What is the ideal heart rate?

It depends on to many factors to answer accurately. Age, fitness level etc., but what you are describing seen rather high. I would need to be running a marathon and hit a hill early in the race to get anywhere near that high.

Well I’m 20. I don’t think I’m out of shape. I can still turn tricks and whatnot. But I was never able to run for longer than 10 minutes.

For an adult, around 80 is considered to be the “textbook” ideal.

I don’t think that’s right…

My resting pulse is around 48 bpm, my anaerobic pulse around 100–110, my aerobic pulse around 160–175 but I have just turned fifty-six and the higher rates slow with age. What is your blood pressure when it is over 200bpm?

@geniusatwork For an adult, around 80 is considered to be the “textbook” ideal.

Says who?

An average (healthy but non-athletic) fit adult at rest in my experience is around sixty.

I don’t know what my blood pressure is when I’m exercising. It’s normally something like 107/70

@Facade It’s normally something like 107/70

That is good. Mine is 100–105/55–60 and I exercise for more than an hour a day every day of the week. If your blood pressure doesn’t go really high with that rapid pulse rate then you are probably quite healthy, but if it does, you need to be careful.

OK

That seems really high. I know during pregnancy, when it comes to exercise they say not to let the heart rate go over 140 (that’s the old regulations, but they don’t push it too often) So, to me that seems high, since my normal resting rate is similar to yours @Facade
Whenever mine goes over 110 at the doctors, that’s high for me!
hopefully a doctor will comment

Do you mean resting pulse rate? Mine was 72 last time I checked.

@Facade Do you mean resting pulse rate? Mine was 72 last time I checked.

Your pulse when at rest varies all through the day. You normally take a resting pulse on first waking.

Oh, well then scratch that

crap, I was thinking systolic/diastolic when I wrote 110

Oh ok

@Facade Can you feel your heart beating when you are resting? 72 is a little high for resting, and your rate when exercising is high also. You could get your thyroid checked? Do you have a lump in your neck? Trouble sleeping 8 hours? Dry skin, eyes, hair? The other option is it might just be your normal, everyone is different.

Also, my pulse is high and my blood pressure gets very low when my thyroid is too fast.

@JLeslie Well that is a part of my suspected heart issues. Sometimes it pounds slowly (if that makes any sense), and I can feel it..kinda hurts. No lump, I sleep for 10–12 hours, no dry skin, naturally dry hair, and my eyes feel weird sometimes.

I would get the blood test done next time you go to the doctor, it is TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) and they will check your electrolytes and some other stuff. Does it feel like you are missing a beat, or anything like that? Also, important to stay hydrated, that can affect heart rate.

You sleep a lot, that can be thyroid also, but your symptoms are a little contradictory for thyroid because fast pulse would be with trouble sleeping, slow pulse would more likely go with needing more sleep.

I wouldn’t be panicked by the way.

Yea, it does feel like that. I checked online for thyroid problems matching my symptoms a year ago, but I was on both sides of the issue so I left it alone. I’m going to have a hormone test done soon, I wonder if that is involved in that test.

Should be. Look at the blood test order yourself or ask before you leave the docs office, or if the doc is not requiring you go to his office ask the person drawing your blood to make sure they test for it. Should be at minimum “TSH”, and they might check “T4 free” and “T3” and some others.

Are you having any other symptoms? Discharge from your nipples (can be pituatary which is the kind of parent of all hormones)? Anything that might seem unrelated or related?

Also, be sure they check your vitamin D. I am assuming that is you in the pic? Black people need much more sun to get enough D. Do you spend time in the sun? Do you use SPF? SPF blocks D and being dark skinned slows absorption of D. D affects hormones.

Did you cut back or start adding a lot of salt/sodium to your diet?

Also, check your Iron.

So that is:
TSH
T4 free (optional)
T3 (optional)
Iron
Vitamin D 1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol
Vitamin D 25-hydroxyvitamin
CBC
BMP

If you don’t have good insurance you can narrow the list even more than taking out the optionals.

I’m not a doctor, so it would be good if we had a doctor chime in, I think someone said that above :).

Meanwhile, all of this stuff is easily correctable if one of these is the problem.

