and be kind to yourself.

Are you drinking more (alcohol)? My heart rate goes up when I've been drinking, even if it's only one or two drinks.

I’ve had a watch tracking my resting heart rate for 5+ years and over that time it’s varied by 12 or more points. Mine is affected by my levels of exercise, alcohol, how busy I am, flu and covid jabs, stress, medication, being a bit poorly, and just random stuff I have no idea about. As long as it’s in the healthy range it’s fine, and yours is. If tracking it is going to make you anxious then turn off the resting heart rate tracking.

My resting heart rate is 68-72, significantly higher than yours OP and I'm a similar age. Am I worried about it? No, because it's perfectly normal. Echoing other posters, take off the Fitbit.

Mine varies hugely but always seems to be lower in the summer than in the winter. It is probably just linked to changes in activity level but I also read that vitamin d helps so you could try supplementing if you don't currently. Here is an example of mine over a year, each year it shows the same seasonal pattern. It also goes up and down monthly according to point in my menstral cycle.

Mine goes up and down within this range, usually down to if I’m tired or have a cold, alcohol, exercise, stress! Nothing to worry about Op it seems.

It looks normal but as an aside mine went up from about 64 to 70 when I got a new Apple Watch

@ReadWithScepticism I use my RHR as a tool to monitor my illness/pacing

An increase from 58 to 64 is nothing to worry about. It doesn’t say anything about your fitness not being as good. Or about your heart health being an issue.
Its also a very normal reading, even more so at 60+yo.

RHR does change a day to day basis agd is influenced by many factors. That’s why I can use it as a proxy to monitor my own health.
Things can affect RHR (amongst many others) :

• tiredness (eg Having done a very long walk/run)
• emotions in general esp if strong ones
• stress
• illness (if you come down with a bug)

From what you said, I suspect it’s a combination of grief and actually doing too much (pushing yourself too far will increase your RHR).

I would question heart health if your RHR was going over 80/90. Yes it’s still ‘acceptable’ but it’s the increase vs your normal that I’d questioned.

In the mean time, I’m wondering if you’re not getting particularly anxious around health and heart health in particular.

What the RHR is can change a lot depending on when it’s actually measured. Reliable measurements should be fine first thing in the am, wo moving.

The problem with watches like Fitbit or AW is that you don’t quite know when they’re doing their measurements

Your HR is perfectly normal ,my resting hr is 80 bpm and has been for years since I was a teen .. (yet low bp) . Bin the Fitbit as it will just add to your anxiety .. I lost my dad in April then was diagnosed with cancer so mines all over the place these days , but your hr will go up and down even when resting

I had the same worries back in the summer. Only mine went from a steady 55 - to 135 - and palpitations

So for me it was a good indicator something was wrong and time to visit the GP, and whilst yes my resting heart rate was staying stubbornly high, there was nothing actually physically wrong with me - had every test going - and we finally got to the bottom of it - stress. I had an horrendous experience driving into work one morning behind a drunk driver, and then a few months after, I had to do an emergency stop as some twat pulled right out in front of me whilst I was driving at 60mph . Even though I shrugged them off, I was unconsciously stressing every time I got in the car - and I cant avoid getting in the car.

So beta blockers to stop the palpitations and a wee chat with the surgery counsellor and Im doing good

Her advice was - chuck the fit watch out or at least only have the heart monitor on during exercise periods - I compromised and switched of the warning beeps

Thank you so much, all of you. Your replies have been really helpful and informative. It seems that I have nothing to worry about, and I can go back to focusing my idiotic anxiety on other issues in my life

Really interesting that you had that much more dramatic change, @suki1964, and that all tests came back fine. I'm glad you had that reassuring outcome.
Interesting, too, to read about the effects of the horrible driving incidents that you had. They sound really distressing.

Interestingly, the beginning of my less-well state coincides with a driving fright that I had, which was one of several things that tipped me into a much more stressed and unhappy condition. As a result I have been on and off two different anti-depressants since then, and my elevated resting rate may have coincided with coming off the second.

I'm not normally fretful about health at all (despite being so stressed and anxious overall) so I think that the sensible information you have all given me will be enough to stop my thinking much about my heart rate.

Many thanks again.

All this fitness tracking, heart rate monitoring, blood pressure monitoring, glucose meters, temperatures, steps taken are all controlling us every day and are leading us down the road of anxiety every 60 seconds! I agree with others to get rid of these abominations of trackers immediately.

I go by how I'm feeling, I know how many kms are on my usual walks, I do have Atrial Fibrillation which is a heart rhythm disorder, but I rarely check my HR unless I feel it racing and then have to keep an eye on it, but other than that the Big Brother technology on our wrists can go do one.

I know that some use them for checking speed and time if they are runners etc. and I can understand that, but not for day to day living.

That’s a wild generalisation @Havalona
Those trackers have a place for a lot of people.
I mean would tell a woman who tries to get pregnant to stop temperature charting?

Yes it’s easy to become ‘addicted’ to them or anxiety inducing but in my own experience, this happens when you don’t really know how they work.
When you get a better understanding, it’s also very quickly becoming just a tool. One that gives a LOT of information.
And going by ‘how you feel’ isn’t always possible for people either (many reasons for that including ‘not feeling right’ being so normal people don’t notice it. And yes that applies to ‘well’ people too)

eg I can’t tell when I’m over exerting myself until I’ve done way way too much.

@ReadWithScepticism I'm glad the thread has been helpful.

I am 57 and have almost exactly that variability on my fitbit RHR. I keep a vague eye, as despite its inaccuracies, it can provide a signal (together with other things) that I am a bit under par.

You aren't overweight and your RHR is fine. So I would focus on what makes you feel good for now, as you are having such a horrible time. If walking feels good and running doesn't, then walk, and sometimes walk briskly/uphill, even if you can;t fit in the long walks you did before. If you aren't enjoying the yoga then do something else (tho possibly once a week is the worst of all worlds - you might find if you do another session you get the benefits. Or try Pilates which is more strength, again perhaps twice a week as per guidelines below). If you feel better in your body, and have a routine you like, maybe that will help with the comfort eating too?

The NHS recommendations for healthy adults are here
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/physical-activity-guidelines-for-adults-aged-19-to-64/

So they can be met with eg some brisk walks and two Pilates classes. There is plenty of scope within them to find things you enjoy and that will help you through this hard patch, while maintaining your health and fitness. And then you can focus and push a bit harder when things are a little easier.

If you can maybe try some classes? I've found the buzz and focus of group classes a great de-stressor, never mind the physical side.

I hope you start to feel better soon - be kind to yourself.

I'm not normally fretful about health at all

Good. Throw the fitbit out, then.

Nobody should be obsessing about a minor, completely normal variation in their heart rate.

Be kind to yourself. The data isn't worrying; you're still well into healthy ranges and maintaining healthy habits despite the stress.

Life happens and your body's systems do respond to that.

I had an injury earlier in the year that caused a lot of sleep disrupting pain and limited my range of exercise over the course of a month. I've got a Garmin with a range of health/ lifestyle stats, and not surprisingly they took a dip reflecting hiw I felt. Then they recovered back to my normal range a few weeks after normal routines restored.

Where these stats have a use, it's in helping to respond to patterns to give your body what it needs.