rapid heartbeat

mod-karen79

rainbows holiday buddy :)
in october 2009 i began having episodes of really fast heartbeats (up to 145 bpm). the first time it happened it went on for about 6 hours and i called an ambulance in the end. i was quite scared as my dad has ventricular tachycardia (basically when his heart goes too fast he will die if he's not pumped full of lots of meds or given an electric shock to the chest)

i know i don't have what my dad has, but it still scares the crap out of me when this happens. i'm under a cardiologist at the hospital and so far have had 4 or 5 ECG's, a 24-hour ECG tape and am due to have an echocardiogram on monday. still none the wiser!

i have got used to alot of the symptoms and have been able to return to work, but last night i had a large dinner and went to the cinema. at 9pm my heart rate shot up to around 140bpm and stayed there for hours....my gp isn't happy about this as your heart shouldn't go that fast for that long.

i've had a blood test done for thyroid, diabetes etc. and all ok. i've noticed if i eat late at night it's more likely to trigger it off.

has anyone else suffered with anything like this???
 
No I haven't, but am a cardiac nurse (on the surgical side of things so not a cardiology/medical side of things expert)! I'm sure I can't shed anywhere near as much light as the doctors!! but I have had lots of experience with tachycardias/arrhythmias and the drugs used to treat them! Are you on any meds at the moment- Digoxin/Amiodorone/betablockers? Has your Dad discussed with the docs about having a Defib fitted?X
 
no i'm not on anything at all. my GP was going to give me some asthma friendly betablockers, but didn't want to over-ride the cardiologist. i don't think the GP thought i'd be waiting so long for a diagnosis!

my dad has an ICD fitted already.... i called him robodad :)
 
Oh well at least your Dad has that safety net, although it's meant to be horrendous when they do go off, like you've been kicked in the chest by a horse, but at least he'll still be alive!!! I'm sure you'll get sorted! What a pain for you though! Gentle exercise like walking is meant to be very good to keep things calm as although your HR increases when you do exercise, the endorphins are meant to relax everything if that makes sense! And perhaps small meals little and often rather than a big meal that sits with you for ages! And I'm sure you already avoid things like coffee and tea with caffiene in them!X
 
Not sure how much reading you've done about it, but just found this interesting link for you about diet and tachycardia (if you haven't already seen it!) tachycardia diet I was going to mention about eating lots of potassium rich foods like bananas!X
 
do u eat alot of foods with aspartame in it like muller lights, diet coke, dilute juice etc. this can cause heart palpitations...
 
my dads ICD has gone off 3 or 4 times in the last year - he said it's not as bad as others had said but it's still pretty horrible and scary. they're unbelievably amazing devices! his heart went a bit quick through the night so he sent a scan through to the hospital this morning and they rang him and told him to come straight up - they adjusted his ICD and sent him on his way. dad has brilliant treatment from them - can't fault them :)

you all do amazing jobs :) x

i don't have any caffine as i'm too sensitive to it. i try not to eat after 7.30pm. don't really exercise at the moment as too scared too - though i know what you mean.
 
do u eat alot of foods with aspartame in it like muller lights, diet coke, dilute juice etc. this can cause heart palpitations...

i drink alot of water, but i also drink diet lemonade daily and add sweetener to yogurt once or twice a week.
 
Not sure how much reading you've done about it, but just found this interesting link for you about diet and tachycardia (if you haven't already seen it!) tachycardia diet I was going to mention about eating lots of potassium rich foods like bananas!X

thanks for the link :) looks interesting.
 
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