I am so tired of the racing heart.

[Flintstone87224]

I am a 39 year old mother of two teenagers.  I have a very fast heart rate and have had for years.  I have had all the tests and blood work ups, heart monitor etc but everything says that nothing is wrong with my heart.  This is great but I still have the racing heart and it has become somewhat intolerable.  It happens on an hourly basis and has gone up to as high 198 simply while I was folding clothes.  It is so disheartening to have to plan daily activities around this, people think I am crazy.  Also, lately I have experienced shortness of breath as well.  I have gotten to the point that I am tired ALL the time and I just want to feel better but everything I do sends my heart racing.  I was told in 2005 by my cardiologists nurse that it wasn't that serious and that I shouldn't even be seeing a cardiologist.  This really upset me because, even though it may not be serious, it is still frustrating and life altering.  I really don't know which way to turn at this point, if I go back to the cardiologist, I will be told just to ignore and go on but how can I when I can't even fold clothes without having it race, get dizzy and have the burning sensation in my chest.  Please give me some answers.  I had a hysterectomy in 2000 but other than nothing to speak of.  My family has a history of cancer on both sides, five out of seven of my dad's siblings have cancer and my mom's sister's daughters all have cancer.  My maternal grandfather had CHF, my maternal grandmother died of a perforated colon, my paternal grandparents both died of effects of severe CVA.  Other than the heart racing, I am otherwise healthy except that I have recently been told that I am in early menopause but the heart palpitations have been going on for years.  
What should I do?

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

See a younger cardiac electrophysiologist.  It sounds like you have inappropriate sinus tachycardia but this would require an evaluation to make sure there isn't another cause.  Inappropriate sinus tachycardia means that your heart rate is faster than normal and increases inappropriately fast for minimal exertion.  

It is a difficult problem to treat and is probably caused by an imbalance in  your autonomic nervous system -- the part that usually tells your heart to slow down is no longer providing the signal to slow down.  There is no easy fix.  Calcium channel blockers and / or beta blockers are often tried.  In rare circumstances, ablation procedures called "sinus node modifications" can be tried to decrease heart rates.  The success rate is no only about 60-70% and there are significant risks associated with the procedure including pacemakers and paralysis of the breathing muscle on the right side of your chest.  This is only done for very symptomatic people that do not respond to medications.

If you live near a good teaching hospital, that might be a good place to start.  Make sure you see an electrophysiologist.

I hope this helps.

[SadieSunflower]

Hi,

You might also want to be screened for Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome or POTS along with other autonomic disorders. I have this, and your symptoms are very similar to mine. My heart does not go nearly as fast as yours but I have heard of others with POTS who have hearts that can go over 200bpm. It is not a well understood disorder and most doctors do not think to check for it. It is very important to get a proper diagnosis because POTS and dysautonomia cannot be successfully treated with ablation or pacemakers. I encourage you to do some research on it and find a knowledgeable doctor.

[worried784]

Hi, thanks for answering my 150bpm post.  I was thinking about you and I hope you found a good doctor. Come back to let us know.  I have been taking a medication to lower my heart rate, but it is not really working.  My heart rate was 140 while I was just sitting down.
Good luck to you and to everyone that has this problem.

[eyelash45]

I too have these episodes.  Have had them since my 20's.
I'm now 45, but diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago and on something called Arimidex.  Since then my episodes are more frequent and last up to an hour.  Im seeing a cariologist but he keeps giving me the loop monitor which is to no availe as nothing happens during that time. I asked him to set me up for a stress test.  My heart scan was fine. EKG is fine ,, blood pressure fine.  I litterally have to lay down beside my desk at work if I have an episode.  I hate living like this. My heart pounds so fast and hard it can make my car rock side ways if I'm laying in the reclined position in a parking lot. How can doctors say this is normal.  Mine says  he wouldn't be too concerned. lol

Back to his office tomorrow for the monitor again.  Hope it records something before I die.

Lynn

[jkfrench]

I have that same problem.  It started in my 20's and I am now in my 40's.  Sometimes my heart would beat normal and for no reason like you said just folding clothes or doing dishes would  bump it up to 160 or higher.  This made me really tired.  I started taking tenormin (only1/4 of a 25mg pill) and it slowed my heart down just enough to keep that from happenning.  I feel it is a godsend.  Sometimes I will have a breakthrough episode and if that happens, I just take another 1/4 of the tenormina and within 5 or 10 minutes it has slowed it back down to 70 or 80.  Good luck at your doctors.  
Frenchie

[Flintstone87224]

Thank you so much for the answers, I have an appointment with a younger Cardiologist in two weeks, I am actually excited that I may have some answers.  Thank you so much and I will let you know what I find out.