Teens pulse over 140 for extended periods of time.

[Nomdejeur]

I took her to the doctor and they said to get bloods (10 day appointment wait), she says her heart is fluttery and sometimes gives her pain when it’s slows back down. Her pulse peaked today at 205. I’ve measured through the finger gadget and and also manually by keeping count. She’s normal weight, reasonably healthy. 10 days for bloods and having them returned doesn’t seem very urgent (she saw nurse practitioner), should I wait or take her back to the doctor? Push for quicker bloods?

@NorthernGirl1981 ah yes, I’ll maybe ask for her to be monitored over a day then. I know my mum has had that before.

Are these events happening daily?

We have been writing them down, times, rate, what she was doing and how she felt. I hope it’s enough to make the doctor take it seriously.

Yes, several times a day.

That must be so worrisome for her.

I used to get it really frequently too for many, many years, but it would only last about 15 seconds so by the time I started to worry about it, it was over.

I knew I should have gone to the GP about it but as the episodes were infrequent (maybe once every couple of weeks) and so short lived, I didn’t really take it seriously.

And then one night, BAM, out of nowhere my heart rate was pulsating out of my neck at a speed I’d never known before and it terrified me. It felt like my heart was going to explode and panic really set in. After about 15 minutes it had gotten no better and so that’s when I went to A&E where all the doctors just jumped on me.

I really hope you get it sorted and like we’ve all said, completely bypass the GP and take her to A&E next time it happens.

If it happens again, you need to go straight to A&E. A heart rate that high is considered a medical emergency and monitoring at home is not enough. If/when it happens again, she needs to be seen urgently.

It is not a medical emergency. Read the link I posted which tells you when you should go to A and E.

To be fair, OP has said that her daughter suffers pain in her chest.

When I had both my A&E attendances I didn’t have chest pain or feel faint, but it was still a medical emergency! They absolutely pounced on me when they saw
my heart rate was (180) in triage and they immediately transferred me straight through to Resus for emergency treatment.

the link you posted assumes that you know what the rhythm/problem is. At the moment the OP doesn't know what the rhythm is and so it does need treating seriously to get that diagnosis at least.

Which is why the OP is going to go back to the GP.

I developed SVT when I was about 14 or 15. For years I was told it was panic attacks. I always knew it wasn’t as it could happen at any time, including in my sleep. My heart rate could be as high as 180 ish beats per minute and stay there for a couple of hours. It was exhausting. I could sometimes stop it by holding my breath and sort of blowing out, without letting the air out, if you see what I mean.

Finally, when I was 28 I astonishingly managed to have an attack while in my first appointment with the consultant cardiologist!

6 months later I had radio wave ablation which cured it completely.

It's likely either ist or pots she needs a 24hr ecg which the gp can do. Try not to worry is unlikely to be anything dangerous

Low iron levels can cause palpitations. I've had all the symptoms described when my ferritin levels had bottomed out. Is she having heavy periods? Does she eat many sources of iron? Might not hurt to get her some iron supplements whilst you wait for blood results to come back...

I could sometimes stop it by holding my breath and sort of blowing out, without letting the air out, if you see what I mean.

That’s the Valsalva manoeuvre.

Has anyone mentioned Postural tachycardia Syndrome or POTS to you OP? Sounds like it’s worth considering- also it’s more prevalent for those who are neurodivergent.
its not a condition that drs tend to know much about but there are a few experts in the field eg Dr Gall at Kings college hospital in London.
Good luck x

My eldest daughter had svt and symptoms very much like your daughters. It started when shebwas about 8 or 9. Her heart rate would spike to 200+, usually, it would revert quickly. A couple of times she has fainted from it.

We used to make her hold her breathe and it did help her heart to go back into normal rhythm. It was difficult to try and catch the svt episode with an ecg, so we bought a Kardio monitor. I think we paid about £70 for ours. We then had clear recordings of the svt's for the cardiologist. It's a small gadget that can attach to the back of her phone.

In the end she had an ablation done ages 9 which initially stopped it, but then it starting reoccurring so the ablation was repeated last year (age 16) and it seems to have done the trick.

It's not life threatening but if it doesn't resolve itself after 10 mins, you need to start making your way to A&E

You did the valsalva manoeuvre. It overrides vagal nerve stimulation.

@PickAChew thank you! I didn’t know what it was called. The OP can look it up now and see if it works for her dd. 😀

I’m a cardiac physiologist, a heart rate of 205bpm at rest is absolutely a medical emergency, SVT or not, next time it’s near that high go to A&E. She needs an ECG and a referral to cardiology for investigations.

I’m shocked to see some of the PPs being so blasé about it.

Hi OP, We have this issue with my 19yr DD. Racing heart at random times, sometimes would wake up with it, Apple watch is quite an accurate reading so it turns out. Long story middle length, first doctor did a 15 minute monitor, showed nothing, sent her home as normal. She moved away to Uni and went to register with new doc who was alarmed at her heart rate. They gave her a finger reader for a week, that you periodically use throughout the day, so better idea but not thorough. We have private health care so just got referred. They have tested everything and the cardiologists suspicions on first visit were confirmed. It's a form of Long Covid that is affects the lining of the heart causing some swelling. This affects the pacemaker, causing it to be irregular. Essentially nothing wrong with the heart itself (thankfully) He said he is seeing a lot of this in young people but the NHS can't afford to treat it. It's not a serious condition but an uncomfortable on for the patient. Feels like a panic attack, short of breath, and exhausting. He said it would eventually get better on it's own, but they couldn't say how long that would take. She has been prescribed Ivabradine to lower the heart rate and hopefully reset/regulate the pacemaker. She is responding well and feeling better and initial scans are showing that the swelling is reduced so we are hoping she will only need this medication for 6 month or so. I hope this is helpful. TBH I don't think you will have peace of mind until you have spoken to s specialist, you may need to push for that, as even the second doctor in our case talked about dietary changes/ less caffeine etc and would have sent her home with no treatment. Good luck x

Thanks everyone, it hasn’t been back up to 200 today thankfully but she has been around 150 a few times. I’m going to phone the surgery in the morning and Insist she sees a doctor. She has written all her readings down so we will take them.

Hi everyone, so her first lot of bloods came back “no further action”, I then insisted we see a doctor and we saw a new one who was fantastic. He said although her bloods were normal, he’d send her for more in depth ones and start her on iron tablets (just in case). Her second lot of bloods came back today and she has Glandular fever! Apparently racing heart is a lesser known symptom. It’s dragged on for ages but at least we have an answer.

Glad you've got to the bottom of it. It's not great but so much better than some of the alternatives.