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Does This Sound Normal - Opinions Please

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Heart & Cardiovascular Disease
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Posted 3/17/2007 6:33 PM (GMT 0)
At the advice of my family physician, I have been wearing my Polar Heart Rate monitor for 2 days so far, and everything has been normal. After I woke up this morning and hit the summary, it said that my average heart rate was 82 and my maximum heart rate was 221.

Does that sound like a malfunction? I have never heard of my heart rate being that fast, wouldn't that have woke me up if it was in my sleep?

221 just sounds dangerous to me, and you guys know a lot more than I do, so I wanted to get your opinions. Thanks so much!
Posted 3/17/2007 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
WOW-I'm really surprised that your doctor told you to do that. Those Polar Heart Rate Monitors are suppose for be an exercise-fitness tool. They are not that accurate and things can interfer with there functioning. ????? I would not put too much stock in that thing as a diagnostic or medical monitoring tool. If your doctor is concerned about something, he needs to get you a holter or monitor to wear for a time. If he is relieing on the Polar Hear Rate Monitor to give him reliable information, I think I would get a new doctor. Sorry-just my opinion. Also I think he is trying to make you obsessive about your heart rate. I wouldn't pay any attention to it at all!!

Posted 3/18/2007 1:35 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Hopes,

I was skeptical, too, but since I told her that my heart beats rapidly and now theres this new constant pounding, she said "go buy a monitor and you can see what your heart rate is all the time, anything over 100 bmp at rest is considered abnormal", so I went and got one. I figured 221 was REALLY high and more than likely some kind of glitch, but I'm so scared with this constant pounding, I am willing to try anything.
Posted 3/18/2007 3:32 AM (GMT 0)
Bella,

I also wouldn't take too much stock in that device.  Like Hope said, those things are used during exercise and are not all that accurate.  If I were you, I'd do anything to get away from any device that made someone (especially someone who is anxious about their heart!) any more aware of their heartbeat! 


Did you ever ask about the increased dosage of Toprol?  If you are still symptomatic and it's bothering you, I'd say the risk of any side effects is probably negligible compared to the stress an irregular rhythm might cause!

Posted 3/18/2007 2:30 PM (GMT 0)
Dear Bella,  I don't want to sound mean but that doctor's advice was ludicous in my opinion. If she is concerned about something, she needs to have you wear a 24hr monitor or a longer holter. Otherwise she does not need to worry you like that and to actually tell you to go out and BUY one when you did not even have it. I thought maybe you were wearing one at an appointment or asked her if you could buy one. In any event, she should have been the one to tell you that they are not accurate and are not used to obtain medical information. I am sorry but she sounds like a QUACK and quite frankly it makes me mad that a certified medical doctor would take someone who is already heart-aware and anxious about their heart and send them out to buy a device like that which is bound to have readings all over the place and tell them to place some kind of stock in it! Please do not wear that thing any more for this purpose. It is for exercise-fitness. If you want to wear it during workouts to keep you in your fitness zone, good for you but please not as a heart monitoring device all day and night!

 

about the pounding-usually it is about being overly heart aware. I have experience it before when I was really being hyper-sensitve about my heart. I would especially feel it at night to the point I would begin to freak out. I figured out what I was doing and would actively and consciously distract myself to stop noticing it. It still happens to me on occasion but not as often. I do have to really work on focusing on something else though when I get that way because I can still throw myself into a panic if I allow it.

 

May I suggest that the next time it really starts to get to you just go to the ER tell them that it seems like your heart is pounding really hard and you feel that something is wrong. They can take your blood pressure, pulse and hook you up to an EKG and tell you right away if it is working too hard. If everything is OK, you know that when you feel that sensation it is your anxiety and not your heart and you can learn to talk yourself down form an anxious state. You do not need medication for this if you don't want any. However if they find out that it is from some condition like maybe high blood pressure or your heart working too hard, you can get on the neccessary medication. You'll be doing your physical and mental health good in the long run and you can stop worrying about the "what-ifs" and the "maybes". That never helps. It just keeps us in a crippling state of fear.

Posted 3/18/2007 3:46 PM (GMT 0)
Hopes this was extremely good advice...Bella, I really do hope that you heed this carefully.  Take care

Posted 3/18/2007 6:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Hopes,

Thank you so much for your advice.

I went to the ER this morning because the pounding was just too much and I noticed that it felt like my heart was beating too fast/irregular, even though my pulse seemed normal. They did an EKG, a Chest X-Ray, and bloodwork, which were all normal. By the time I finally got to see a doctor, the pounding wasn't as bad, even though it's back to being bad again now. They also kept me on a heart monitor for a 1/2 hour, and everything was fine there too, I guess. I don't know what the monitor shows, but the nurse said it would pick up an arrythmia, if it were occuring.

It's more stressful and disturbing than anything else, because I don't have pain, just the constant pounding in my chest. I will admit, my fear gets the best of me because I am afraid that my heart won't be able to handle it and it will explode or something. I said this to the doctor and he said "it will not", so that's reassuring, although he couldn't tell me why my heart would be pounding constantly for this long.

I am not wearing the Polar monitor anymore, and I agree, my doctor never should have suggested it.
Posted 3/24/2007 8:58 AM (GMT 0)
Good morning Bella, :)

I usually post in chronic pain but thought I would check this board out also. If I may offer an opinion here:

I would see a cardiologist. A Family physician or a GP cant really look into this the way a Cardio can. It also sounds like the anxiety/fear this is causing you is making it worse for you. For several years I had the heart pounding and racing but never really knew what it was. In 2001 I ended up in the ER in terrible pain & had to have emergency gall blader surgery. Anyway coming out of the anesthetic the recovery nurses didnt like my heart rhythyms as I was waking up. To make a long story short, I ended up having several tests by a cardiologist & now have a defibrilator. Apparently I am an anomaly. LOL Thats a shocker :)

Anyway all that means is I am in the 30% of the population with no known heart conditions or problems that suddenly surface. Its not a pace-maker but if my heart rate goes screwy bad enough it will send an electric shock to regulate it. The theory behind putting it in was "its better to have it and NOT need it then to need it & NOT have it."

At first it was rather scary and I was afraid of doing much of anything. I remember I kept almost waiting for it to go off and every little thing that seemed out of place was so magnified, but after a couple of months I got to the point where it was on "ignore" and I started living my life again. All I mean by that is I was still aware of it, but didnt focus so totally on the defibrilator, if that makes any sense? I had to make a decision because being in the house, in a chair in my pj's WAITING for something to happen was NOT living. That was the fear.


My point is in the 5 years now that I've had it, its gone off once. This was about 2 years ago.

I have no idea what it felt like because I fainted. Since I have NEVER fainted in my life I had no idea what caused this. I do remember at that time I was under a whole LOT of stress. When I went in to have it read, (which you do every 3-6 months depending on your condition) the technician said "Wow, I see you had an episode" I was like really. He said yes, your HR went up to 300 BPM. If you hadnt had the defibrilator you probably would have died." I was like allrighty then!! LOL

I guess the point of this post is to tell you this: I know these things can be VERY scary, but you CAN'T let the fear overwhelm you. Be proactive and either make an appointment with a cardio DR -OR- get a refferal to one. Maybe if YOU are doing something about this, you will feel better and more in control. I know that's how it seems to work for me. That way you can find out whats going on in your body and put some of this fear to rest so it isnt so crippling. I really didnt mean to post a novel, but hope this information helps you Bella.

Sassy

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