To be concerned about heart rate…

[Mumof2boysxz]

Hi, I’ve posted on here previously about experiencing chest pains and other symptoms. I have been to a&e twice this year, who said my blood tests all came back as normal, as did the ECGs. I also saw my GP who put the pains down to anxiety.

I have always had a thing about my heart and worrying if there’s something wrong with it.

A few days ago, my partner got a smart watch as a leaving present from his work mates, as he has been promoted and moving on from the area he works.

I have borrowed his watch multiple times to check my heart rate. Yesterday, my RHR was recorded at 142 BPM (way too high). It then went down to 57 BPM after 10 minutes.

I checked it again for the first time today, and it was at 126 BPM (resting again). It then went down to 90, and now back to 102. I am beside myself.

My oxygen levels and blood pressure are showing as normal.

I am however, quite unwell with what I assume is a common cold - runny nose, sneezing, coughing, sore throat, and feel hot to touch though no temp. I’m not sure if this can make your RHR go up or not.

Any advice before I go into full blown panic attack that I’m about to die any second?

Have you ever been given a holter monitor/Zio patch? It may be worth asking if you have not had one before.
It is normal for HR to be higher during illness. My teen dd has had a cold this week and hers has. I have to monitor it as she has a CHD.
I have opposite problem at moment with a low HR which is triggering palpitations.

They probably would be enough to reassure most people. For some reason I question the what if. What if they missed something, what if something has changed now because the last ECG was in March, that the blood tests can only see if you’ve already had a heart attack but they can’t tell you if your going to have one, etc. It doesn’t seem to convince me. :(

It’s easy enough for the GP to get a 24 or 48 hour ecg hooked up you keep a diary and it gets sent off to be analyzed. Have you had your thyroid function checked?

@Mumof2boysxz what dosage of beta blockers are you on?

I’ve never had anything like that before, only a resting ECG in a&e which was hooked to me for about 30 seconds. I will ask about that. I hope your daughter feels better soon. Xx

Yeah, I had blood tests in December as I was feeling incredibly fatigued all of the time. My thyroid is normal, but I had low iron levels and I am taking tablets for anemia.

im not sure what the exact dosage, it was the lowest one they can give, and it was propranolol. I was prescribed them in December and stopped taking them around 3 weeks ago - I got a different GP at my latest appointment, and she said I shouldn’t have been given them to begin with and advised me to stop them. I didn’t take them every day, only when I felt my heart racing, maybe a few times a week I would take it.

To take your HR manually lay out your preferd arm, at the base of your thumb and to the side of your wrist about an inch down and a centimeter to the inside of your wrist press your opposite index and middle finger down and you should feel the rhythmic thumbing of your pulse.

Best to time for 1 minute total count each pulse.
You can count it for 15secs and X the number by 4 but counting for 1 minute is more accurate.

OP, tests have ruled out any problems

You’re ill so your heart rate will be elevated to deal with infection.

But most importantly, you’re obsessively checking your heart rate to see if it’s gone up, because you’re expecting it to have gone up, and because you’re expecting it, it’s going up.

Stop using the watch. Seriously give it back and stop looking at your heart rate, no good can come of it.

Stop looking at google. No good can come of going there either.

I am in heart failure and my heart rate has ranged from 10 bpm (at which point I then sufffered a cardiac arrest) and 240 bpm (at which point I had to be shocked back into rhythm. I take the view that if I can feel my heart beating in my chest without actually having to touch it iyswim then it’s time to see if all is ok. Otherwise I don’t even look at the heart rate on my watch or my own pulse. My heart rate actually sits at about 52 BPM now because I have an ICD and take various drugs to regulate it.

@Mumof2boysxz
Smart watches often and easily give a very incorrect reading for first few moments as they properly take the reading

You would be surprised how much the healthy average persons heart rate rises by eg sitting up, turning over in bed, turning alarm clock off etc. If you were doing anything besides lying there for 5 mins prior to reading them it wasn’t your “resting heart rate”.

