Heart rate high during exercise

[halleyg]

I exercise regularly, mostly yoga and runnning/walking or the elliptical at the gym. Lately I'v been busier than usual, so my cardio has been down to once a week, with yoga or hot yoga 2-3 times a week. I was diagnosed with afib last year, but it's never been an issue, my dr. says it is mild and I don't take meds for it. About a week or two ago I woke up during the night and my heart was racing pretty fast; this went on for about an hour or two. Then today I was at the gym on the elliptical and had my hands on the heart rate monitor, all was good, then toward the end I felt my heart race and looked down and it read 211! I slowed it down and it came back down but that kind of freaked me out. I usually stay in the 150's. I was wondering if this is due to afib or what, I have my yearly checkup in two weeks.

 

[Eva]

Hi Halley,

Sorry to hear about your elevated HR during exercise.

How long does it take before you HR goes down to your normal HR range?

I personally would avoid strenuous exercise or anything that would elevate my HR to those levels until I share this info with the cardio!

Keep us posted.

 

[JeffM]

Ditto what Eva said Halley:

Probably a good idea to keep the exercise HR below 130 and see if that keeps the A-fib or tachycardia (not sure which you're experiencing) under control. If not, then I'd avoid doing any exercise and try to move up the appointment. I might be inclined to keep the Yoga in the non-hot category as well, at least for now since we know those conditions cause vascular and HR changes that could cause unecessary stress. Hopefully there's no valve problem but clearly something is not right. Keep us informed and good luck!

 

[nngbwh]

I agree with Eva/JeffM. Call your cardiologist and let them know about it.

Hope this is just a fluke. Keep us posted.

 

[ottagal]

Hi Halley,

I agree with what the others have mentioned and that you may want to take it a little easier until your cardio visit.

Just looking at the gym experience from a different angle:
I know that the heart rate monitor on the elliptical machine I use at the gym can sometimes be 'unreliable'. Therefore, I wear a HR monitor with the chest strap. This may be something you may want to consider.

 

[Michelle D]

I would be prepared for that appointment by reading about the different anti-arrhytmic meds first. I'm on Sotalol and it isn't as toxic as some of the others, i take 40 mg twice a day which is a lower than normal dosage and it keeps me out of a-fib, sometimes I'll have 20 seconds of atrial flutter but with a rate of 140 bpm. Not saying that you need an anti-arrythmic but just in case it is good to know the side effects before hand.

 

[halleyg]

Thanks for the feedback! Eva, it didn't take long at all for my heart rate to go back down. But, that night I started having an elevated HR again when I was trying to go to sleep. Ottawagal, I have thought of the HR monitor on the machines not being reliable, but I do always stay within a certain range, and the reason I looked down at it was because I was aware that my HR had risen b/c I could feel it. I will definitely take it easier until my visit which is next Wednesday, don't plan on the elliptical at all, just yoga for now.

 

[Eva]

Thanks for the feedback! Eva, it didn't take long at all for my heart rate to go back down. But, that night I started having an elevated HR again when I was trying to go to sleep. Ottawagal, I have thought of the HR monitor on the machines not being reliable, but I do always stay within a certain range, and the reason I looked down at it was because I was aware that my HR had risen b/c I could feel it. I will definitely take it easier until my visit which is next Wednesday, don't plan on the elliptical at all, just yoga for now.

Please keep us posted, Halley and let us know what the doctor thinks.

 

[Philip B]

Racing

Racing

I don't currently use a gym or the kind of exercise equipment gyms have. I've never had afib, but I have noticed that my Polar heart monitor goes nuts every now and then. It sometimes jumps into the low 200's range. I think it has something to do with the contacts on the chest strap.

Cross talk is often an issue with analog heart monitoring equipment that's in close proximity. I saw this happen in a gym in St. Louis last spring while I was doing a personal trainer certification course.

As others have noted, it's a good question for your doctor during your checkup.

