What's Your Heartrate? Should I Be Worried??

SlavOz on 17/03/2019 - 21:00

I'm 28, male, and 62kgs (really skinny). My heart rate is constantly between 88-102bpm. Should I be worried?

I had a ton of gastro health issues over the years which means I eat extremely cleanly - mostly home-cooked meals, no sugar at all, no junkfood whatsoever, no vegetable oil etc. Although I think my habits are creating a problem - I try to follow a low-carb diet so I eat a lot of peanut butter, coconut oil, and red meat. I also have 2 coffees a day. Due to being weak and already underweight I pretty never exercise at all. So I'm assuming all these things can be contributing.

For reference I'd appreciate if you could post your general age/gender and heart rate so I can get an idea.

(P.S - I've asked the doctor, he measured my heart rate on the spot, said it was normal and I shouldn't worry based of a 10 second analysis, so I'm not really convinced).

Thanks for your help

Health & Beauty

Comments

  • qwerty on 17/03/2019 - 21:08
    +1

    Just go see that doctor and if he doesnt help another and ask for a Holter monitor

    • elgrande on 17/03/2019 - 21:14
      +1

      +1 for a 24 hour holter

  • serpserpserp on 17/03/2019 - 21:09
    +7

    Perhaps getting a second opinion would be worthwhile. Asking a bargain forum for health advice is fraught with danger.

    • BookerDeWitt on 18/03/2019 - 06:24
      +2

      True. But, more importantly, he would be financially better off.

  • hussey25 on 17/03/2019 - 21:11
    +3

    General resting heart rate for normal population is between 60-100 BPM so I would say your heart rate is fine. If you did want to lower it some cardio would benefit in lowering that heart rate as your heart becomes more efficient at supplying blood (some athletes can have resting heart rates as low as 40 BPM).

    If you are still concerned ask your GP to do an ECG to discover if there is any potential arrythmias or tachycardia within the heart.

    • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2019 - 22:15
      +1

      There is an urban myth, possibly true, that the blood doping tour de france riders during the 80s had such incredible cardio that they risked heart attacks overnight from low resting heart rates. The rumour is they would do mild exercise around the team hotels through the night to keep their heart rate above of 30. Miguel Indurain had a resting rate 28 !

      • Diji1 on 18/03/2019 - 00:14
        +1

        Now retired MMA fighter Micheal Bisping, who has never tested dirty I think, has had a resting heart rate of 32BPM during his career.

      • trongy on 18/03/2019 - 09:11
        +2

        It's the very high red blood cell count (haematocrit), produced by doping, combined with low heart rate that greatly increases the risk of heart attacks.

        It's not a myth that in after 1990, doping with EPO became very widespread in the sport of cycling. Riders did sleep with heart rate monitors and if the alarm went off, support crew were tasked with waking the rider and getting them to walk around to bring their heart rate back up to a safe level.

  • sahh on 17/03/2019 - 21:17
    +4

    Get a second opinion from another doctor.

    I had a friend that was also very thin for his build and could get away with eating terrible food without putting on any weight at all, he eventually went to do some tests and turned out he had hyper thyroidism. His usual GP didn’t pick it up until he specifically asked for that to be tested

  • pjetson on 17/03/2019 - 21:32
    +3

    I'm almost 64 years old and my resting heart rate is high 50's to low 60's, which is apparently typical for an athlete. I'm far from an athlete, though.

    The only point I'd make is that everyone is different. Even if everyone's heart rate was the same as yours, some would be healthy and some would not.

    • Diji1 on 18/03/2019 - 00:15
      +1

      I think professional athletes are more around 40 but maybe age is considered.

  • grog on 17/03/2019 - 21:35

    Stop the coffee for 10 days.

    drink green tea instead of coffee for the 10 days

    report back here?

    • dcep on 18/03/2019 - 12:21

      still higher than decaf coffee

  • quarkz on 17/03/2019 - 21:39
    +2

    I'm 32, female and 45kg. Resting heart rate high 40's, low 50's. I'm a cyclist though.

    I would get a second opinion. What is your resting heart rate at home versus at the doctor? Anxiety may be causing an elevated heart rate.

  • CheapskateQueen on 17/03/2019 - 21:48
    -1

    weak, underweight, and never exercise.

    i honestly thought this was a troll post.

    eat better food mate. do some cardio. do some resistance training.

  • [Deactivated] on 17/03/2019 - 22:12
    -1

    I think it's too high for you. When you hit your forties it's harder to be sedentary anyway and exercise is a good thing. Climb stairs. :) It's low impact and good for your heart, lungs and some of the bigger muscles in the body.

  • Sage on 17/03/2019 - 22:14

    For reference I'd appreciate if you could post your general age/gender and heart rate so I can get an idea.

    Mine's currently 90bpm. Male and roughly same age as the original post.

  • scrimshaw on 18/03/2019 - 00:17

    I also have 2 coffees a day.

    Skip the coffees and your heart rate should go down. Also try and do some cardio and also resistance training.