Resting heart rate isn’t actually your hr when you measure it when you sit or lie down. It’s calculated by taking many readings day and night over several days, for exactly this reason, our healthy heart rates do jump about all over the place

Also be aware than women’s rhr can fluctuate on a monthly basis by up to 10bpm

In your circumstances OP my advice is to give the watch back

And if you are getting yourself a smart watch whatever you do switch off all the heart related data

This is the health anxiety talking.

You need to get more help with your mental health as this will destroy your life.

I’m really sorry to hear your going through this - I really hope the medication is working. Your definitely right about “DR Google” it will always tell you your dying even if you aren’t. I just kept worrying because the tests at a&e can tell you if you’ve suffered a heart attack, but they can’t predict a future one - so I keep still thinking “what if”. Given I quit smoking over a year ago, drink on very rare occasions, don’t take any drugs and I am 25, it’s a bit silly - I’m slightly overweight from my last pregnancy but not obese, yet I still see this as a “risk factor” and it sends me into over drive. Xx

It already is - it ruins every single day for me. I’ve tried therapy, medication etc and they haven’t worked as I’m still obsessive over heart attacks. I feel like giving up.

Thank you - perhaps reading it’s high and then worrying about how high it is is making me even worse and then it’s not going down as I’m panicking

Yes exactly this

It’s now showing as 160+

Stop checking it.
I remember your other threads.
Nothing will convince you that your heart is fine and I think you'll go to A and E again and have another ECG.
You need to have therapy about this.

Just gone up to 160 BPM then took another reading a meinute later and it was at 60 BPM… maybe the watch is glitching because surely it hasn’t gone from that down to 60 within a minute

PLEASE STOP CHECKING IT

Seeking reassurance from people on here and hospitals and now a watch is part of the problem. None of it is helping.

There is nothing physically wrong with you. You are fine. Every time a thought comes, you have to tell yourself that this is ONLY your anxiety talking. You are well physically.

You need more CBT. Meditation is also good.

Youtube is your friend. You can quickly learn how to take your pulse following examples there.

Which smart watch are you using, OP?

I'm not an anxiety expert but... my vague understanding is that each heart check you get is going to make your actual illness (the anxiety) worse.

OP I'm not sure how you're 'taking a reading' by putting a smart watch on for a few seconds? That's really not how they're designed to work.

Mine can show all kinds of random rates when I first put it on or just at various points in the day - 85 when I looked just now, just sat here on the couch. My usual RHR is around 70.

I only ever look at the average (and even then every other week or so) having worn it all day every day. Please put the watch down and continue to insist on more help with your anxiety x

I was confused because I put it on and tried it after 10 minutes of sitting here and it was at 160 BPM. I tried again 1 minute later and it was reading as 60 BPM - not sure how that works . Xx

Try a pulse oximeter instead of relying on your watch. It is the little thing they put on your index finger when in hospital to keep an eye on oxygen levels and heart rate. It is generally accurate, and take the FKN (sorry for shouting) Apple watch off right now as it will drive you crazy.

I have atrial fibrillation and my heart rate can go anything between 38 to 175 over a few hours. I am medicated with bisoprolol and just get on with it. If I feel I'm out of rhythm I'll stick on the pulse ox for a while to get a feel for what's going on. Last week I was out walking and HR went up to 178, then down to 56 and jumped all over the place for about an hour or so. I was advised that as long as I could walk and talk, wasn't dizzy, didn't have chest pain and wasn't breathless that I would be ok, but if the fast rate continued for more than three hours to get to A+E for IV drugs and/or a cardioversion - the electric shock paddles. So far so good though.

It seems that you are very anxious and that is not helping. I don't know why they took you off the beta blockers as they do help your situation on a need to take basis. A 24 hour or longer holter monitor could help identify your problem as it might pick up a tricky rhythm or tachycardia (fast rate), then they can do more investigations. But it looks like the tests you have had so far are negative. They are not worried and you shouldn't be either, but maybe ask for the holter monitor anyway.

My issue was found accidentally when I was in hospital for something else. I never knew!