Does Chronic Tachycardia Lead To Heart Problems?

[mjan]

This is a question I am going to ask the autonomic doc in July.

I dont want to take a pill every time I get tachy...thinking is that the drug affects more then the symptom is prescribed for..and I am drug sensitive.

But was wondering if being tachy for many years...or with high high HR damaging in the long run?

Thanks for your responses..Jan

[ajw4790]

Hi,

You can look up past posts using the search engine, as the question has come up before. But, I think what all the journal articles and drs have said is if it is just tachycardia with no conduction abnormalities/arrhythmias, then there is no damage to the heart muscle.

So, as long as your tachy is due to POTS and have no arrhythmias than you should not have anything to worry about.

[bjt22]

I think it might depend upon the level of the tachycardia. For a long, long time, my resting heart rate was running 120-130 bpm. This was when I was just sitting around doing absolutely nothing. It was my then "normal". Not too many doctors were wild about this and speculated that it could have the same effect as long standing hypertension.

[erikainorlando]

I am no doctor but honestly, beta blockers are the only way for me to function. I reallly felt like I was gong to have a stroke before they put me on bb's. I saw one doctor who said that I really needed to get my hr under control before I did have a stroke or my heart gave out.....but she was not a cardiologist. BUT I must say I am 46 (not 25) and my hr was 150 - 180 everytime i stood up.

On a final note, my firrst cardiologist did tell me that he liked hr's between 60 - 90. He wasn't happy with them over that...he didn't explain the details but I was too sick to ask and the bb's made me feel a lot better.

That is just my experience...Erika

[bjt22]

I am no doctor but honestly, beta blockers are the only way for me to function. I reallly felt like I was gong to have a stroke before they put me on bb's. I saw one doctor who said that I really needed to get my hr under control before I did have a stroke or my heart gave out.....but she was not a cardiologist. BUT I must say I am 46 (not 25) and my hr was 150 - 180 everytime i stood up.

On a final note, my firrst cardiologist did tell me that he liked hr's between 60 - 90. He wasn't happy with them over that...he didn't explain the details but I was too sick to ask and the bb's made me feel a lot better.

That is just my experience...Erika

Over the years, I was pretty much told the same. For a long time, I disregarded it. However, it finally was brought home to me that my needing a beta blocker wasn't just about me feeling better, it was indeed about my staying alive. My heart rate was out of control, my blood pressure often spiked and often stayed high for hours on end, and I had probable coronary artery spasms. That said, the beta blocker did make me feel better, too. Even helped with migraine/cluster headache frequency and intensity.

[iheartcats]

I am no doctor but honestly, beta blockers are the only way for me to function. I reallly felt like I was gong to have a stroke before they put me on bb's. I saw one doctor who said that I really needed to get my hr under control before I did have a stroke or my heart gave out.....but she was not a cardiologist. BUT I must say I am 46 (not 25) and my hr was 150 - 180 everytime i stood up.

On a final note, my firrst cardiologist did tell me that he liked hr's between 60 - 90. He wasn't happy with them over that...he didn't explain the details but I was too sick to ask and the bb's made me feel a lot better.

That is just my experience...Erika

Over the years, I was pretty much told the same. For a long time, I disregarded it. However, it finally was brought home to me that my needing a beta blocker wasn't just about me feeling better, it was indeed about my staying alive. My heart rate was out of control, my blood pressure often spiked and often stayed high for hours on end, and I had probable coronary artery spasms. That said, the beta blocker did make me feel better, too. Even helped with migraine/cluster headache frequency and intensity.

Same here. I didn't want to start a BB thinking it may be a med I have to be on forever...but I guess it's better than the alternative.

I'm able to get by with 20mg/twice a day right now. When I start working full time again (here's hope) I'll probably do 20mg/three times a day but my EP says this is still a low dose (generic of Inderal).

Talk to your doctor about it, but it's always better to start low and work up!

[bjt22]

I've been on a beta blocker for many years now. I take a largish dose twice a day. Started out lower, and there were some side effects, but they went away after a month or so. That's why I encourage people to sometimes hang in there with them for awhile!