What on earth is a normal heartrate!?

[danb1983]

Hey everyone,

I sheepishly return to the board after a long spell of absence, after promising to stick around. Truth is I didn't want to come back here because my recovery hasnt been the positive, easy return to health I was hoping for... quite the opposite...

My head is a mess with concerns about what actually should my heartrate be when doing different things - and this is why... I'll try and be quick.

I thought I had fully recovered and went on holiday to Thailand for 2 weeks - after a few days I went snorkelling, and in the water my heart started racing (210 a minute). I was taken as an emergency to the hospital where I was given amiodarone which calmed my heart.

However it did not fix the underlying rhythm issue in my heart. For the rest of my stay in thailand whenever I walked any deecnt distance or walked fast - or especially when walking upstairs my heart would go crazy - like fast, but very irregular, thumping beats, missing beats etc. It would calm down to 100 again - no lower.

It stayed like this for the next 6 weeks upon my return to England - always being 100 at rest and gonig crazy when walking up stairs.

I saw my doctor and started to take warfarin while continuing the amiodarone in preparation for a cardioversion.

1 day before the cardioversion my heart went back to normal. Better than normal - my heartrate went down to 80 at rest.

2 weeks later it went back to being crap again - the same - 100, then rising and irregular when walking upstairs etc.

This time only for 24 hours - then it went back, to a heartrate at rest which ranges from 75-85

I think exercise - in particular lifting weights and straining my chest and heart doing this are the trigger which led to all of these instances so this is something I will never do again.

Since then (3 weeks ago) I have come off the amiodarone, and my head is all over. My doctor has told me that she doesnt know if ill get better, or worse, whether I will be able to lead a normal life or not, what the problem is, and even worse, there isn't much to treat it.

I acn't stay on the amiodarone as I am young and would develop complications as serious on that. There is the chance to burn a "maze" into an area of my heart, but this may not fix the problem or may even make it worse.

I am basically hoping that it just gets better rather than worse... which it is, this hasnt happened again in 3 weeks, and I have stopped the amiodarone, but it takes a month to leave the body and I am terrified that without it I will go back to irregular rhythms.

Okay, were getting close to my question now. I have been walking every day and to start with my heartate came down from 95bpm while walking (I have a heart rate monitor watch) to 86, but in the last week it has gone back up to 92, and is stretching to 110 when walking up a gradient. I am only walking around streets in my town so I don't mean proper hills, just hills around town - small ones, but maybe a little steep here and there...

My question is what on earth should my heartrate be while walking? What is anyone elses? I am aged 26, slightly overweight - but still pretty normal, and I guess my fitness used to be good but due to a lot of inactivity over the last 8 months it is probably pretty low...

My heart is 80 sitting - sometimes after relaxing, deep breating, meditating a little it goes down to 70-75. However while walking around the house my heartrate is 85-90. When I go for a walk it is aprox 88, but rises up to 90-92 after walking up a little hill, and then stays there. It reaches 105-110, even a little more up longer or steeper hills, and then goes back down but my heartrate stays at 95ish for the rest of the walk...

I know I am developing an unhealthy obsession with my heartrate - can you tell But it is driving me crazy, I am going insane and can't stand the tension of waiting to see what ill be like over the next month and worrying about my heartrate constantly.

Any info to help calm my mind and understand if a 92 walking heart rate is normal or not would be of great help,

Many thanks,
Dan

 

[Ross]

Well glory be, it's good to see you back and I'm very happy that you have posted what you have. People need to know that not everyone has text book surgical recoveries.

60-80 resting
80-120 mild excercise and really shouldn't go past 150 with hard excercise. Now if someone took a pot shot at you with an Uzi, that's a whole different story.

You seem to be very normal outside of the events that have taken place.

Bear in mind, your heart is still in the remodeling phase and it's quite possible this will all straighten out. 12 full months will tell the story.

Weight lifting? Man your braver then I am. That is a tremendous strain on the heart this early from surgery.

 

[Bridgette]

I think that your heartrate doesn't sound too bad Dan, bearing in mind that you're not THAT long out of surgery - my doctor said it can take up to a year or more to get back to "normal".....and "normal" can be different for everyone.
A lot of people on this site are on meds to keep their heartrates down, but you're not, so yours sounds ok for the stage you're at. I read somewhere too that a normal pulse rate for adults can be anywhere from 50-100.
I am nearly three years post op, only on Warfarin, and my pulse rate at rest is usually in the 70's, and increases with mild activity, depending on what I'm doing. I'm pretty active too, walk every day, and run around after kids in my job as a kindergarten teacher, LOL.
I think you're doing well, IMHO..

