Has anyone experienced a long period of tachycardia (heart rate/pulse over 100 beats per minute)? Did you get tested to find out what caused it and were you treated for it? I started with it in December, and they don't know exactly why it's happening, so maybe it's just something else to chalk up to lupus. My Dr. had never seen a heart rate that stayed high for months, so I thought I'd ask here.
Hi Sheila,
In my early 20's i had an heart rate that seemed uncontrolable i was sent to the hospital for an heart reading and when it came back sent to the other hospital in our area for a second confirmation and the doctor told me my heart was beating one to many in a beat, i mentioned did i need heart tablets and he told me being in my early 20's he wanted to see if i was able to cope otherwise...to this day i get it, that's why my heart fails on seizures to bad and i have to be fed special oxygen for my heart.
Wheather it's the same as your asking god knows but even now when i get it, i have pain by my heart and it makes me feel like i am actually going to have an heart attack.
Sheila these links maybe interesting to you but COPD which we both have can also cause this issue, if it is tachycardia you have and i just hope not.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000186.htm
Terri xxx
I haven't experienced this, but I hope you get some answers about what's going on!
Terri, again, Thankyou!! I have researched this since Dec 3 but I was never able to find any article that included lupus with tachycardia, and the only type of tachycardia I ever saw articles about was Supraventricular tachycardia. This one that you sent seems to fit me better. My heart has stopped a lot of times, but only twice it was called a heart attack that caused damage. The other times it was called cardiac arrest. It just stopped due to severe pain that made my heart beat so fast my hear couldn't pump, it would just flutter. That's just what the article you sent described. I don't have COPD but I have 2 other conditions they mentioned, diabetes and hearty failure. Another one they should add is lupus or other auto-immune disease affecting the heart. I was given a beta blocker that slows down the tachycardia, but I was told to only take it on days I go out or have to do more activity than usual, because beta blockers affect the heart failure.
Thanks Ballerina8876!!
Don't know but I got checked by a cardiologist and he diagnosed me with angina and gave me Nitrolingual for when I get short of breath from it.
I experience fast heart rate also & my doctor told me it was linked to anxiety.
I notice it more during a lupus flare up or fibromyalgia flare up & that’s when my anxiety kicks in for me.
You are not alone. I got as high as 186 bpm, but 120-130 was normal for me and it went on for years. Saw a cardiologist and got a clean bill of health. He was chalking it up to Lupus and dismissed me. Then the fun started. First I found myself getting tired and just plain running out of gas faster and was down longer. Even for Lupus this seemed to be crazy. This was beyond any fatigue Id ever experienced. Next I started passing out cold several times a week. They admitted me to the hospital several times for days on end and each time I was there I had the same symptoms...high pusle rate, low bp and o2, fainting, short of breath, weak, usually dehydrated...just plain out of it. I had a regular appointment with pc and she saw all of the ER runs and admits to the hospital and was thankfully concerned, finished up the appointment and I left with little hope. She gave me an rx for Atenolol 25 mg daily, not getting my hopes up mind you. I got it filled and took one when I got home. I took my bp and pulse and bp was low and heart rate was 141. I took this tiny pill expecting nothing for 2-3 weeks per doc. Within 2 hours of taking my truly magic pill my heart rate came down, bp went up, shortness of breath gone!! It was and is amazing. I thought was dying and it turns out my heart just beat to fast! It has been months now and I am so much better. Now my bad Lupus days are easier to deal with. I am sorry for the long reply, Im just so happy. Feel free to contact me if you want, Im a resident expert. Im on facebook.... Kimberly J Hatchett in Nashville, TN if you need a friend. Id love to have some Lupus buddies to chat with! God Bless and may you have more spoons each day!! Thanks for asking and listening...Kim
Sheila,
Lupus is in our blood stream and we all know the damage it can do with organs, so if it can do that then it does'nt stop the heart being affected, it just causes all medical symptoms that can happen individual to anyone without Lupus...well if you've had these heart problems and still do, then there's a good chance your heart can be playing up and it sounds like your Lupus is very active kicking a flare with your heart like it does anything with us.
