Jump In Heart Rate In Shower??

Does anybody else's heart rate increase when they take a hot shower?  My heart rate will be like 65 bpm then I get into the shower and it goes up to like 130 or 140??  Is this normal??

[Jerry_NJ]

How hot is the shower?

I'd guess, and that's all it is, that any sudden change in temperature, up or down, can accelerate the HR, no idea by how much.

I'd guess my shower water is no more than 90 degrees, but "who knows"?  I've never measure the water temperature or my HR in the shower...there must have been something to bring it to your attention, i.e., fast and heavy.  I think I am pretty much unaware of my HR, even if over 120.

[nervouslady]

heat aggrivates my arrhtyhmia.  Hot, humid weather is the worst - and I'm guessing that a long, hot shower makes for a hot, humid bathroom.   I'll also notice that hot tubs/spas do the same if I'm in there too long and get too warm.

[Wisconsin2007]

I'm usually too busy in the shower to even notice my heart rate.  Are you wearing a sports heart monitor or something when you climb into the shower?  Or are you just taking your pulse in there?

I guess I wouldn't be surprised if it got up over 100, because I usually don't take a lot of time in the shower.  Scrub up fast, rinse off fast, dry off fast and get on about the day.  A mini-aerobic exercise.  I do notice that when on the treadmill, any increase in speed or incline results in an immediate increase in heart rate (proportionate to the change in intensity), followed by the heart rate dropping back down to just slightly higher than it was before the increase.

Depending on when you took your pulse, it might have been your heart's similar adjustment to an increase in activity.

Oh, and one more thing - if you were wearing a sports heart monitor, I'll offer this - sometimes I'll take off my sports heart monitor (like a Polar) and set it and the watch on a table in the workout area.  I'll walk around as I cool down and stretch out, and sometimes notice a HR of around 110...that is, on a HR monitor that isn't connected to anything!  So you could be experiencing reverberations in the shower that almost match the signals put out by your heart and giving you a false reading.

My $.02, anyway.

[RT273]

Shorter answer than the rest: yep, perfectly normal. HR increases a good bit during a hot shower, like 20-40 bpm, and especially in cold weather you can get a big reaction to changing temperatures. Particularly if the water was steaming up the room.

[jondsam]

Thank You all for your answers.  Since I have heart palps I am constantly checking my pulse even when I am in the shower. I guess its anxiety or something. It sounds like that this is normal so I feel a lot better now!  Thank you  :o)

[chattychicky]

I have had this too! but I have no idea why...
Chattychicky

[matt_s]

my rate will often jump when my wife joins me, but that is a story for a different forum :)

[Zachs]

Dec 15, 2008 04:19PM
by Zachs
To: beaurline

Sometimes when I get up in the morning my heart will race as well, especially when I hop in the hot shower.  I've had many panic attacks there.  I have found that the steam from the shower takes my breath away which caused me to think that I was gasping for breath with a rapid heart rate. Scares me sometimes, but I've gotten much better with it over the months.  It doesn't happen all the time either.  If I have a hangover for sure its an instant panic in the morning because my heart is working a lot harder which I can feel.  I guess I"m just hypersensitive to my bodily functions and I wish I could just turn them off,  turn of the sensations that is. :)

Just quoting a post of mine back in December.  I have this sometimes too.  It was quite frequent though when I was experiencing a lot of anxiety.   Zach