-Philip

 

[SumoRunner]

Arrythmias will drive an HRM nuts too. If you get PVCs, the time between two beats can mess up the time averaging algorithm. I could never use an HRM for that reason. At times the pulse meter on my dreadmill jumps all over the place, like 150-190-120-210.

 

[Eva]

Arrythmias will drive an HRM nuts too. If you get PVCs, the time between two beats can mess up the time averaging algorithm. I could never use an HRM for that reason. At times the pulse meter on my dreadmill jumps all over the place, like 150-190-120-210.

Thanks. This is interesting! this could be why my pulse meter goes crazy and drives me crazy with it...it jumps from 125-80-blank-100-75-blank.....
I shall wait and try it again when I do not have PVCs before I call the repair man.

 

[ar bee]

Im a long time (term??) Polar user, it is important to make the chest strap really really really wet and yes sometimes your neighbour in the gym cross-talks, quickly do a manual check of your HR, then move on if there is nothing extra ordinary

well2all
ar be

I don't currently use a gym or the kind of exercise equipment gyms have. I've never had afib, but I have noticed that my Polar heart monitor goes nuts every now and then. It sometimes jumps into the low 200's range. I think it has something to do with the contacts on the chest strap.

Cross talk is often an issue with analog heart monitoring equipment that's in close proximity. I saw this happen in a gym in St. Louis last spring while I was doing a personal trainer certification course.

As others have noted, it's a good question for your doctor during your checkup.

-Philip

 

[halleyg]

Just an update to this post. Went for my appt. yesterday and came home with a heart monitor that I have to wear for two weeks. This seems like a long time! It's smaller than the last one I used but still big to me; Not sure how it's gonna work with my yoga clothes/workout and took me a while to find something to wear to work today. Oh well. Anyhow, he has never "caught" me in afib so needs to see what's going on before he can recommend meds or anything (which I'm hoping to avoid, was on beta blockers a while back and was so happy to go off of them).

 

[Lionheart]

Halley,
Hope you find out soon what's going on.
\Best,
\John

 

[halleyg]

Halley,
Hope you find out soon what's going on.
\Best,
\John

Thanks, John. Hate it that my theory of "if you ignore it, it will go away" does not apply to my heart! :rolleyes2:

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Sounds like "exercise induced A-Fib" to me ...

Lucky You that it came down when you slowed down. That's not always the case...

Are you taking any kind of Caffeine (coffee, tea, Chocolate, etc.)?
Caffeine is a pretty common 'trigger' for A-Fib.

You may need to see if you can 'trigger' another episode to capture an event....
but ask your Cardio before deliberately doing so.

 

[halleyg]

Sounds like "exercise induced A-Fib" to me ...

Lucky You that it came down when you slowed down. That's not always the case...

Are you taking any kind of Caffeine (coffee, tea, Chocolate, etc.)?
Caffeine is a pretty common 'trigger' for A-Fib.

You may need to see if you can 'trigger' another episode to capture an event....
but ask your Cardio before deliberately doing so.

I stopped all caffeinated beverages before my first OHS, just drink decaf since. Do eat chocolate but not a lot. I feel exercise does trigger it sometimes, but just started lately, I actually do less cardio recently than I was doing last year and was having no symptoms then. I have had the a-fib in the middle of the night, or while in the car as well. I actually had a short episode yesterday while I was wearing the monitor, so that's on there.

 

[Bina]

Halley, another thought....many decaf beverages actually contain caffeine but in a lower amount.
Do you think you are having A-fib or maybe SVT ?

 

[halleyg]

Hi Bina - that is a possibility about the decaf, have thought of that. What is SVT?

 

[Bina]

I have Supra Ventricular Tachycardia. Sounds cool doesn't it?
First episode was about one week post op. Woke up in the middle of the night with a HR of 170 so the Resident gave me Sotalol. SVT originates in the atria, but is a steady, fast rate which is not as potentially dangerous as A-Fib.