Is My Heart Rate Spike Normal Or Do I Have A Problem

DreamStalker wrote:You may want to supplement with magnesium and potassium for good insurance that the electrical signals are optimal.

JockLitt, DS has given you some excellent advice! I was taking these before my diagnosis of apnea & malignant hypertension that had my primary send me to a cardiologist to ensure I hadn't damaged my heart; cardio approved and said to continue and increase potassium if my muscle cramping & eye muscle twitches didn't resolve after acclimating to CPAP.

If anything I said scares the man into seeing his physician, than I'm happy. Best case scenario is I'm wrong, again I'd be happy. But to blow off his symptoms, tell him its probably nothing and something does happen to him then its shame on you. I'm not going to apologize for my profession, maybe you should look up the what the knowledge base for a Registered Board Certified Respiratory Therapist with a BS in Respiratory Sciences, you might find that I'm supposed to know a little about the subject. Agreed its not enough to diagnose nor treat anyone, but its enough to recognize when someone MAY have a potential serious condition, at that point its my responsibility to try to get that patient to see a physician. If you read my post thats what I did, I did not suggest he take any drugs, change any pressures I suggested he see his physician ASAP. As far as practicing medicine w/o a license, thats such a hypocritical statement, how many times have you suggested someone change there pressures or this and that, its the same thing just on a different level. Before you get on another rant I support knowledgeable patients changing there pressures as conditions warrant, what I don't support is when someone comes to this forum looking for advise especially on something that COULD be serious, and minimalizing his complaints, when we should be able to recognize the difference between something benign and something that could be serious. Bash me as you will, but I'll sleep well tonight knowing I at least suggested he go to someone ASAP to make sure it wasn't serious, live with it or walk on....

rjjayrt wrote:If anything I said scares the man into seeing his physician, than I'm happy. Best case scenario is I'm wrong, again I'd be happy. But to blow off his symptoms, tell him its probably nothing and something does happen to him <snip>

I agree.
Years ago (on another forum) I scared a woman who had CHF and breathing difficulties on cpap by writing the following:

I suggest you contact your cardiologist immediately. Your breathing problems could have something to do with your heart condition - this is not something to leave for a forum discussion. Nor would I wait for the appointment with the sleep doctor.
Heart failure can cause an accumulation of fluid in your lungs, and this can cause the breathing difficulty you're describing. You really shouldn't wait.

I am no doctor, nothing in medicine.

2 days later she posted this:

I was so consumed with my sleep apnea diagnosis and getting used to the machine that I forgot about what my symptoms for chf really are. I tended to blame everything on the sleep apnea and really didn't even consider that it was my heart causing the problems. Of course that was a big mistake and thank you for alerting me to that issue. I did contact my cardiologist and I went to the local emergency department, I live in a small rural town in Victoira Australia and had a night on the hospital. I did need IV lasix and of course lost a lot of weight 4kg because of fluid build up. I of course am much better now and breathing much better

CPAP is not the only thing happening in peoples lives -- though sometimes they wish it were, and want forum friends to confirm it. It is for a doctor to say "that's a measurement error". Not for us.
O.

If anything I said scares the man into seeing his physician, than I'm happy. Best case scenario is I'm wrong, again I'd be happy. But to blow off his symptoms, tell him its probably nothing and something does happen to him then its shame on you. I'm not going to apologize for my profession, maybe you should look up the what the knowledge base for a Registered Board Certified Respiratory Therapist with a BS in Respiratory Sciences, you might find that I'm supposed to know a little about the subject. Agreed its not enough to diagnose nor treat anyone, but its enough to recognize when someone MAY have a potential serious condition, at that point its my responsibility to try to get that patient to see a physician. If you read my post thats what I did, I did not suggest he take any drugs, change any pressures I suggested he see his physician ASAP. As far as practicing medicine w/o a license, thats such a hypocritical statement, how many times have you suggested someone change there pressures or this and that, its the same thing just on a different level. Before you get on another rant I support knowledgeable patients changing there pressures as conditions warrant, what I don't support is when someone comes to this forum looking for advise especially on something that COULD be serious, and minimalizing his complaints, when we should be able to recognize the difference between something benign and something that could be serious. Bash me as you will, but I'll sleep well tonight knowing I at least suggested he go to someone ASAP to make sure it wasn't serious, live with it or walk on....
Top

I stand by what I say. You have a degree in respiratory support, NOT medicine. If you want to suggest that someone has an issue that requires a doctor's follow up, that would be good advice. However, you make a medical determination that the poster here has a likelihood of one of two of the most serious rhythmic defects of his heart and scare him beyond belief! That is irresponsible. YOU HAVE NO IDEA what is wrong with him, nor do you have the training or equipment to diagnose electrophysiology of the heart and its supporting components. YOU rail about me discussing pressure changes that I have made to my therapy ENDORSED BY MY DOCTOR, with consultation by a LICENSED MD, not a respiratory therapist. That isn't diagnosing or setting therapy standards--I am discussing what works for me, and how my doctor agrees with what I am doing. You are scaring someone who may have had an issue, or may have had an equipment failure. Should he see a Cardiologist? Yes, if he has one, and has an issue. But, should you scare him into thinking he's going into irreversible Vtach--NO!! If you don't see the difference, perhaps you should look for another field of work.

