latham
10-02-2008, 04:53 PM
I am an 20 year old female. i have had problems with my heart for about five years now, and doctors cant seem to diagnose me right to fix the problem... I have just about gave up all hope of ever living my life normally. I have rapid heart rate over 110 in every day normal activity sometimes a lot higher... if i excercise on my bike as fast as i can for less than a minute my heart rate goes into to 200's. I also have alot of problems raising my arms, i tend to pass out or almost pass out for just turning on a ceiling fan or washing or fixing my hair. I used to be able to just set down for a while and everything be okay but i think it is getting worse because when i lay down to go to sleep it almost feels like a weight is on my chest with a little pain and it is hard for me to breath... I also have had problems sleeping the whole time... it normally takes me atleast 2 hours laying down to go to sleep. I also get sick really easy. I am weak all of the time. I have quit going to doctors for about a year and a half now. They daignosed me with different heart diseases and then would change them and just keep increasing my dosage of medications. They had me on 50 mg of topral twice a day, meridian, and fludrocourt. None of this helped me at all, and i actually felt better when i quit taking everything. Please help me if you have these symptoms and you have been correctly diagnosed I am wanting to have a baby soon and i want to be able to live my life normally and have energy to spend with my baby and i dont want complications during the pregnancy
Sponsor
RTstudent29
10-02-2008, 06:29 PM
Well, a heart rate of 110 resting is high but not that high. And exercising at 200 bpm is pretty high and I can see why you are dizzy with that. It sounds like you need to see a cardiologist and maybe either need to try other heart medications like beta blockers (including the toprol you tried, atenolol) or maybe since you didn't tolerate the toprol you could try a calcium channel blocker like diltiazem which may work better for you.
Also the cardiologist might want to do a stress test EKG to record what kind of rhythm you are in at 200 bpm and what your blood pressure does at that rate. Do you ever experience a rapid heart rate above 150 bpm just sitting down doing nothing that happens all of a sudden? If you do, this could be what is called PSVT or (paroxismal supraventricular tachycardia) which basically is an electrical conduction problem in your heart that can be fixed with a procedure called an ablation which I have had done myself. And it worked.
The cardiologist may want to do an EKG Mapping study in which they look at all the electrical pathways in your heart through a procedure much like an angiogram and they can give you medications to speed up your heart if needed. By doing that they can find extra pathways in your heart that could be causing the unexplained tachycardia.
If all this turns out fine I guess another explaination of the high heart rate is something wrong with you thyroid or adrenal gland causing secretion of hormones that increase heart rate. So blood tests showing thyroid function and adrenal function may also rule out those disorders.
I hope that isn't too medical. And makes a little since. I don't think you need to freak out. Before my ablation procedure sometimes my resting heart rate was in the 120's or 130's. So I have been there before. I guess just asking yours doctor about some of these tests might help.
Take care. :)
Also the cardiologist might want to do a stress test EKG to record what kind of rhythm you are in at 200 bpm and what your blood pressure does at that rate. Do you ever experience a rapid heart rate above 150 bpm just sitting down doing nothing that happens all of a sudden? If you do, this could be what is called PSVT or (paroxismal supraventricular tachycardia) which basically is an electrical conduction problem in your heart that can be fixed with a procedure called an ablation which I have had done myself. And it worked.
The cardiologist may want to do an EKG Mapping study in which they look at all the electrical pathways in your heart through a procedure much like an angiogram and they can give you medications to speed up your heart if needed. By doing that they can find extra pathways in your heart that could be causing the unexplained tachycardia.
If all this turns out fine I guess another explaination of the high heart rate is something wrong with you thyroid or adrenal gland causing secretion of hormones that increase heart rate. So blood tests showing thyroid function and adrenal function may also rule out those disorders.
I hope that isn't too medical. And makes a little since. I don't think you need to freak out. Before my ablation procedure sometimes my resting heart rate was in the 120's or 130's. So I have been there before. I guess just asking yours doctor about some of these tests might help.
Take care. :)
aether4
10-02-2008, 11:31 PM
See if you can get a tilt table test.
hopesprings2
10-03-2008, 03:09 PM
many things can cause this
might try another doctor
i feel for you
might try another doctor
i feel for you
tired47
10-03-2008, 05:05 PM
Hello!! I hear your pain! I have many similiar symptoms as you. High resting heart rate, chest pain, can not exercise or heart takes off, become nauseous, dizzy,ect. , developed suddenly.
Have you found an Electrophysicist cardiologist yet??? This is a specialized doctor. I went thru the regular cardiologist and he did all tests available including heart cath- all negative. Was told it was IN MY HEAD, but thank god I was finally refer to the EP cardio. And he found SVT( supraventricular tachycardia).Why dr is not sure??
I am still trying different meds after a year, not feeling great but working to get there.
Also check thyroid ( mine is borderline low) and magnesium/calcium levels. I feel better when I take 400-800 mg of magnesium citrate daily. Good luck to you!
Have you found an Electrophysicist cardiologist yet??? This is a specialized doctor. I went thru the regular cardiologist and he did all tests available including heart cath- all negative. Was told it was IN MY HEAD, but thank god I was finally refer to the EP cardio. And he found SVT( supraventricular tachycardia).Why dr is not sure??
I am still trying different meds after a year, not feeling great but working to get there.
