Fast HR upon standing

hilery79 · 02-21-2004, 05:06 PM

Hi,
I have posted in the past about my problems with a fast heart rate and chest pressure. My resting HR is now down in the upper 80's/lower 90's at rest(taking toprol), but as soon as I stand up it jumps to 120-140bmp and stays that way until I sit down and rest. It goes up to 160 after only 5-10 minutes of exercise. I have had many tests including:ekg's, worn a 24 hr holter, and an echo-all normal.
My Dr. hasn't been able to find a reason why my hr goes up with minimal exertion, but he thinks part of it is due to anxiety. Both my GP and a cardiologist have told me my heart is fine and it's nothing to worry about. I thought I may have POTS, but my bp doesn't drop when I stand(it actually goes up).

My question is: Over time, is it possible that this increase in hr with activity will cause problems?
Thanks in advance for any replys.
hilery

Machaon · 02-21-2004, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hilery79

Hi,
I have posted in the past about my problems with a fast heart rate and chest pressure. My resting HR is now down in the upper 80's/lower 90's at rest(taking toprol), but as soon as I stand up it jumps to 120-140bmp and stays that way until I sit down and rest. It goes up to 160 after only 5-10 minutes of exercise. I have had many tests including:ekg's, worn a 24 hr holter, and an echo-all normal.
My Dr. hasn't been able to find a reason why my hr goes up with minimal exertion, but he thinks part of it is due to anxiety. Both my GP and a cardiologist have told me my heart is fine and it's nothing to worry about. I thought I may have POTS, but my bp doesn't drop when I stand(it actually goes up).

My question is: Over time, is it possible that this increase in hr with activity will cause problems?
Thanks in advance for any replys.
hilery

Your doctor feels that you get anxiety every time that you stand up? Does he think that you are afraid of heights? Just how tall are you!?

If a heart expert is not able to shed any light on someone with such obvious symptoms as you have, I think that you would have less anxiety if you had a better doctor.

Toprol can cause certain side effects, such as lightheadedness, when a patient goes from lying down to an upright position. I would suspect the Toprol.

As far as how safe it is for you heart to be constantly irritated every time you stand up? It can't be good for your heart. Have you considered changing to a different heart med? Are you taking Toprol for hypertension and/or a fast, erratic heartbeat?

hilery79 · 02-21-2004, 11:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beerzoids

Your doctor feels that you get anxiety every time that you stand up? Does he think that you are afraid of heights? Just how tall are you!?

If a heart expert is not able to shed any light on someone with such obvious symptoms as you have, I think that you would have less anxiety if you had a better doctor.

Toprol can cause certain side effects, such as lightheadedness, when a patient goes from lying down to an upright position. I would suspect the Toprol.

As far as how safe it is for you heart to be constantly irritated every time you stand up? It can't be good for your heart. Have you considered changing to a different heart med? Are you taking Toprol for hypertension and/or a fast, erratic heartbeat?

Thanks for the reply.

I take toprol for tachycardia. My bp is usually normal. I saw a supposedly very good cardiologist, as well. He did an ekg, some blood tests, and an echo and said there is absolutly nothing wrong with my heart. I also went to an internist and he basicly said there was nothing wrong with me and agreed with the other Dr.
I am seeing a neuro on tues. for problems with headaches and tingling, so maybe he might be able to help find some answers. I'm wondering if it might be an ANS problem.

I'm starting to get very frusterated because I've had a long list of symptoms since last summer and still have no answers. My husband thinks I need to go somewhere like Mayo's if I still have no answers after the neuro visit. hilery

Soodle · 02-23-2004, 10:52 AM

Hillery - like you I've posted many times before and seem to have very similar problems to you, so I know what you're going through.

My problems started last summer were, having previously been a fit and healthy 25 year old who went to the gym 3-4 times a week - I felt a little ill one night (nothing specific) and noticed a very slow HR - 48.

Went to the docs and was sent for blood test - cholesterol, Thyroid etc - all fine and dandy. When I went back to the gym my HR seemed to speed up far too quickly with relatively little effort, so I stopped (haven't been back since).

Over the next few weeks my heart rate seemed to increase until even standing up or light exercise caused it to race (I was short of breath doing the washing up).

Panicked one night after feeling very tight chested and short of breath - went to A&E - they ran an ecg and listened to my chest - told me it was anxiety.

Went back to A&E (at a different part of the country) after another panick and they did an ecg, blood tests, chest x ray and said that it was non sinister tachacardia, probably caused by anxiety.

Since then I've had an echo and a 24hr ecg - both were fine (my ejection fraction was 65 with no valve leakage and my heart rythm was perfectly normal).

I've tried beta blockers which worked a treat but my doc has decided he doesn't want to prescribe anything (it's just anxiety he says).

My symptoms are:

Racing heart when I stand or do any exercise
Tightness in chest and throat
Shortness of breath
Head pressure/slight light-headedness (I've never felt like I was going to collapse or anything, just a little foggy upstairs).

My tests are:

echo - completely normal, ejection fraction 65.
3 resting ecg's and a 24hr ecg - normal synus rythm.
chest x ray - normal
blood tests including cholesterol, thyroid, kidney function etc - all normal.
Blood pressure - normal the last six or seven visits to the doc's.

I guess like you I find it hard to just accept that all this is anxiety (cos it feels really serious) but I guess that's half the problem - you don't believe what the doc's say.
Also, you try to look for serious ilnesses it could be (at first I was convinced it was a valve problem, then after my echo I realises it wasn't and started worrying about angina - even though I'm 26 with normal blood cholesterol, a non smoker with a healthy diet and normal blood-pressure).
I suppose the mind can be very powerful.

Does any of this sound familiar?

CheerAngel · 02-23-2004, 12:30 PM

Hey Soodle, those parts where your doctors say this is fine, that is fine and normal even though u have symptoms is familiar to me. When I was young, I was being checked for heart problems due to a genetic syndrome, however they found nothing and said everything's fine. Now that I'm older, I am told that I have a murmur and tachycardia, and the previous cardiologists I saw never told me about it!

hmmmm. I am going to see my doc soon and not sure if they have found anything.

To all those out there who has a fast heart rate for long term will get some answers!

~My heart pounds very hard n fast when i stand up too along with a heavy head, painful eyes and temporary blindness in the eyes. anyone gets that?~