Sorry Sheila i thought it was you with COPD as someone as it on the site bad like myself SORRY mate.
Your hearty failure you have is actually "Heart failure" which is linked with Tachycardia and your beta blocker you was prescribed you should be taking daily, ste uncle had 2 heart attacks and now it's left him suffering with his heart and he was prescribed beta blockers which he takes daily and they actually prevent heart attacks etc.
You'll find these two links below interesting also.
http://www.medtronic.com/patients/tachycardia/index.htm
http://www.bupa.co.uk/individuals/health-information/directory/v/ve...
This ones about Beta blockers which you should be taking daily as they help prevent heart failure.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/health-center/beta-blockers-for-fast-...
Sheila W. said:
Terri, again, Thankyou!! I have researched this since Dec 3 but I was never able to find any article that included lupus with tachycardia, and the only type of tachycardia I ever saw articles about was Supraventricular tachycardia. This one that you sent seems to fit me better. My heart has stopped a lot of times, but only twice it was called a heart attack that caused damage. The other times it was called cardiac arrest. It just stopped due to severe pain that made my heart beat so fast my hear couldn't pump, it would just flutter. That's just what the article you sent described. I don't have COPD but I have 2 other conditions they mentioned, diabetes and hearty failure. Another one they should add is lupus or other auto-immune disease affecting the heart. I was given a beta blocker that slows down the tachycardia, but I was told to only take it on days I go out or have to do more activity than usual, because beta blockers affect the heart failure.
Hello Irenelee,
Yes Nitrolingual is for Angina as my hubby uses the spray for his Angina :)
irenelee said:
Don't know but I got checked by a cardiologist and he diagnosed me with angina and gave me Nitrolingual for when I get short of breath from it.
Hello Marissa,
Where Lupus is concerned it can cause heart problems besides Anxiety and if you get affected to much, i'd persist on getting checked out with your heart to put your mind at rest.
I've suffered anxiety attacks for years but when those hit me also, i soon get some fresh air and try to keep carm...they've given me Angina tablets in the past when they've rushed me in put i must have an allergy reaction to the drug and my seizures go mad :)
Marissa said:
I notice it more during a lupus flare up or fibromyalgia flare up & that's when my anxiety kicks in for me.
I suffer hypertension also. The several episodes that I’ve experienced with fast heart rate that landed me in the ER I’ve been also told I was suffering dehydration. On one of my episode the doctor who treated me in Urgent Care called the Ambulance to rush me to ER thinking Lupus was attacking my heart. After IV treatments from the hospital & my heart rate going back to normal I was released same day. No further test were done on me. It was my primary physician who treats my hypertension that mention Anxiety was the cause of it. I should go get a 2nd opinion seems like I should take this more seriously & see a cardiologist & get test done to confirm it. Thank you for making me more aware of what Lupus can really do.
Hi Marissa,
With Lupus involvement some doctor's if they know you have something like your hypertension instead of looking furthur at their patients, they do a quick diagnosis of a symptom linked to what they know what you have and if it can cause that symptom.
I'd just persist on getting tested properly, as Lupus can extend into more issues in some patients without doctor's recognizing it properly.
Good luck Terri :) xxx
Marissa said:
I suffer hypertension also. The several episodes that I've experienced with fast heart rate that landed me in the ER I've been also told I was suffering dehydration. On one of my episode the doctor who treated me in Urgent Care called the Ambulance to rush me to ER thinking Lupus was attacking my heart. After IV treatments from the hospital & my heart rate going back to normal I was released same day. No further test were done on me. It was my primary physician who treats my hypertension that mention Anxiety was the cause of it. I should go get a 2nd opinion seems like I should take this more seriously & see a cardiologist & get test done to confirm it. Thank you for making me more aware of what Lupus can really do.
