Very Rapid Heart Beat, But No Fever

[Mobi]

My GF complained of feeling dizzy and nauseas so I suspected low blood pressure.

I checked her with my BP machine and although it was low-ish (average 99/68) it was her rapid heart beat that alarmed me: ranging from 103 to 109 beats per minute. An hour later and it is still just as rapid.

I checked and she definitely has no fever.

This is a puzzle to me as I have never come across rapid heart with no fever that is not the result of exercise, stress or anxiety, and I will obviously have her checked out.

In the meantime I was wondering if anyone could throw some clues onto the possible reasons. She told me that she has felt like this several times before, but not every day.

Sounds like a heart problem - any thoughts anyone?

[Sheryl]

Heart rates shown on BP machines are not that accurate, especially if there is an irregularity in the beat.

Need to measure it directly for a full minute.

100 - 100 is not all that fast, slight anxiety , nausea or any discomfort could do that. So could an excess of caffeine.

Hate to say this but...could she be pregnant? That's the first thing that came to mind when I saw "dizzy and nauseous"....?

The second thing that comes to mind is, is she on any medications? Taking anything to lose/control weight?

[Riley'sLife]

Dehydration? Does she drink enough water? Excess consumption of Cola drinks can cause tachicardia (fast heartbeats), especially when the person is dehydrated either because of lack of water intake, or consumption of dehydrating food and drink. (example of each would be basil seeds -often used by Thais to lose weight, and alcohol respectively.)

[Wrong Turn]

Sheryl, or anyone.

You note that 100 bpm is not that fast and can be the result of cafeeine, being a little nervous, etc.

What is considered to be a normal resting pulse for a 40 year old male?

[Mobi]

Thanks Sheryl and others.

She is not pregnant, in fact she is currently menstruating, but she also has this heart rate problem when she isn't.

This morning she says she feels much better, yet when I checked her heart rate it was consistently 103.

She is a 30 years old, small, very slim lady, about 46 kilos, so no evidence of obesity....

There are no obvious signs of her being anxious or suffering from any kind of distress - in fact she is a very laid back, happy-go-lucky girl, who never gets angry or upset about anything.

She doesn't take any dietary supplements, doesn't drink coffee - only ovaltine in the mornings. in fact she is one of these Thais who never stops snacking, but never puts on weight.

She has admitted that she doesn't drink much water so she may be dehydrated. I will ensure she drinks more and see if that gets her heart rate down. I will continue to monitor and report back.

I would take her to a clinic, but frankly I have no confidence in their ability to diagnose correctly. They will probably send her away with a load of pills and tell her to come back in one week to check progress. Or, if I take her to Bangkok Pattaya, they will probably give her every test known to man and charge me a fortune.

[Sheryl]

Does she get at all short of breath on exertion? (Wondering about valvular disease, which would be the most likely heart problem in a Thai woman of her age).

In terms of medical tests the best option would be not to go in with a complaint (indeed likely to result in what you described)but rather to get a simple check-up. A low end package as long as it includes EKG, CBC (blood count - will check for anemia, another possible cause) and Chest X-ray will do, although if you can talk her into it, would be good to also get a thin prep (pap smear) as if she is like most Thai women she may never have had one. She can request a female doc for that.

3,900 at BPH (1,200 more for the thin prep) per their website and a "buy one, get one free" promotion until the end of the month. http://www.bangkokpattayahospital.com/ebph/ebph.php

If it's been a while since you had your lipids & liver enzymes checked it might be worthwhile for you to get the 5,200 package for yourself and then she gets a check up free...or else take the 3,900 and "add on" SGOT, LDL, uric acid (whichever is cheaper).

They are also offering stress test at 2,500 which is a good price -- again, if you have not had one recently. (Need to inquire in advance about possible need to skip medication you are on that day & be sure they know your full history so appropriate precautions taken during test).

Wrong Turn: at rest, and if on no medications that would affect the heart rate, 60 -80 would be usual, but anything 50 - 100 can be normal. Note that some people's heart rate will go up a bit just from the fact that it is being measured. Rates in the 50's may also be normal in the case of athletes and people on certain medications. The rate should be regular.