    My resting heart rate is also the same as yours, 88 bpm and sometimes 100bpm depending on how I'm feeling. Even just doing housework it goes above 100bpm, and I do lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle so I'm not exactly the picture of health either.

    Go to your doctor and insist that you get a electrocardiogram diagnosis which only takes 10 min to do, that should tell you if you have arrhythmia.

  • eggles01 on 18/03/2019 - 00:18

    google search,what should my heart rate be,you will get hundreds maybe thousands come up and just select a couple of pages from each country and see what they say

  • MeesusEff on 18/03/2019 - 00:47

    My resting is usually 100-130, 140+ if I'm puffing. Have tachycardia and Mobitz 2(which kinda contradict each other) . I drink coffees for the taste, doesn't make me more awake or anything, energy drinks don't affect me either. Feel tired all the time, but that could be my sleeping habit. Doesn't make me feel anxious or jittery since I've had it my whole life (I think)

  • PlasticSpaceman on 18/03/2019 - 07:53

    Those numbers dont sound too bad although you don't mention your height. You also don't seem to mention what your resting heart rate is - you need to know that to work out what your actual range should be. Get a decent monitor and measure your heart rate over time. And be careful with that diet - go to a nutritionist and review it.

  • shaybisc on 18/03/2019 - 08:44

    I would be horrified if that was my resting heart rate. I'm 60, male, bare minimum of cardio exercise and mine is 55-57. I've got a female friend who is 63, fat and never exercises and hers is 50.

    I would get a referral to a cardiologist. Maybe I'm wrong. I don't know but I've never heard of anybody with a heart rate that high among my friends and certainly not anyone young and skinny.

    What are you using to measure it?

  • Typical16-bitEnjoyer on 18/03/2019 - 08:58
    +3

    Welcome to OzMedical. Australia's forefront bargain medical community.

    Please wait and a doctor will be with you shortly to provide a second opinion.

  • dashy1 on 18/03/2019 - 09:45

    Resting heart rate 50-55 bpm. Female, 39, overweight, cardio 3x a week, non smoker /drinker/ no coffee

  • theHMASfriendship on 18/03/2019 - 10:11
    +3

    I have a resting heart rate of 55-60bpm, 120-125bpm when browsing ozbargain and 170-180bpm while reading jv's comments.

  • blawler05 on 18/03/2019 - 10:41

    My resting heart rate is about 55bpm.

    Can go up to about 65-70 bpm during the day at work.

    When active will get closer to 100-120 (Walking to the station, up stairs etc)

    On the bike average of 144 bpm over a 2hr ride, with a peak of 175 bpm.

    It can vary from person to person. Many factors can affect it.

    Keep going to a doctor.

    I am 42 and 128kgs

  • Zachary on 18/03/2019 - 11:54

    Should I be worried??

    When you drop dead on the floor, THEN you can start to worry, until then, trust in your doctors assessment.

    • Zachary on 18/03/2019 - 13:26

      ….then again you could end up like that girl in the states, I think it was a girl, where the doctors said she was alright but she wasn't really and they tried to convince the doctor that and as per usual, the doctor would refuse all claims and reasoning by their patients, and the parents did some googling around which revealed the true cause but of course the doctors being stubborn, don't believe them or google's results and as a result, a week later or two as they toughened up and kinda went with it, the girl died and the reason was, the same reason that brought up from their google search…..whatever that was….I can't find the article so I can't link it here unfortunate I think this was it

      …but it was a couple or so years back….and on the news on TV…

      I'm sure that doctor and the place he worked at was surely screwed over by her death….hahaha

      Here's another good read, haven't read all of it but it might relevant: https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/02/when-evid…

      ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

  • Chris Topher on 18/03/2019 - 12:14

    Dr. Google is the worst person for diagnosis, I haven't been able to find any qualifications with Google on it.

    Find a cardiologist with at least these:- MBBS, MD, FRACP, FCSANZ

  • Karfaffel on 18/03/2019 - 12:32

    That does sound high for your age and together with being skinny I'd investigate if you have a hyper thyroid condition. Not everyone does well on a low carb/keto diet especially if it's not done very carefully. Peanuts are often on lists of foods to be avoided. Perhaps substitute with other nuts for a while?

    For reference I'm in my mid 40s and resting heart rate is around 65. I try to eat healthy and do a little bit of exercise. I can put on weight but generally have never had to worry about it.

    Definitely get some checks done. Best to catch these things early.

    • dcep on 18/03/2019 - 12:42

      i thought natural peanut butter (Mayvers/Pics) are healthier than most things

      i know everything has to be in moderation but still it's better than high carbs/sugars/sodium/transfat that most crap are loaded with

      poly/mono/sat fat is the last thing to worry about between sugars/sodium/transfat

  • dcep on 18/03/2019 - 12:36

    blood pressure is more crucial

    have it measured

  • Beanvee on 18/03/2019 - 13:01
    +2

    Due to being weak and already underweight I pretty never exercise at all.

    That'd be the biggest cause imo. I'm 24 and used to be at 55kg and never exercise, I'd rest between 80-100bpm, and when I first started gym I'd be up to 150bpm.
    Now that I've been going to gym for a while, I rest closer to 60bpm and around 140pm when doing cardio.

