high pulse rate

hi docter do you think you can help.i am a 65years old.a woman.my problem i want to know is my heart rate at rest is always96.and i am worried about it.my blood pressure is normal.i have had an echo sound came back normal.i have had a 24hour tape on me and that was normal.why do you think it is always high,plus i get breathless.is there anything i can do to get it down.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

Hello,
Some people have faster resting heart rates than others.  In the office I would typically order an echocardiogram, EKG, thyroid tests, and maybe a stress test depending on symptoms. If you had shortness of breath, I would probably do stress test.  If they all came back normal and you had no other symptoms, I would tell you that you just have a faster resting heart rate than what is considered "normal."'  This could be because of the the way your autonomic nervous system regulates your heart rate, but there is not a test to determine the cause other than what I mentioned above.

You should be able to decrease your heart rate with a beta blocker or calcium channel blocker. There is not a proven benefit to decreasing  your heart rate, so the only important factor is whether it makes you feel better to have a slower heart rate.

I hope this helps.  Thanks for posting.

[snowflakes959]

thankyou for the reply.i did have echocardiogram and that came back normal.its just that i never used to have a high pulse rate.

[Michael J. McWilliams, M.D.]

I see that sometimes in clinic.  I am usually at a lose for this happens.