Hello! I am a 17-year-old female. I weight 157 and am about 5'7. I'm writing today because, while I am able to do weight lifting and use cross-trainers/bikes, jogging is terribly difficult for me. I can run for a few minutes with almost no problems, but after 2-4 minutes my heart rate picks up. Whenever I check it (by counting the number of beats in 10 seconds), it is over 180 bpm.
I had various cardiac tests performed, but my heart is apparently completely healthy. All they found was a barely there sinus arrhythmia, which is pretty common in young adults. During the stress test, my blood pressure started at 100/60 (it might have been 100/70, I'm unsure of the diastolic number), and rose to 140/80, with my heart rate peaking at 197 bpm.
I tried ignoring the issue at first, but the jogging we were forced to do at the start of tennis practice was hard on me. It wasn't particularly unreasonable exercise, but it was difficult for me. I tried pushing through it, and even got an inhaler prescribed, thinking that maybe it would help (i had childhood asthma). The albuterol in the inhaler only made my heart race more, and after pushing myself for a few weeks, I started feeling exhausted all the time. I had something like a panic attack one day after a difficult practice. I was so exhausted I barely had energy to shut the trunk after putting my tennis racket away. I sat in my car, thinking that i would go home, eat, and take a nap, when suddenly I started crying, my heart was racing, and most of my arms and my entire arms become numb and tingling almost immediately. I called my grandparents to drive me home (I had assumed the numbness was from lack of oxygen). I don't remember being particularly scared or anxious at the time. I told my doctor this, but she chalked it up to anxiety and gave me pills (though I told her I don't typically experience anxiety symptoms). They have had no effect whatsoever, negative or positive. After this incident, I felt exhausted at all times. I got out of breath walking up stairs, I couldn't exercise at all, and I couldn't even skip when I walked. This is when I got my heart tested (and pulmonary function). I had to wait 2 weeks to get the tests done, and by then I was getting slightly better; stairs weren't as much of an issue. By 3-4 weeks I felt fine, and went back to playing tennis. Luckily, games had started, and we didn't have to jog anymore.
I would just stop running, but I want to play tennis, and tennis season is coming up again. Also, I take hip hop dance classes. I became dizzy during my last class, and I'm worried my heart rate will be a problem.
Any ideas?