 

[Bina]

Hey Dan,
I understand your disappointment with your HR.
Mine can be really wacko too, and I've had Holter monitors, EKG, etc. that have found premature beats and some tachycardia. I've chosen to stay on a low dose of Metoprolol to keep things tolerable, but I sure would like to be "normal" again.

You have a good chance of your HR coming down and things improving since you are still in the first few months of postop recovery.
Keep walking. The HR monitor is a great idea, but don't let it rule your life.
Easier said than done....I know.

 

[skeptic49]

Welcome back to VR, Dan. Sounds like you may be experiencing the same sorts of issues that others report during their recovery...and you are obsessing a bit about it, which you already know. Hopefully with time things will even out and calm down for you.

Best wishes,

Jim

 

[netmiff]

Hey there, good to hear from you, but sorry about all your issues.

My resting heart rate has always been high - 80 - 100, even when 16 years old; BP always up there, too, 120-140/80 on good days. That's "normal" for me ! I think what you're worried about is the racing, missed beats etc. Since heart surgery, I am on a beta blocker and a BP pill, I guess they didn't replace my valve until some damage had been done. Personally, I would suggest less brisk walking, don't do stairs unless you have to (I know that raises BP quite dramatically) and, most important, don't stress about it - easier said than done, I know, but you are doing the right thing in going to the doctor with this one.

BTW, are you working? What kind of work do you do? any extra stress in your life that could be causing any of this? Any other meds? You don't have to answer, just food for thought . . .

 

[hensylee]

glad to see you Dan but sorry for the trouble w/the heart rate. happy to know you are off amiodarone - you have read here in VR our comments about it, I am sure. there are lots of other drugs to use for heart rate situations.

hoping this can be straightened out for you. Blessins.......

 

[danb1983]

Thanks for the quick comments, maybe I am just going crazy thinking about it all day and not talking to anyone or having any reference points on normality.

I don't want this to consume my life, from reading around other forums it seems people get all sorts of anxiety and even ruin their lives thinking about it as much as having it... but at the same time I do want to learn, and also do everyting I can to help myself...

Oh, and I'm now not on any meds at all, no beta blockers, came off the amiodarone and warfarin, and just on aspirin. I have been told frusilode (frus...something) might be an option for me, but isn't generally as good as amiodarone, and I can't really take amiodarone forever - anyway, that 1 day repeat of irregularity occured whilst taking it... ... and my job isn't stressful, I work for myself writing for various websites, I work with 1 other person and occasionally we have disagreements, but my job isn't really stressful, theres no targets to meet or anything..

I am really hoping that this is me back to normal now, but just this tiny rise in walking heartrate from 86/88 walking to 92-95 has me worried - basically because it is happening in my 3rd week off amiodarone - what if this is just the start of it getting bad again. Im trying to be positive and things but I've been bad for several months now and its hard to see the end of all this really.

Oh, and I'm not exactly still in the early stages of heart op recovery either - My op was 18th November last year so its been 8 months out and even my cardiologist says that generally rhythm disturbances should of settled down by now really...

 

[Bina]

My whole first year was crap. Some of us just need more time.

 

[kfay]

Dan, I think what is considered a normal heartrate varies greatly based on a number of factors. Since you haven't been exercising regularly since your surgery (or probably before), the numbers you are posting don't sound out of line at all. It's really more important if they are irregular (altough a lot of these are considered benign) and or rapid. Your signature says that they did a maze when you had your surgery. If so, that hopefully is keeping you from going into A-fib. Did they tell you exactly what kind of rhythm problems you are having? There are other, less toxic drugs than Amiodarone, that can help with rhythm issues. They will typically start with either beta blockers or calcium channel blockers and then move into the anti-arrhythmics. You can also try an ablation (especially is they are atrial in nature) to stop them.

As long as they know that you aren't going into V-tach, try and relax about all of this. Even though it isn't fun and you don't feel great when it is happening, alot of these things are nothing more than a bother.

kim

 

[neil]

i know i had irregular heart rythems and i to was but on amidorone for 2 month,after that i was but on beta blocker,touch wood it has helped a lot although i still get the odd bout of my heart showing of lol,am sure there will get you sorted.keep us informed mate....

 

[Ross]

I don't want this to consume my life.

This too, shall pass. You gotta give yourself time to convince yourself that your ok.

Amiodarone is a sledge hammer approach to controlling rhythm issues. That stuff takes up to 6 months to leave your system, so you still have a good amount of it in you.
As a matter of FACT, the drug manufacterer states that it is to be used only when all other drugs have failed. It was never intended to be a first use drug.