Your resting pulse rate should be as low as possible provided you’re still conscious. Really fit athletes can have pulse rates in the 50 range.

As far as aerobic exercise goes, you can find your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220 for men or 226 for women. Then you pace your workout—you warm up at 50–60% of this number. Good aerobic workouts are between 60%-80% of that number, depending on whether you’re aiming at fat burning (which happens at the low end of the range) or aerobic conditioning (which happens at the high end of that range); if you’re training for endurance, you aim for 80%-90% of that number.

If you’re in poor cardiovascular shape, your heart rate will increase with minimal activity. As you get more and more fit, it will take more and more work to get your heart rate up to the same level. What you’ll probably find if you start doing cardiovascular work every day is that that same 4mph incline won’t get your heart rate as high, and you’ll need to start jogging on the treadmill or doing a different sort of exercise.

@JLeslie I used to get nipple discharge (some sort of clear gooey stuff) when I was younger but not anymore. I have plenty of symptoms; I don’t know what they mean (yet). It’s not me in the pic although it normally is but I am Black. I actually didn’t get much sun this summer. My sodium intake is probably normal. Since I’m having the hormone test through a pharmacy, I don’t know if they test all of that stuff. I have a full blood work up several months ago when I was trying to figure out what’s wrong. everything was normal (besides my hemoglobin). So! hopefully this hormone test will tell me something.

@cwilbur So 200 would be my max. A light jog for 45 seconds gets it to about 220. I guess I’ll go back to the doctor…I really don’t want to.

@Facade: If you think something is wrong, you should definitely go see your doctor.

You should remember that those numbers are a rule of thumb for target heart rates. The maximum heart rate doesn’t mean that you’ll drop dead if you hit it; these are guidelines and targets for physical training. You could also just start more slowly and not do any light jogging until you’ve built up your cardiovascular fitness for a while.

@cwilbur although I agree with a lot of what you said, I think it is important that she is pounding while at rest. So, lets figure out what’s up before we have her exercising too much.

Nipple discharge is a common symptom of a pituitary problems…not sure the test they would do for that maybe “Prolactin” along with the TSH? I know you said you don’t have that symptom now, but I would still get the test for it done. If you are not pregnant you should not have discharge.

Maybe get a copy of the labs they already did from your doctor and compare to my list and then you can ask one of the docs on here also.

Also, if everything came back normal so far maybe your doc will order more labs without seeing you. Doesn’t sound like you need to be examined if you have been already.

One more thing. If the you get all of these hormone tests and nothing pans out you might wan to consider seeing a cardiologist. They will give you a 24 hour monitor, which I think would be necessary to diagnose you if it is a heart problem. Meanwhile, I still think hormonal is the best guess.

Yea, I was scheduled for a million tests a while back, but I had also quit school at that time, so I was no longer insured. I haven’t tried again since.
I am also trying to switch doctors, so there’s a bunch of stuff going on.

I forgot to respond to one thing…hemoglubulin is related to Iron. Iron can affect your heart rythm. Ok, we know you need some tests…good luck. Don’t be nervous.

I’m not nervous. Very nonchalant actually. And my iron levels are fine. My hemoglobin are just small, meaning I get winded easily. We’ll soon find out, and I’ll post the results here.

Maybe you have thalessemia? Found most frequently in middle eastern and North African people. That could account for feeling tired and needing more sleep.

The doctors I went to never gave me a definitive answer on anything. I believe I remember one saying it wasn’t thalassemia. I’m hoping it’s my hormones, so I can just start being normal. And also because I don’t want a $400 test be for naught.

That would suck. You might be able to negotiate with the lab before you get the tests done…but it sounds like you have a lot of s@!t going on and that might just add to your stress. They might do a test for $15 for Cigna insurance and charge you $50, it’s awful. Make sure they only start with the most suspected problem, maybe you can catch the problem in the first $200 worth of tests if money is really an issue for you. I hate doctors, I hate going to the doctor, I hate being sick, and I hate worse not knowing what I am sick with! I totally get your frustration.

Well, it’s a compounding pharmacy which does not take insurance of any kind. The lady told me that some people have given receipts from there to their insurance companies and have been reimbursed, so I may see if that is a possibility. I hope to go there tomorrow to get more info.