[dumball]

One thing not mentioned NOISE , noise causes many health problems for humans but it is not normally considered , it can cause problems early in life with the immune system and motor efficiency . Adults subjected to loud noise can suffer elevated blood pressure and pulse rate together with palpitations in the chest and multiple other problems , that is why noise in the west gets monitored and restricted in residential areas .

Deep stomach breathing can help to relieve the stress and tension precipitated by loud noise which elevates the heart beat , deep breathing into the chest does not have quite the same effect .

My resting heart rate is 58bpm , loud noise can elevate that to 68bpm in a short space of time , I know this because a restaurant opened behind us and was playing very load music , after a few days I asked them to cease and desist , problem solved .

Google the effects of noise on the human body , you will be totally amazed at what testing has come up with .

[leininger]

I have ventricular tachycardia and I am now on beta blocker pills and so heartbeat very slow but before this my heart rate was often over 100, although usually it was 86-90 bpm. However I did not get nauseaus or dizzy.

If your gf has tachycardia it is not necessarily dangerous and many people have this. However I would be careful about hospital here as doctor wanted me ot get ablation surgery right away and when I went back to US doctor there told me this was only in extreme cases and would have to do many more extensive tests before surgery. I suspect hospitals here are very quick to operate, probably to get money. So I would take gf to more than one doctor or at least highly rated hospital before doing anything drastic. Perhaps she only has anxiety or temporary condition.

[Mobi]

No,no noise, except me watching the TV which is sometimes turned up pretty loud as I am hard of hearing.

I may be wrong, but I really don't think she is anxious or stressed about anything. She seems to to be very happy and content - going to her daily English lessons, playing with my dogs, reading, doing her homework, playing music, watching TV, tending her plants in the garden and all kinds of other domestic activities. A busy little thing, but always a smile on her face and never angry or upset.

I too am on beta blockers and my own heart rate is around 60 bpm.

Her rate this morning was still 100 bpm at total rest but today she is not experiencing any dizziness or nausea.

She takes a Thai tonic drink called ANLENE Concentrate, which comes in milk-type cardboard containers. All the writing on the box is in Thai so I have no idea what it contains, but she did say that one of its many claimed properties was that it won't make you fat. Has anyone heard of this product?

Yes, I am very wary about docs and hospitals - frankly I just don't trust them. They bullshit Thais because they don't know any better and never question anything and they bullshit farangs because they know they have deep pockets. Medicine in Thailand is just a business - pure and simple and the Hippocratic oath was long since abandoned in favour of the mighty Baht

[Mobi]

Just did a google on Anlene. It seems to be a high calcium milk product. No mention of it having slimming properties or causing a high heart rate, but who knows?

[dumball]

'Mobi' timestamp='1305175137' post='4418245']

Just did a google on Anlene. It seems to be a high calcium milk product. No mention of it having slimming properties or causing a high heart rate, but who knows?

Should you decide to take her to a hospital for a heart check up , I urge you to go to BNH and ask for Dr Wiwat in the heart department , I can assure you he is an excellent heart specialist , I know from my treatment by him , he is a straight shooter with no BS .

[FBN]

Mobi, may also be worth while (not sure if Sheryl has mentioned it) to have a blood test done for Thyroid functions; fast heart rate can be an early sign of an hyperactive gland and also constant snacking and no weight gain..

[FBN]

Inflammatory and off-topic post deleted.

It is a health/medical forum lets keep it civil..

[Penkoprod]

I dont know if the hospitals give a hard copy of any tests one pays to have done, but wouldnt the most sensible thing be to have a test done on her heart, blood count, cholesterol and so on, and then you will have something to go on, instead of just supposition. I know you have no faith in the doctors, but at least the tests cant lie.

BHP have a "special" this month

Penkoprod

[Sheryl]

A Thai "tonic" that promises weight loss would be more than likely to cause this, but I have trouble relating that to "Anlene" which is AFAIK just fortified milk...and most certainly doesn't do anything in terms of weight loss.

Sure she isn't also taking something else for weight loss?

Otherwise as before, my suggestion is just to get a routine check-up...with TSH add-on as FBN suuggested.

[Wrong Turn]

Wrong Turn: at rest, and if on no medications that would affect the heart rate, 60 -80 would be usual, but anything 50 - 100 can be normal. Note that some people's heart rate will go up a bit just from the fact that it is being measured. Rates in the 50's may also be normal in the case of athletes and people on certain medications. The rate should be regular.