I will agree my wording could have been better but I believe if you read my original post you'll note i said a HR of 199 was never normal (which is correct) I said most times HR's that high are associated with Atrial Fib (a fairly common arrhythmia) and supra ventricular tachycardia (a much more serious arrythmia) both of which need to be addressed by a physician and if new to the patient as soon as possible. There are other things it could be but as you said without proper testing it's impossible to know. My only intent was to communicate the possible seriousness of the situation and hopefully get him to seek proper medical advice. As to subsequent posts I also said that I supported patients who were knowledgable enough to do so to change there pressures to ensure proper treatment goals and outcomes. I never said a thing that would lead anyone to believe I was trying to be a physician or practicing without a license...I've never suggested you should change professions or anything to that effect because I disagree with you, I don't see why you feel the need to do that to me, I offered advise as you did, we disagree on how it was conveyed. If you think that by being billergent, narrow minded, and offensive your going to chase me off, think again, it won't happen. I'd much rather discuss matters with you politely as an adult, but if goaded into it I will defend myself. Your bias against RRT's is obvious, you don't even know what our knowledge base is, or what are clinical function is. My profession is dedicated to Respiratory/Cardiac care, thats what makes us different from nurses, ask me how to make hospital corners on a bed or how to calibrate a feeding pump or regulate an IV pump, I'd have to pass But ask me to intubate or place an A line, do bronchial challenges, manage ventilators and so on well then your in my element. Bottom line if you don't want to be adult about our disagreements, don't post on them and I'll show you the same courtesy.

Hi people,

I haven't had a chance to read all the posts yet - just got home from work. I'm using Imagehost instead of photobucket and I think I've managed to upload the data to this post. As most of you know, the blue spike is the heart rate - 199, and the green one is the desat down to 88. Hope this works, and thanks again for all of your input.
Jock

yep. Your BP spiked just at the onset of a desat ===> you had an obstrucive event that shut off your O2 supply.

Before starting cpap, I would wake with a start about once every three months and have a racing heart rate. I would immediately take my pulse and it would be around 170. After getting up and moving around, it would start slowing down. Within 10 minutes, it would be down to around 100. Of course, this high heart rate made me very anxious, which can also make your heart rate increase somewhat, so it did take a while for it to get all the way back down to around 80. I'm sure these events were triggered by an apnea, probably a long one. Haven't had that happen since starting treatment.

If I had pre-existing heart condition or untreated HBP, I would have called my doctor and asked about it. (Untreated HBP meaning HBP that wasn't responding to medication; didn't know what else to call it.) If it had happened more often or lasted longer, I would have called my doc even if I didn't have a pre-existing condition. Since none of these situations is me, I didn't call.

People on this forum realize that we're all just offering advice and opinions based on our own experiences and knowledge. And as someone else mentioned, it's posted on here that "information provided on this site is not intended nor recommended as a substitute for professional medical advice." On other sites, I've been "scared" into at least calling my doctor due to responses to posts about my symptoms, but other times I've also been made to feel that certain problems probably weren't that big of a deal. But I know it's ultimately up to me whether or not to contact my doc.

Autopapdude wrote:
You are NOT a doctor. This is misinformation. It is most likely a calculational error, absent of other symptoms. SVT and AF are extremely serious conditions and you are in NO position to even suggest to someone that they have it. Suggesting that over the internet, or diagnosing it as such is dangerous abuse of a little knowledge. Please disregard this nonsense OP, and do ask your doctor if it needs follow up, but only if you are worried. DO you have an existing heart condition?

I see you're at it again. Jay neither "suggested" nor "diagnosed" ANY condition. He pointed out what the provided data MAY indicate. He specifically advised the OP to consult with his doctor. (Just as YOU did, btw... So, what's YOUR degree in?)

You did give one piece of valid advice, tho: he should disregard your nonsense...

Aren't we testy now, Linky? This is after I have been so nice to you lately. Whattsamater, did you not get your prune juice yesterday? Anytime somebody without training gives a medical opinion that is an extreme medical diagnosis (V-tach, and V-fib fall into the category of grave medical conditions), they had better be careful, about not scaring the crap out of somebody. Those are facts best given by a Cardiologist, not someone who is trained in a related medical field, but not an MD. My degrees are in the humanities, so I don't give medical advice--only what works for me, and what works for me with MY DOCTOR'S SUPERVISION.

Have a peachy day, Linkster.

What he said was factual, not opinion. The indications given COULD point to something serious. That's a fact. He did not suggest they DO in this case. That would be an opinion. The only "opinion" he offered is that the OP see his doctor. (Same as you did!)

Autopapdude wrote:Those are facts best given by a Cardiologist

You really don't grasp the difference between fact and opinion, do you?

Every day is "peachy" when you're me! How could it not be? You should try it sometime...

What he said was factual, not opinion. The indications given COULD point to something serious. That's a fact. He did not suggest they DO in this case. That would be an opinion. The only "opinion" he offered is that the OP see his doctor. (Same as you did!)


Autopapdude wrote:
Those are facts best given by a Cardiologist

You really don't grasp the difference between fact and opinion, do you?

Every day is "peachy" when you're me! How could it not be? You should try it sometime...

___

MORE FIBER, Linkovitch. You clearly need a good bowel movement to clear your head! And, I always feel peachy, even when know-it-alls such as you try and get me uptight. lolol.

I'll take that as "I can't argue the facts or back up what I posted, so I'll resort to adolescent bathroom humor and redundant smilies."

Once again I overestimated you. Sorry.

I'll take that as "I can't argue the facts or back up what I posted, so I'll resort to adolescent bathroom humor and redundant smilies."

Once again I overestimated you. Sorry.

__

Argue facts? You wouldn't know a fact that wasn't a Linkovitch personal revelation if it bit you in the arse! I think the only one you overestimated is yourself. Go find a hobby.
http://www.funtrivia.com/playquiz/quiz1 ... 0c8c8.html Linky's alter ego.

Never in the field of human cpapology has so much conflict been brought to so many, by so few - me and my small heart spike conundrum. Makes me feel needed.
Joking aside, I appreciate all the input, am encouraged by the debate and have enjoyed the banter.

Thanks again,

Jock