Heart arrythmia

[Deb0626]

I am a healthy 29 year old female.. health weight of 130, BMI of 23.  I recently purchased a stethescope to monitor my infant son who was born pre-mature.  I used it on myself and noticed that when I inhale deeply, my heart beat speeds up and when I exhale, it slows down.  If I breathe normal, not much change but when I take in a deep breath, my heart pace quickens.  I mentioned this to my Dr. and he listened and said it was "normal" sinus arrhythmia.  He said because I am athletic and healthy, it does that.  However, my husband who is an offficer in the Army and who runs several miles daily does not have this happen when he takes deep breaths.  Is this something I should have checked out or is my Dr. right and there is nothing to be concerned about?  I have no other apparent symptoms.  I am very concerned.
Thanks.

[Darwingirl]

Hi your Dr is correct, it is normal. My heart rate also increases when I inhale and slows when I exhale. I have also been checked by a cardiologist and he also states that this is normal. Check out the doctors answer to a question here

http://www.medhelp.org/forums/cardio/messages/32980.html

[kenkeith]

A deep breath and an increase in heart rate seems to me to be somewhat inconsistant and counter intuitive.  It seems reasonable physiologically a decrease in oxygen (exhale) would increase the heart rate to meet the system's demand for more oxygen, and when inhaling there is now more oxygen available with each heartbeat and fewer heartbeats necessary to meet oxygen demand!?

Also, a well-conditioned person has better respiratory capacity and that would/should have a bearing on heart rate and a factor that would tend to stablize the heart rate between breathing events.?!.

[shell1925]

Without any other apparent symptoms I would agree with Pum and say your doctor is correct.  I know it can be an uneasy feeling to feel your heart beat every now and then but I would confident in saying that it is probably completely normal, unless you experienced other symptoms.

[Pum]

Your doctor is correct. It is normal and healthy.