Sheryl,

Thanks again for your information. I appreciate it. Cheers.

[PMNL]

Agreed with FBN, Thyroid function should be checked.

You may observe if she has frequent bowel movement, sweat allot, get frustrated/irritable easily, her hands shake(Tremor),her eyes bulging(Exophthalmos)?

Her weight has gone down recently together with rapid heart rate/tachycardia?

The blood test for TSH and Free T4 are basic thyroid function that you can get the asnwer whether it is yes or no and I do believe that you can do that at any reputable lab since you have a problem with thai doctor so much.

[Phil Conners]

Mobi, may also be worth while (not sure if Sheryl has mentioned it) to have a blood test done for Thyroid functions; fast heart rate can be an early sign of an hyperactive gland and also constant snacking and no weight gain..

Mobi, Pattaya Clinic Laboratory in Naklua does the Thyroid tests for ~800 baht, a fraction of what they ask in BPH. Check in the morning, they mail you the results same afternoon in a PDF file. PM me if you want the address details.

[lopburi3]

If that is just for the TSH blood test it does not seem cheap as major hospital charge yesterday here in Bangkok for that specific test was 550 baht.

[Phil Conners]

I don't know the specifics of this, other than I asked the price and this is what I was told. He did mention that Thyroid tests were several tests and that was the reason for the higher price. I think TSH was just one of the tests he was recommending for Thyroid. He has a whole menu card with different tests, details and prices, so it's not like he's making it up as he goes.

As reference he charge 200 baht for (full) cholesterol test (total, HDL, LDL and Trig) and 100 baht for liver enzyme tests so I think his prices are in general very cheap. BHP for reference told me they charge around 1,400 baht for the cholesterol test alone.

[Penkoprod]

Mobi, may also be worth while (not sure if Sheryl has mentioned it) to have a blood test done for Thyroid functions; fast heart rate can be an early sign of an hyperactive gland and also constant snacking and no weight gain..

Mobi, Pattaya Clinic Laboratory in Naklua does the Thyroid tests for ~800 baht, a fraction of what they ask in BPH. Check in the morning, they mail you the results same afternoon in a PDF file. PM me if you want the address details.

This the address?:

678/1 Moo 5, Pattaya Naklua,

Pattaya,

Bang Lamung,

Chonburi,

20150

[Phil Conners]

Yes, thats the one

[lopburi3]

I don't know the specifics of this, other than I asked the price and this is what I was told. He did mention that Thyroid tests were several tests and that was the reason for the higher price. I think TSH was just one of the tests he was recommending for Thyroid. He has a whole menu card with different tests, details and prices, so it's not like he's making it up as he goes.

As reference he charge 200 baht for (full) cholesterol test (total, HDL, LDL and Trig) and 100 baht for liver enzyme tests so I think his prices are in general very cheap. BHP for reference told me they charge around 1,400 baht for the cholesterol test alone.

In that case it must be for more than just the TSH as the 200 baht for HDL/LDL/Trig appears to be very reasonable (and BHP rather high). We paid 650 for LDL/Trig at same hospital used for the TSH test.

[Phil Conners]

I don't know the specifics of this, other than I asked the price and this is what I was told. He did mention that Thyroid tests were several tests and that was the reason for the higher price. I think TSH was just one of the tests he was recommending for Thyroid. He has a whole menu card with different tests, details and prices, so it's not like he's making it up as he goes.

As reference he charge 200 baht for (full) cholesterol test (total, HDL, LDL and Trig) and 100 baht for liver enzyme tests so I think his prices are in general very cheap. BHP for reference told me they charge around 1,400 baht for the cholesterol test alone.

In that case it must be for more than just the TSH as the 200 baht for HDL/LDL/Trig appears to be very reasonable (and BHP rather high). We paid 650 for LDL/Trig at same hospital used for the TSH test.

It is also my experience that there are much more reasonable priced hospitals in Bangkok than in Pattaya.

As for the Thyroid tests, maybe Mobi can tell us the details of what it includes if he goes there ....

[anterian]

As a type 2 diabetic I regularly check my blood sugar and blood pressure. Seeing me do this many villagers ask to check their BP also. I now know it is normal for them to have a low BP by our standards and equally a higher pulse rate. I am guessing but I think this may be an adaptation to the constant high ambient temperature.