Also check thyroid ( mine is borderline low) and magnesium/calcium levels. I feel better when I take 400-800 mg of magnesium citrate daily. Good luck to you!
livinon1
10-03-2008, 05:49 PM
You definately need to see a cardiologist if you haven't already. What you have sounds eerily familiar to my own heart problems. All of your symptoms match what I have very well. I was just diagnosed with POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome). Ask your doctor for a cardiac table tilt test. This certainly sounds like it. Best of luck!
pjs009
10-09-2008, 12:36 AM
Hey Latham, sorry to hear about your problem. If you are planning to have children in the near future, you should definitely be proactive about this. It sounds like there may be more than one thing contributing. When you say you almost pass out when you reach to the cieling, or even do your hair, it sounds like a problem with postural hypotension. You ever feel faint when you get out of bed, or stand up real quick? Your increased heart rate makes sense in this situation. Your vessels are not constricting when you stand up, so your brain stops getting blood, so your heart rate has to increase to compensate. This would also explain why you can't sleep at night, your nervous system is doing it's best to keep your heart rate up, and vessels constrictied.
When you talk about being sick a lock, and feeling weak it makes me think there may be a dietary issue. If you are iron deficient, you'd be anemic.. and this would cause your heart rate to increase as well. Do you eat red meat?
The other thing is, be very very careful when you stop taking medications like that. If you take toprol for a while, then just stop it, it could be disatorous. If I were you I'd definitely get back to the doctor's office, and figure all this out so you can start poppin out babies!
When you talk about being sick a lock, and feeling weak it makes me think there may be a dietary issue. If you are iron deficient, you'd be anemic.. and this would cause your heart rate to increase as well. Do you eat red meat?
The other thing is, be very very careful when you stop taking medications like that. If you take toprol for a while, then just stop it, it could be disatorous. If I were you I'd definitely get back to the doctor's office, and figure all this out so you can start poppin out babies!
latham
10-09-2008, 01:06 AM
thanks everyone for your help... I have seen a cardiologist actually a couple of them they just kept changing the dianoses. I have had an ekg, tilt test, dtress test, i have had to wear a heart monitor... all kinds of stuff. And i went out during the tilt test they actually had a hard time waking me up because my heart had stopped, and found problems when i was wearing the heart monitor but they still acted like they couldnt figure out what was wrong with me. they thought that i would grow out of it but the last time i went they said that i wouldnt and that i would have it for the rest of my life, but nothing they gave me helped it just made me feel worse, i couldnt even go to school my senior year i was home bound.. so i had just given up. my husband is a marine so we arent living in the same area anymore, i am thinking about seeing a cardiologist here to see if they can help me i just dont want to get my hopes up agian to be misdiagnosed
aether4
10-09-2008, 01:41 AM
You have a positive tilt table test and your heart stopped - and they're still confused?! That's ridiculous.
What you most likely have, making you faint and causing your symptoms, is neurocardiogenic syncope (also called vasovagal syncope and neurally mediated hypotension). This is caused by a wrong signal being sent along the vagas nerve - a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system if your prefer to call it that, technical name is dysautonomia.
That you have the cardioinhibitory response isn't good. Some with this get pacemakers though this is seen as an older treatment for it and is avoided now if possible.
This is why your symptoms sounded so familiar to me and to livinon1 (POTS is another form of dysautonomia and often people have POTS and NCS together).
There is a chance that your heart could be damaged causing cardiogenic syncope but given your age, history, and the fact that NCS is more common in young women - it makes it a safer bet.
You will need to find yourself a good neurologist, cardiologist, or electrophysiologist that understands the autonomic nervous system. Or if you're lucky enough to find one and get accepted as a patient, a dysautonomia specialist.
Search Rare Disorders for "Neurocardiogenic Syncope", the Brain and Nervous System section for "Dysautonomia" "POTS", and an overall search for all in case there's some old threads on here I'm not aware of. Look through the High and Low Blood Pressure section, too. Do more research as well, it will help you find resources you need to get treatment.
Also, it can cause complications with pregnancy for some. Most of the medications, such as beta blockers and florinef (both of which you've tried) are class C drugs - you can't take these while pregnant unless it's absolutely necessary.
As for raising arms, it causes my heart rate and blood pressure to plummet. If I'm standing I get dizzy or faint. To wash my hair I have to lean over the tub. Little things like that you have to make compromises for.
What you most likely have, making you faint and causing your symptoms, is neurocardiogenic syncope (also called vasovagal syncope and neurally mediated hypotension). This is caused by a wrong signal being sent along the vagas nerve - a dysfunctional autonomic nervous system if your prefer to call it that, technical name is dysautonomia.
That you have the cardioinhibitory response isn't good. Some with this get pacemakers though this is seen as an older treatment for it and is avoided now if possible.
This is why your symptoms sounded so familiar to me and to livinon1 (POTS is another form of dysautonomia and often people have POTS and NCS together).
There is a chance that your heart could be damaged causing cardiogenic syncope but given your age, history, and the fact that NCS is more common in young women - it makes it a safer bet.
You will need to find yourself a good neurologist, cardiologist, or electrophysiologist that understands the autonomic nervous system. Or if you're lucky enough to find one and get accepted as a patient, a dysautonomia specialist.
Search Rare Disorders for "Neurocardiogenic Syncope", the Brain and Nervous System section for "Dysautonomia" "POTS", and an overall search for all in case there's some old threads on here I'm not aware of. Look through the High and Low Blood Pressure section, too. Do more research as well, it will help you find resources you need to get treatment.
Also, it can cause complications with pregnancy for some. Most of the medications, such as beta blockers and florinef (both of which you've tried) are class C drugs - you can't take these while pregnant unless it's absolutely necessary.
As for raising arms, it causes my heart rate and blood pressure to plummet. If I'm standing I get dizzy or faint. To wash my hair I have to lean over the tub. Little things like that you have to make compromises for.