Increase in pulse rate during heart attack

During a heart attack is it always that the resting pulse rate will increase?

[ed34]

The only way to determine it really is by the timing. I don't think an angiogram would give you a true answer either, it could be down to small vessels or a tiny blockage not considered a problem.
When I used to start walking, everything was fine on a flat. Then hitting an incline of even 1 degree would cause discomfort in my throat. If I continued through that, chest pains would start. If I stopped walking at the throat discomfort stage, then the discomfort would go away in about 10-15 seconds. Yes it was that fast. If I let it get to my chest and then stop, it would take about 30-40 seconds. I was told by my cardiologist that if a discomfort stops in  about 2 mins or less, then it's very likely to be a cardiovascular problem. In all the blockages I've had, I have never had a situation where I get discomfort walking and it goes away without me stopping. The discomforts always remained unless I allowed my heart to work less by standing still. However, I have had situations where I started to walk, got discomforts, stopped for a minute, started walking and the discomforts didn't return for the rest of the walk. Other times I would be stopping and starting all the time.

[erijon]

No, not always. Much depends on the mechanism causing the heart attack and where in the heart the blockage is. In most but not all cases the heart rate will increase as the heart tries to compensate to the need of additional oxygen to the body due to it's inability to beat as hard as it should. It tries to make up for the lack of efficiency with a higher heart rate. Having said that, it is not the rule, in some cases heart rate will drop. It all depends on how the heart reacts to the damage and where the damage is being done.

I know it's not much help,

Jon

[nspower]

Thanks for the response.
Some time back I read on this forum that it is not necessary that bp increases at the time of ischemic heart attack.
Now, if you say that sometimes even the pulse may not get effected (increase).
Than the question is, whether there can be a situation where neither pulse nor bp increases at the time of heart attack? Or may be this can happen only in cases if the heart attack is very minor? The major ones will certainly have some impact on pulse/bp??

Will the system not try to compensate for lack of oxygen by increasing either the bp or pulse?

[remar]

Jon gave you great advice, he always does. A few weeks before my heart attack my pulse went down at times. I had been having some problems with a little high BP at times also. Not very often and not much over normal. I ended up getting one stent.
So, like Jon said, it all depends on where the problem is in the heart and how the heart is reacting.
Are you having problems with fast or low heart rate?

[nspower]

Thanks for your feedback.

I get angina pain during usual slow walks but not during other exercises. My pulse increase and cooling down is similar in both cases. So not sure if my pain is heart related.

I was trying to figure out if my pulse rate/bp shoud behave differently at the time of angina if it is really heart related.

[ed34]

My pulse increased with my first attack only when I was told it was an attack. I think the fear has a lot to do with the rise in bp or rate or both. When I had my last attack, I recognised the symptoms and forced myself to relax and stay calm, breathing deep and slow. My pulse stayed normal.

[nspower]

I thank you all for taking time for responding and sharing feedback.
Let me try to put my question in different way because I am still confused.

Is there any way I can ascertain that my pain which starts and ends during my walk time is heart related. Sort of self check. Without going for an angiogram?

[ed34]

The only way to determine it really is by the timing. I don't think an angiogram would give you a true answer either, it could be down to small vessels or a tiny blockage not considered a problem.
When I used to start walking, everything was fine on a flat. Then hitting an incline of even 1 degree would cause discomfort in my throat. If I continued through that, chest pains would start. If I stopped walking at the throat discomfort stage, then the discomfort would go away in about 10-15 seconds. Yes it was that fast. If I let it get to my chest and then stop, it would take about 30-40 seconds. I was told by my cardiologist that if a discomfort stops in  about 2 mins or less, then it's very likely to be a cardiovascular problem. In all the blockages I've had, I have never had a situation where I get discomfort walking and it goes away without me stopping. The discomforts always remained unless I allowed my heart to work less by standing still. However, I have had situations where I started to walk, got discomforts, stopped for a minute, started walking and the discomforts didn't return for the rest of the walk. Other times I would be stopping and starting all the time.

[ed34]

I think I see where you are coming from now. Maybe I'm a bit of an odd ball, but during my first cardiac rehab session my LAD was still blocked and I did have problems with exertion. BP and Pulse did seem to play a part. From what I can remember, my heart was fine up to 120bpm, but above this, the heart would try to pump harder rather than faster, and it was restricted with beta blockers. If I reached 120 and pushed harder, my pulse wouldn't increase, but I could feel my heart pounding harder in my chest. I would then go very pale and feel really dizzy. Several times the nurse sat me down and took my BP which had dropped very low. After about 10 minutes rest, it rose again. I never had an instance where my BP went UP, it always seemed to drop. During my last MI, I managed to keep my pulse down by relaxing, but again, I was very pale and my BP was low.

[nspower]

Looks like this time you much closer to understanding my problem. Thanks you for taking interest and for providing valuable feedback.

It could be, like you stated, some smaller vessels causing this trouble.

But I have noted that my pain during walking is effected by my bp at the time of start. My BP fluctuates between 100 and 110 depending on timing of medication and walk. I have noted that with higher BP, sometimes I do not get this pain in neck when I start walking. Ocassions (more often) wnen the bp is low (near 100) this pain appears.

May be my low ef (30-35%) combined with low bp falls short of supplying enough blood to some part of heart to meet sudden oxygen demand of heart muscles as I start walking. After some time, as I continue to walk, the bp gradually increases and reaches a level when blood flow to heart is able to meet the demand of oxygen causing the pain to disappear.