    As a side note as someone who was in your position, you'd be surprised how quickly you can improve. Since I started skinny and weak, compared to my friends who started fat, my progress was much more noticeable and since the original bar was so low, any improvement looked massive. They complained a lot about how my results were so much more apparent so much sooner.

  • uedamasaki on 18/03/2019 - 14:25
    +3

    GP here.
    If that's your resting heart rate I do feel this is a bit high, especially if it's near or into the 100s. If you're still concerned definitely get a second opinion. There are many causes of an elevated heart rate which you can't really rule out without a more thorough assessment. As mentioned above hyperthroidism can cause an elevated heart rate. So can abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), endocrine issues, infection, etc. At the end of the day it may end up being physiological, but it sounds like the rest have not been adequately ruled out.

  • ozbjunkie on 18/03/2019 - 18:10

    Place a clock with a second hand within viewing distance of your bed. Measure your pulse for a full 60 or 120 seconds when you wake up naturally, without an alarm clock. Move as little as possible before you measure. This is your resting heart rate.

    Could be also anxiety. Yes 88 is high unless you're really anxious, caffeinated, on some other medication, etc. Start exercising regardless of this issue, your 60 year old self will thank you.

    PS I'm a 34 year old reasonably unfit (can run 2km, not 5km without rests) chronic nicotine vaper and ex smoker with moderate anxiety and a resting heart rate of 70 or so.

  • bobwokeup on 18/03/2019 - 19:25

    I'm no expert but I've got hiatus hernia so have had to change my diet as well. You could try bullet proof coffees as they fill you up for longer and have essential fats. If you don't like that make sure you eat before drinking coffee as I'm not meant to drink it but can't give up coffee it gets me through the day haha
    I recently hit 40 and am probably the fittest I've ever been so the changes over many years mind you feel like they are making a difference. My watch tells me my resting heart rate is 48bpm and walking average is 98bpm so maybe a 2nd doctors opinion is not a bad idea, but I wouldn't be worried my heart rate goes up to 190bpm when working out.
    Hit me up anytime if you want any suggestions on what I do but all in moderation is my motto!!

  • lainey13 on 18/03/2019 - 20:13

    Mine is around 80 and I'm quite a regular gym goer. Worry more about cholesterol, blood sugar levels and blood pressure.

  • SlavOz on 22/03/2019 - 00:32
    +1

    Hey Dr's, thanks for all the insights. Firstly I've started excersizing. Tried cardio but I hate it so I'm going to start doing weights - I could use the added muscle anyway :P

    I realized my high heart was always measured while standing (or right after sitting down after running around the office at work). For the first time I've measured after a few minutes of sitting back on my bed and I'm getting between 69-77bpm. Although immediately upon standing I'll measure at 85+. From what I understand this is fairly normal.

    I'll get a second opinion from a more thorough doc regardless. Although I'm not even sure how to begin to explain to my doctor that I'm 28, skinny, no alcohol or nicotine for over 5 years now, and I'm worried about my heart health :P

  • [Deactivated] on 25/03/2019 - 00:24

    I'm male, 36 years old, 183 cm tall, 85kg, 10% body fat atm and my resting heart rate is 50-55bpm. Used to be lower when I was running marathons but it's just gym, cycling and swimming now.

    Not sure how this is going to help. If you're worried, speak to your GP or get a second opinion from a medical expert not ozbargain.

    • ozbjunkie on 26/03/2019 - 10:06

      Abs pics or gtfo

      • Zachary on 27/03/2019 - 01:17

        …of course you wanna see his 10% fat, rock hard 8 pack abs, you grill….

      • [Deactivated] on 27/03/2019 - 07:06

        I've posted pics before and got negged to oblivion. So did others who posted their progress pics including Scrooge McDuck. Not falling for this again.

        • ozbjunkie on 27/03/2019 - 08:43

          Fair.

        • Zachary on 27/03/2019 - 16:01

          awwww someone is self conscious about their public image on a forum……but meh, wouldn't blame ya, everyone here is an introvert….no one is an extrovert here….

          • [Deactivated] on 27/03/2019 - 16:33

            @Zachary: I'm quite the opposite actually: introvert in real life but over-sharer on ozb.

            I don't mind valid negs but being negged because you're in good shape feels like bullying.

            • Zachary on 27/03/2019 - 18:48

              @[Deactivated]: hahaaha, they're just jelly they don't have a nice rock hard 8 pack abs you do…hahaha Being jelly supposedly is also a reasonably excuse to neg……shame you can't lookup who it is that negged you coz then you would be able to ind out who's so jelly of your ripped body…hahaha

  • [Deactivated] on 29/03/2019 - 21:42
    +1

    Your resting heart-rate is certainly a touch high, warrants checks on various things maybe contributing.

    On upside of your impending death (there's a contribution right there! ;-) you have reminded me of a very nearly perfect pop song.

    The remix, in order to get your heartrate up a bit. Slightly briefer radio edit to start off with. You know, just in case…
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYhp-LAA504
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40tlJsq8WzA

    :-)

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