pouding heart and racing pulse?

Hey ladies. So ever since I've been pregnant my pulse has been running over 100 bpm resting. But the last two weeks my heart has just been POUNDING. I know to an extent it's normal because of all the extra work it's doing to pump all that extra blood volume to the babies but this is just insane. I literally cannot even switch positions on the couch or stand up and walk to the bathroom without my heart pounding like I've just run a marathon. And just now finishing up a load of laundry, I'm even out of breath!

Have any of you ladies experienced this? What did you do to help it subside? I've been drinking TONS of water and trying to move slowly but with a squirley two year old it's not always possible.

 

It is happening to me too. I mentioned it to my Peri and he's having me go in for an EKG this week, but he said it was not urgent. I have had an abnormal ekg in the past but had a normal stress test (the treadmill test). My peri said it can be normal, especially at night when we are laying down, but you should probably mention it to your Dr.

The pounding is so annoying! My last "episode" lasted almost 3 hours.

 

I am sorry this is happening to you. I know anything abnormal with your heart can be scary. It is working extra hard right now but I think a call to your doctor couldnt hurt. Keep us posted. I am sure it is nothing.
I would suggest laying down for a bit on your left side and see if that helps it slow down. Take care!

 

I know! It's like always there in my ears and I can feel it in my neck sometimes, too! I have an appointment with her on Monday so I'm going to ask her about it then unless it gets worse then I'll give her office a call.

 

I have it too but I figured it was a normal preg thing due to the big blood volume increase. Ive had it with all my pregs so far. Its very annoying.

 

I've had it too... I never did with my singletons, just this one. At one point I mentioned it to a nurse (actually before I knew it was twins) and she said it was normal. It is not as bad as some of yours, though. It sounds like I have more opportunities to rest than you all. Which is what I do when it starts really pounding, I lay down... and then usually fall asleep. I think it is worse when I am tired, so when it starts happening a lot I try to lay down and nap if possible.

 

I have something similar at times.

Just the other night, all of a sudden my pulse/heart seems to race and it feels like my heart is up in my throat. This lasted for aboout 2 mins - the longest yet.

I also have it every now and then.
Even though my blood pressure has been ok so far, it is a little scary I agree. Everything seems scary when thers 2 in there though!!!! :unsure:

 

I vividly remember having this pretty early on in the pg. I was on the highway & almost had a panic attack as a result. My bp was always normal at appmts, though, & I delivered without complications to 2 pretty healthy full term babies.

 

I have this as well, but it's gotten better since I upped my iron supplementation.

 

my bp has been fine but my pulse has been at 110 at rest and is so annoying...im so out of breath and tired! im having an echocardiogram this week.

 

I hope by now you've seen your dr. I had the same experience and my ob took one look at me and said she needed to test my thyroid. Turned out I had developed hyperthyroidism! My heart was racing and I was so short of breath I couldn't even read my son a book. Also couldn't sleep bkz of the racing heart. It is VERY important that hyperthyroidims be treated during pregnancy, so please insist that your ob test you for it (it's a simple blood test).

Good luck & let us know how it goes!

 

I did see her, today actually. She listened to my heart and my breath sounds and said she really feels like it's just all the extra blood volume combined with the babies starting to push up on my lungs. It actually seems to have toned down some since I posted this. Just gets really bad if I have to chase my son down or something like that.

As far as the hyperthyroid goes, I am actually hypothyroid. I have been since pre-pregnancy.

 

Since reading what PP said about taking iron, I made a point to take mine (I had been slacking off on that.) Ever since I've been taking my iron regularly, I haven't had issues with my heart racing for no reason.

 

Hi all,
I just wanted to say i talked to my Doc about this and he said it was normal and that it sounds counterintuitive, but here is a trick you can do when you feel the pounding/racing heart- Take a deep breath in and hold it, then when you let it out do it slowly. He also said it is similar to breathing into a bag- like when someone is hyperventilating? So you can try that.
It does happen to me more when I am lying down. So weird!

 

Hi there, I just wanted to add a little something. I started having this trouble at the beginning of my second twin pregnancy and went on to 24 hour holters etc. They told me the same thing, and come to find out about 12 months after giving birth i started having horrible black out spells, and before these spells would have the same episodes my heart racing, high pulse, etc etc. After a few months of testing was diagnosed with supra ventricular tachycardia, which is an irregular heartbeat, but i never had it before. They told me it was due to the stress on my body of carrying the babies. The only reason I really wanted to post this is because it literally almost killed me, Ive had an EP done and they couldnt fix it and right now remain on medicines for probably the rest of my life. My day to day life will never be the same after this. Theres days where it really flares up and I cant do hardly anything.

Not saying that this is something any of you all would have, but I just want people to be aware that it is very possible to happen. Its an extremely scary thing to have to deal with pregnant, and it doesnt get any easier afterwards.