Hi Sheila,I started with a very fast Heart rate in my early 30s,I complained all the time to my hometown dr… “He would say,”""oh Celeste your just having anxiety ""go home and rest with this larazapam…well I ended up having ablation surgery on my heart when I turned 40,"omg I take a few heart meds and still have moments of tachycardia,it comes and goes,before my surgery I went shopping steped out of my car and my heart just took off running I went to our local fire station simply because my husband works there, to tell him and the emt and fireman hooked me up to everything,the heart dr used their EKG strip from the fireman and took me in ASAP,I had 6 spots done…I could tell I was better when I came out of recovery,I see a heart rhythm specialist on a regular basis…I went 10 plus yrs complaining about my heart before anyone would listen…take care of yourself and make them listen to you ,I think people with lupus are very in tune to what’s going on with their body’s …celeste
I had the same thing happen to me starting in August of last year. My heart rate would beat so fast and strong it would wake me from a sound sleep at night. My rheumy dismissed my concerns as anything related to my lupus so I made an appointment with my cardiologist. After all the routine labs and stress tests were completed he found nothing to substantiate any heart related condition for the sudden and random heart racing, however, blood work indicated significantly low hormone levels. He felt strongly that it may be due to me being peri menopausal. He suggested I start taking 25 mg of the supplement DHEA and stated he has seen many of his female patients helped by taking this. I made an appointment with my rheumy to discuss his thoughts/concerns and he felt for my situation it was safe for me to try. Also after further research on my part, I found numerous studies that indicated many woman who are beginning menopause will indeed have a large decreases in many hormones to include DHEA. The articles also went on to show that very low levels of DHEA like mine could create the heart palpitations I was experiencing. My cardio ran blood work again 6 weeks after my taking the supplement and my count improved significantly. It’s still low which is understandable and quite normal for my age (50’s) but it’s higher than previously and my palpitations have gone away. I am not suggesting you try this regime or that this is what’s going on with you. I offer my story as perhaps something to worth discussing with your doctors. I know how disturbing it can be to not have a diagnosis for what your experiencing. I hope that you are able to find some explanation soon. Sorry for the dissertation 
I have hereditary palpitations, and later developed idiopathic left ventricular hypertrophy. I also have a neurocardiogenic issue, unknown whether it is POTS or something related. So episodes of tachycardia have been a familiar issue for a while now. My pulse was too high before treating the LVH, in the high 80s/low 90s at resting rate. I'm on a beta blocker now, so it's closer to normal. I do still occasionally have episodes, and it can last from a few minutes to a few hours. The difference now is it's far, FAR less likely to last that long. Usually I just get occasional flutters. It shouldn't happen at all since I'm on a med for it, but nothing is perfect.
When the ventricle is enlarged and inefficient like mine is, the heart has to work harder to circulate blood. That is one potential cause for both hypertension and tachycardia. The only way to know if that, or any regurg is happening, is an echocardiogram. If you haven't had one done, I strongly recommend it. I had Kaiser and they never bothered. Two years of symptomatic complaints and a new Dr later, I found out I had irreversible damage. Imaging is crucial. If you fell and suspected a broken bone, you would get an x-ray, because you cannot see inside. The same is true for your heart, and your heart is central to keeping you alive and functioning well. I consider this type of imaging more important than a back x-ray for pain.. but unless you make a lot of noise about symptoms or request it, some Drs won't bother. Ask. An echo is only a little uncomfortable for most people. It can hurt where they press on the left rib area, and that's my only real complaint, but it doesn't take long. It's well worth the temporary discomfort (as if that's unfamiliar to us anyway) to have answers. If there is nothing going on, then you can mark it off your list of concerns. (If you haven't had it done, as I said.)
There are a few things that can cause high heartrate, of course. If it hasn't been done yet, have your potassium levels checked, and have your thyroid checked. If your primary has no ready answers, ask for a cardiology referral. Do not put it off. Do not just "chalk it up to Lupus".
I asked my Dr about it. Yes, sometimes it wakes me up at night, just racing away... He said it was somewhat common, but not normal. I didn't get any tests for it. It isn't constant, just for a period of about a minute or two. Almost every day. Hope this helps give you more data.
Yes me too…my dr put me on low pressor…im good…
Yes Irenelee, I do have nitro for pain as well.