Heart Problems

My resting heart rate is about 120. I've been seeing a personal trainer to try to make it stronger but according to her observations my heart has been able to take less and less over the last few months. I get random chest pain, and sometimes it's so bad I have a hard time moving my left arm. It causes strain in my neck and joints, particularly on my left side. I've had my cholesterol checked and it's fine. Same with my thyroid. There is a history of heart problems in my family on my mothers side. My uncle had a heart attack when he was my age and recently underwent a triple bypass. I am seeing a cardiologist but so far they can't find anything wrong. It's getting worse and really starting to affect my life.

[Jerry_NJ]

Thank god you are seeing an cardiologist.  What test have been run?  You condition is potentially serious, and must be fully diagnosed.  

If your HR is 120 at rest that is "something wrong" what's with your cardiologist?  Or is 120 the HR  when running?  There's a big difference as I"m sure you and your personal trainer knows.

Given you symptoms (don't know your age) I think you should undergo a nuclear stress test and an echocardiogram and a monitor if the EKG doesn't show any electrical/rhythm problems.

[heartbeat1609]

I'm 20 years old. My resting heart rate is 120. When I run it spikes pretty quickly and has reached 195 before. I've had the EKG and it hasn't shown anything. I'm having a monitor put on in 2 weeks.

[Jerry_NJ]

Keep a connection to your cardiologist, and I think it good to ask him about some relief from the high HR, maybe a low dose beta blocker.  This will have some affect on the monitor reading, but I consider a resting HR of 120 too high to let it run for weeks without treatment.  

Any affect of a low dose BB will be on the intensity of what the monitor is looking at, I think it unlikely that it will mask any arrhythmia.  I could be wrong on this point, but if so, then have a beta block to start as soon as the monitor comes off.

Your family history also strongly suggests that you have a nuclear stress test, there is no problem doing these things in parallel.  

Being 20 yo is something on your side, but heart failure can happen at any age,