Tachycardia/ Forced Beats-- Meals

Hello,

I am a 26 year old male.. good diet (sometimes).. I run/ brisk walk each day around 2~3 miles with no problems.. Heart rate increases normally and goes back to resting values (50~60) fairly quickly.

However I do have some problems and my questions to you doctor are the following:

1. I noticed that each time after meals, my heart rate will increase from 50 (normal) to around 80 and will stay around that number for a couple of hours or till I go to the bathroom. It also sometimes feels “hard” and I can feel it in my chest. Is that normal?

2. I do sometimes experience skipped beats/PVC/PAC after running or after meals when I experience the mild tachycardia. Should I be concerned about the skipped beats after exercise as I heard this might be a problem?

My last checkup was two years ago where I did blood tests (normal, no diabetes, normal thyroid) and also did stress test with echo and holter monitor for skipped beats (which showed nothing unusual only some PVC’s and PAC’s and longest pause of 1.2 second I think).

Should I do another check up due to that increase heart rate after meals? Is it a sign I’m becoming diabetic?

Does the fact the heart rate goes back to normal after going to the bathroom, tell you it might be SVT since it "breaks" (yeah i read that forum a lot :) )

Is the two year old Echo for my heart still valid or should I do another one? (EF was 70%)

Thanks a lot…
John

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

1. it is normal for your heart rate to increase after meals.  your GI tract has increased metabolic demands and your heart is adjusting for this.

2. skipped beats from the upper chamber are not a problem.  it is true that premature beats from the lower chamber (PVCs) in the recovery phase are associated with increased cardiac events.  you cannot tell if the premature beats are upper chamber or lower chamber unless you are connected to a monitor of some sort.

If this is your only symptoms, you do not need additional tests based on this.  there is no evidence to suggest it has anything to do with diabetes.

SVTs are usually much faster -- greater than 110, usually greater than 140 beats per minute.  The only what to know is with a  monitor.

if there is no change in symptoms, a new echo is not helpful.  If your only symptoms is increased heart rate after meals, I would recommend not checking your heart rate after meals  ( just kidding).  that does not sound like a sign or symptom of anything wrong.

I hope this helps.