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High heart rate

I've posted a couple times about trying to recondition myself.  I'm still concerned about how poorly conditioned I seem to be, compared to my friends that I talk to.

On an elliptical trainer, I can go for about 8 minutes at low speed.  My pulse slowly goes up to about 135 by then, which seems very high.  I also sometimes go for a 20 minute walk.  I feel again like I am doing more work than I should have to.  Today, my pulse was 135 after coming back from a walk at normal speed -- I felt sort of out of breath while walking, but I was also having something of a mild anxiety attack -- it's hard to know which came first.

Possible factors I wonder about:

1. Deconditioned heart and legs, which is normal
2. I am having some generalized anxiety and mild anxiety attacks
3. Actual loss of heart function, some kind of slowly progessing myopathy

What should my doctor and I do?  Can a test rule out #3, and then perhaps I can just calm down and get to work?
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Avatar universal
I had a stress echo cardiogram a year ago, and that was OK.  I believe the incident the other day, where my heart rate was 135 after a 20 minute walk, was mainly due to anxiety.

Today I went for a 20 minute walk, and my heart rate was 100 shortly after getting back.  So 100 vs. 135 bpm is what anxiety can do!
Helpful - 0
469720 tn?1388146349
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Hello
Its very difficult to determine if you have some underlying physiologically signficant cardiac abnormality vs deconditioning from a sedentary lifestyle just from a short email. I would have a thorough physical and examination by your PCP. Perhaps they will determine that a cardiac perfusion stress test or cardiac echo is warranted to rule out silent underlying cardiac abnormality.  Good luck
Helpful - 0

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