What's wrong with my heart?

[lightblue]

I have two mates who have had/have something along the lines you describe.

The first is a seriously fit guy (uni rower, county cricket bowler, u17 East of England Rugby League) whose resting heartrate at one point was over 100. After he got told to cut down on his caffeine intake ( he used to drink 25-30 cups of strong coffee a day), it went away.

The other guy had a normal heart rate most of the time, but it could shoot way up (200+) without any real strenuous exercise. He had a heart condition of sorts, and had to watch it when he played basketball as the heart specialist said that if he continued playing whilst he had an attack he could drop dead.

To me it sounds like your case is more like the first case, so just cut down on caffeine and sugar if you're taking too much in.

[East Street Trader]

No harm in giving that idea a try.

No harm in speaking to a doctor either.

[Guynemer]

Originally posted by SlowwHand
For those that don't know, Spiffor is talking about Guynemer and his propensity for spreading the clap.

Feeling spunky, are we?



Speer--as has already been suggested, see a doctor if concerned. There ought to be a free clinic or university health service that would be able to take you. A resting rate of 100 isn't necessarily trouble; and, as already stated, lots of people have their pulse and blood pressure shoot up whenever they're in the presence of doctors, needles, etc.

[SlowwHand]

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
but i play an hour of basketball daily and i walk a full half hour just going to school, another half coming back, and then i got to go back later on in the day and so on. so it's not like i am not active at all. i get some cardiovascular exercise.

"Some cardiovascular exercise" doesn't necessarily cut it - the heart operates in different ways to do different things.

Basketball, sprints, etc. are high intensity, up and down types of activities. Walking is low intensity, but if you do it long enough, at a fast enough pace, ideally with some hills or a backpack with some weight to it, you can get a good endurance workout from it.

Sounds like you're in a range where you're not walking long enough to really get that endurance benefit, and you're getting that high intensity thing from b-ball, but nothing in the mid range, which is ideal for strengthening your heart and vascular system.

A resting pulse of around 100 isn't extreme - for a while in my late teens, I averaged around 90-96, even though I was thin and in shape (bicycle racing and basketball). As I changed my main racing events from sprint and kilometer (track) to 4000 meter individual pursuit (track) and 25 mile time trial (road) and dropped basketball, my workout and training pattern changed, and when I was 21, my resting heart rate was in the mid to high 40's. I was healthy and free of cardiac problems at both heart rates, they were just a function of the kind of workouts I did.

[Cruddy]

Oh yeah Albert - don't think I'm taking the pi55 here - maybe you just got the involuntary hots for the nurses who measured your health stats?

Maybe getting a heart rate monitor on your wrist might be an idea, just to see how your mood affects it. Heck, just a wristwatch that can measure a minute and holding your wrist in the right place can do the the same job.

From what you've said, you're no couch potato BUT... it's something you can learn to monitor on your own pretty easy. The problem is knowing when it's a health issue.

For the moment, take MtG's advice and see if it becomes manageable over some months...

As for cheap medical advice, my advice is; shop around. Good street doctors aren't common - and they tend to be real busy - but they are out there.

Finally - don't get TOO anxious about it, because that's just going to make it worse.

Learn to chill... but do keep an eye on it.

[Tiamat]

Dr. Strangelove and MTG are correct. I just finished the begining of my nurse training and yes you are a bit on the high end but still within the normal range. Get out and exercise and not just on the computer

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by Albert Speer
but i play an hour of basketball daily and i walk a full half hour just going to school, another half coming back, and then i got to go back later on in the day and so on. so it's not like i am not active at all. i get some cardiovascular exercise.

and about the doctor thing... i dont exactly got insurance... how much would just having a doctor check it out cost me?

No insurance? Oh well, forget about it. The work-up would cost more than you're worth. Just go about your business and then if you drop dead, well, that happens to poor people every day. That's why God made so many of them. They're expendable. They're the canon fodder of life.

[Dr Strangelove]

The real question is, how high was your pulse rate really? Was it a little under 100/minute? If so you were probably just anxious. If I had been considering you for a transfusion I would not have disqualified you if I were able to determine that you weren't sick or dehydrated, but a transfusion nurse might not feel qualified to do that. Also, they might not want you fainting all over their nice new chairs. If the rate was well above 100/minute I'd be concerned.

Oh, and I have no idea what a work-up would cost in Philly. The price structure of medical care down here in south-western Virginia is a leetle bit different.

Visiting your college health clinic or local free clinic sounds like viable options.