 

[Lionheart]

Dan,
I know your pain. I too had A-Fib and A-flutter that started about a month after surgery and it was miserable. My symptoms were similar. My resting heart rate was about 105 but minor activity like walking a short distance would cause it to shoot up to 205, followed by shortness of breath and a strong pounding heart beat. It would stop me in my tracks. I was on Amiodarone and warfarin for about 8 months. I finally got relief with a cardioversion and have been in normal rhythm since.

One thing I have done is to avoid caffeine which is a trigger for tachycardia. I drink no coffee or other caffeinated drinks and only drink decaff tea.

Bear with this my friend and it should pass. I read that irregular heartbeats are common after surgery and they will eventually subside.
Take care,
John

 

[terodac]

Glad to hear from you Dan! My first year I was scared to death to do anything, and took my bp at least 10 times a day! I will catch myself taking it to much some days if I don't feel well! My resting heart rate can be anywhere from 58-80, I think you are pushing yourself or have pushed yourself to much. If I remember you were climbing stairs at about 3 weeks post op! Slow down and take it easy. You seem to be in that fear stage, depression and anxiety are very common after OHS! Chill enjoy life right now a bit slower! I had to take that Amiodarone for a short time when I had Afib right after surgery, he told me that was the big gun meds for Afib, I remember calling him crying asking if I could get off of it and he told me to start backing off slowly. I was so sick taking that crap, I told him I would rather be dead than to stay on it. My surgeon did not want me to take it at all, but they had to get my heart rate down because I was dehydrated, are you staying hydrated while you are doing all these things???

 

[ctyguy]

I think normal from one person to the next will vary. Rates tends to be higher for younger folks.

Im 44, resting rate is usually 75 bpm'ish. I usually wear a heart monitor when I run and I've worn it when walking my dogs. When I walk them its a flat walk, fairly decent pace and my heart gets up to 100 bpm without fail. So seeing your heart rate go up while walking shouldn't be a big suprise. The numbers you've shared sould reasonable IMHO.

Hopefully the rythm issues you've had in the past stay in the past. Best of luck.

 

[DebbyA]

Welcome back!
I'm sorry I can't help, but hope your heart stabilizes and anxieties fade away. Please don't feel only positive posts are welcome.

 

[JeffM]

Sounds normal...

Sounds normal...

...aside from the afib episodes, those are completely normal numbers. I'm out of surgery just about 11 months now and my resting HR is still settling down. It was upper 40s and low 50s before surgery and now it is upper 50s to low 60s when resting. You are smart to monitor your heart rate when exercising. Aside from being a great way to train, it allows you to keep an eye on how your heart responds to different activities. Walking up even a moderate incline will raise the average person's HR a surprising amount. And after exercise, it normally takes a few hours for your heart to ease back to its normal resting rate. I wouldn't worry about the max rate too much as long as it doesn't stay up there once you stop a strenuous activity and as long as it's not irregular. I regularly exercise with my HR in the 160s and 170s and am having no issues. But that's something you should work toward gradually. I had some afib for a few weeks after surgery but it dropped off almost entirely; but then, I had the ablation procedure you were describing during my AVR. I still get some skipped beats and an occasional (couple times a day) series of 5 quick beats, but I suspect that will always be there. Good luck to you. Take it slowly but don't give up on exercise!

 

[Nupur]

Hi Dan, Good to hear from you but sorry you are going through this. I don't have any wisdom about the heart rate question itself, but I want to say that yes, thinking about it all day and having anxiety is worse than the problem itself. Also, arrhythmia can be triggered by extreme anxiety, or at least that has been the case with me. So you are right, don't let it consume your mind with fear and anxiety, and hopefully the wonderful folks here are already putting your mind at ease. All the best,

 

[danb1983]

Wow, this forum is like a healing fountain.

Well, at least my head feels a bit better, and I swear I slept better last night - without the deep thud of my heart and wondering if it was fast or not.

Im going to keep walking for the next few weeks, and I weighed myself today and I've lost 13lbs in the last 6 weeks - most of which I put on due to inactivity over the last 2-3 months. As long as I stay stable for a few weeks ill start doing some slow jogging and keep my HR at like 120 max for a couple weeks, then push it a little further - I just have to know if I'm okay, and hoepfully doing it gradually will improve my health and lower my hr... hopefully...

Thank you for all the responses, theyve been really helpful!

 

[Duff Man]

My heart rate will go up in to the 120's if I'm walking easily. I don't think about it unless it's an irregular rhythm... and I can feel it when it's not regular.

If these episodes are going to affect your quality of life, why not see an electrocardiologist for a study and possibly an ablation? If my PVC episodes get any worse at all, I'm definitely going to get that done.