Heart Disease Community

I did also forgot to mention. When my heart races in this way, it literally feels like is going to pound out of my chest. And is often accompanied by chest pain. Almost feeling like a weight is resting on my chest and sometimes making it difficult to breath.

Hi Kristy:

"But the moment I stand or sit up it immediately jumps to 120-130"

Sounds like postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

"I have gone to my doctor about this issue and have made a trip to the ER......"

Perhaps you should consider consulting with a cardiologist who is also an electrophysiologist (EP).

General info provided below.

Best of luck down the road of life.

Take care,

CardioStar*

WebMD member (since 8/99)

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Be well-informed

As applicable (must be 100% confirmed, diagnosed)

POTS: An Overview

http://www.dinet.org/pots_an_overview.htm


Dysautonomia Information Network

Pertinent snippets

POTS can be categorized as primary, meaning it is idiopathic and not associated with other diseases, or secondary, meaning it is associated with a known disease or disorder......
People generally develop POTS after becoming sick with a virus, giving birth, or being exposed to great bodily stressors (i.e. surgery, trauma or chemotherapy). Some people have had POTS their entire lives. Teenagers sometimes develop the disorder during the years of rapid growth, and 75-80% of them can look forward to being asymptomatic when they reach adulthood

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Important points about POTS -

As reported:

POTS is defined as a clinically significant increase in heart rate (anywhere from occurring immediately or to within 10-30 minutes) upon standing from a lying down or sitting position.

The length/duration of time patients diagnosed with POTS can comfortably stand varies wdely from one individual to another.

POTS often generates a temporary rise in blood pressure (BP) immediately upon standing due to rapid acceleration of the heart rate.

POTS patients often have a measurably low standing pulse pressure (that is, difference between systolic and diastolic, normal resting pulse pressure is 40 mmHg, give or take a bit), which may/can be an indicator of blood pooling (collecting).

Some patients with POTS have a damaged regulatory system that may/can result in paradoxical wild swings in BP from under 50 mmHg to over 200 mmHg. Complexly, POTS can be a low and high BP pressure problem combined.

During a Tilt Table Test, some POTS patients have large drops in BP and pass out (syncope, temporary loss of consciousness, also includes fainting), while other patients have only relatively shallow/small drops in BP, or none at all.

75% of POTS patients are female with a genetic tendency to be passed down from mother to daughter.

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Calming the HEART

Techniques at Home (as applicable to the patient)

Tighten stomach muscles. As soon as the heart starts to race, tighten the stomach muscles. This will cause the abdominal muscles to put pressure on a group of nerves that will tell the heart's electrical coduction system to slow down.

Chill. Take a deep, long breath and slowly let it out. Sometimes relaxation is all it takes to stop tachycardia. And deep breathing is frequently one of the fastest ways to relax.

Use common sense. Anything that speeds up the heart, caffeine and cigarettes, for example, can trigger a rapid heartbeat. So common sense says that if one is prone to tachycardia, one should avoid any substance that might give the heart an extra kick.

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Quote!

Be a questioning patient. TALK to your DOCTOR and ASK QUESTIONS. Studies show that patients who ask the most questions, and are most assertive, get the best results. Be vigilant and speak up!"

- Charles Inlander, People's Medical Society


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It's your future......be there.

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WebMD/WebMD forums DOES NOT provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Thank you for the quick reply. I will try going to my doctor with this bit of info and hopefully comes with some results.

You're welcome.

Take good care,

CardioStar*