Unexplained onset of high heart rate/ increased blood pressure

Recently had stress test with cardiolite. No blockage, but my heart rate shot up to the 90% after only appx 20 strides on the incline at the first speed. Stopped..rate came back down quickly. My original complaint was weekness in muscles and hard breathing after any limited walking up hill or steps.  This is a fairly sudden issue along with increased blood pressure for the first time. normal 120..now 149/86..59yr female. What should I explore as causes.

[kenkeith]

There is a possibility that you have heart, respiratory as weel as low oxygen count (blood disorder such as anemia,or thyroid, etc.). Any of these condtion can reduce the oxygen count to heart cells and your system in response increases inspiration. Can be the thyroid gland, hormones, etc.  Muscle fatigue would also be a symptom. Or there may be an issue with physical fitness.

Your doctor may have ruled out anything serious, so it may just be a lack of physical fitness.  Thanks for sharing, and if you have any further questions or comments you are welcome to respond.  Take care.

[cindy707]

The max heart rate for an individual would be the number 220....deduct your age from that and that would be your max heart rate...docs actually like you in the 80/85 percent range of that number tho.....if your b/p is running in the 149 range during your normal daytime activity this needs to be addressed by your physician so that they can monitor it and start a treatment plan for you....good luck Nanadebs.......

[kenkeith]

I had the same problem with my test years ago (stopped treadmil test).  I can do 4.4 METs (3.4 mph) for 20 minutes or more, but elevate the incline and still maintain 4.4 METs with a slower pace causes a problem according to the monitor the doctor was viewing,  and I had leg  muscle fatigue and some shortness of breath so the test was terminated after 7 minutes. MET relates to metabolism....It is the metobolic biotransformation with a physiological change of the body's chemical agents to energy.

Although the original discussion does not directly relate to optium aerobic benefit from associated with heart rate the formula described above is not accepted by many of health community, and physical training personnel suggest the following...I don't know if it is necessary to fine tune the above formula, but the heart forum usually has heart related issues questions and may not be of sound physical fitness and there is an optimum benefit or at least the most favorable with the following formula.

I always suggest for heart patients that after age subtracted from 220 deduct another 10%. A different view: "A paper by Londeree and Moeschberger from the University of Missouri-Columbia indicates •MHR = 206.3 - (0.711 × Age). You may want to consult with a professional for optimum benefits if there are medical issues.

If you ever learn why raising the elevation of treadmill track and maintain the same MET causes a physiological difference, I would be interested:).  I speculate that specific leg muscles associated with walking does not adjust and more strain to a different group of muscle cells fibers for instance fast twitch muscles of the leg can be trained for sprinting and slow twitch for endurance, etc...does raising the elevation affect one group more than the other muscle fibers!?

Take care.

Take care.