Exercise And Heart Rate

[dancer65]

I am hoping that someone can share their experience on exercising and heart rate.

A brief back ground, I crashed last August and was not able to do even menial tasks because of the tychardia and dizziness along with all the other POTS symptons. It has been a slow progress but I am slowly improving in some areas, I have been stretching, doing yoga and floor strengthening exercises so last week I decided to start swimming. I am not a good swimmer so I gently pootled up the pool about 20 metres, my heart rate was at 168 and my100 max should be 170. I did continue to swim with lots of resting in between lengths and was pleased to swim 18 lengths in all, although it took me forever and a lot of determimation! During this time my HR stayed pretty much the same.

So my question is, is this normal in POTS patients to reach max HR even doing gentle exercise and by pushing through do you see an improvement.

I would like to add I am in the UK, I had poor man TTT for my diagnoises , my Dr had ordered a TTT to confirm, but waiting list here is about 9 months, I feel pretty much alone trying to research how to help myself,this forum has been so helpful

Sorry for the long post , thank you in advance

[Katybug]

I can reach my mac heart rate just changing the sheets on my bed. I find different exercises and activities cause different increases in my heart rate. I have resistance bands and I can do quite a bit with them with minimal increase in HR bur anything that involves a lot of bending at the waste shoots my HR up very quickly. Also exercise/activities that make my arms go over my head shoots my HR up and gives me chest pain.

[Sunshinegirl]

I cant always figure out what makes my heart race! When I have had days of adequate salt and water without diarrhea, I don't notice much of a change...until later.... On these days I usually over work myself and clean everything. By the end of the day, I am miserable with a racing heart and sweating while sleeping. The only think that helps is to raise the head of my bed more and try to bear down holding my breath. Not exercising for a while will also more problems than getting a bit of exercise every day. The hard part is knowing when to stop.

[maggie]

What I found for getting my heart rate lower was to slowing introduce exercise in small amounts. When I started my standing heart rate was 140, now after five years of exercise it's down to 90, fifty beats per minute, I would say that is success. They say swimming is the best form of exercise, but with pots what I have found is: if I use my legs and arms at the same time my heart rate goes much higher. So what I did was to start my building up my leg muscles first, only using those muscles, my heart rate stayed lower. As I have built up my legs and core muscles slowly, I have been able to add my arms to the process as well. I still have a difficult time using both without my heart rate going too high. I have worked closely with my doctor on this. I believe the key is going slow and making small improvements and resting like you are doing. Keep it up, listen to your body, and knowing when to stop is very important, pushing through is not always the answer.

[dancer65]

Thanks to all of you for replying, it is very comforting to hear others experiences!

Walking up the stairs seems to get my heart racing the most at the moment.

Maggie thanks for your input I will give that a try next time I go swimming, back to feeling really off this week, even gentle stretching and exercise iare leaving my arms and legs with severe pains which are waking me in the night.....sigh.

At least my face muscles don't ache so I keep trying to smile

[maggie]

I live in a condo on the 13th floor a year ago I started walking up the stairs. It has taken me a year to be able to walk up all 13 flights of stairs without stopping. I agree walking stairs is difficult, but can be done. Don't get discouraged dancer65, this is where patience and just grit keeps you going. Don't look at what you can't do, but what you can each and every day.

[dancer65]

Thank you for your encouraging words Maggie I know you understand the frustration, still haven't be able to do a full weeks work in 8 months, I am self employed so its a bit of a problem!

Spoke with my Dr yesterday he was concerned about HR so I see him Monday, nice to know he is taking an interest

[Claired]

Sometimes I've found that swimming is actually more tiring than walking, esp. if you have to keep putting your feet back down to take a break (like me ). You may want to try walking in the pool? The water will still constrict your blood vessels, if it's cool water.

[Ckitz]

Recently, my BP has shot way up. Now ,my lower number..diastolic stays at 95 - 102. I am feeling sick...nausea and chest pain, and am hot one minute and the next minute I have goose bumps feeling chilled. . These numbers occur even when I am not exerting myself. I saw my doctor and she wants me to record my BP first thing in the morning for 17 days..til next appt. . Is this a normal Dysautonomia problem? I want to go swimming but I am concerned it will shoot up too high. Is resting helpful? I am always on the go no matter how I feel. Can this cause a stroke, or heart attack? I am scared. Would welcome any advice from anyone else that experiences this.

[Eagle3312]

I walked for a mile yesterday, HR was 130-140 just walking on level ground. Last year HR would be around 100 while walking. Also diastolic is between 95-115. AS have never fainted before, i am wondering is it OK to try swimming without a lifeguard even if i feel a bit dizzy.