I am not negative about compounding pharmacies, BUT you are very young to have some mysterious hormone thing going on, but not impossible of course. Why are you going there instead of a regular doctor? They want to sell you their products. The pharmacy directly makes money from your diagnosis, the doctor doesn’t.

One last question, do you get your period regularly?

You could do a lactic acid test during extreme exercises.

@JLeslie Because have been checked for everything and they haven’t found anything. It’s pretty much a last resort. I’m very young to have all of my symptoms, so I wouldn’t be surprised if my hormones are out of wack. I’m not worried abut them milking me for money. I could tell if that was going on.
Yep, my periods are regular. Regularly painful and heavy.

I agree, I think it is hormonal. My fear is if your hormones are out of whack, but they don’t test for the pituatary let’s say, then they might treat secondary symptoms and miss the underlying cause, which I think is very important. We need a doctor on this. Like Oprah talked about being on all sorts of heart medications and other diagnosis and she had a hormonal problem, the heart drugs were not the right medication for her. I had a doc who wanted to put me on blood pressure medication and I had to ask to get my thyroid cheched. As soon as I corrected my thyroid problem my high blood pressure went away. I could have been on blood pressure meds for who knows how long if I had not asked for the test.

You’re right. I’ll see if they can check my pituitary gland as well.

I just sent a note to shilolo and augustlin (she will know the other docs on here, I don’t remember their names) to look at this thread. I don’t know the other symptoms of pituatary so I don’t want you to pay for a test that isn’t warranted. I’m just taking educated guesses on what I know, I’m not a doctor.

Yea, I appreciate it! Hopefully whatever the docs here and the pharmacy people tell me will match up

Since @Shilolo hasn’t answered yet i think i’m going to chime in. Instead of going over everything said on the thread i’ll just answer directly.

For an adult, a normal resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). For a well-trained athlete, a normal resting heart rate may be as low as 40 to 60 bpm. In healthy adults, a lower heart rate at rest generally implies more efficient heart function and better cardiovascular fitness.

To measure your heart rate at home, simply check your pulse. Place two fingers on the thumb side of your wrist, or place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. When you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of beats in 15 seconds. Multiply this number by 4 to get your heart rate per minute.

Keep in mind that many factors can influence heart rate, including:
Activity level
Fitness level
Air temperature
Body position (standing up or lying down, for example)
Emotions
Body size
Medication use

Although there’s a wide range of normal, an unusually high or low heart rate may indicate an underlying problem. Consult your doctor if your resting heart rate is consistently above 100 bpm (tachycardia) or below 60 bpm (bradycardia) — especially if you have other signs or symptoms, such as fainting, dizziness or shortness of breath.

If you want to figure out your target heart rate for fitness goals you should check out the HR chart on the American Heart Association website.

I hope this puts an end to the speculation. (BTW in case someone asks “according to who?” in reference to my information, try the mayo clinic and american heart association. Not to mention my cardio teacher in med school :P)

@Dr_C Thank you very much but I’m more concerned with my heart rate when I’m exercising. Any input on that? I may just end up going to cardiologist if what I plan to do doesn’t clear things up

@Facade yup.. i linked the chart on the american heart association site.. that has all the info you will ever need about heart rate while exercising. Just check the link in my previous answer.

I don’t know how I missed that. I must be tired. Thanks again.

I looked at the chart. It says that 100% is 200 bpm for my age. Do you think I should take any cautionary measures since I’m around 210 on a very light jog?

@Dr_C I know you didn’t read above but I think her resting heart rate is a concern, because if I remember correctly she feels her heart pounding when she is resting. Other concerns:

Sleeps 10–12 hours a day.
Previously, athough it seems years ago had discharge from nipples
she describes “naturally dry hair” and her eyes feel weird sometimes.
She said her Hemoglobulin are “small” so I thought maybe thallesemia, but I don’t know enough. I know there is a specific test that can be done for that.

I suspected thyroid or possible pituatary. Here were my suggestions for tests:

TSH
T4 free (optional)
T3 (optional)
Iron
Vitamin D 1,25-Dihydroxycholecalciferol
Vitamin D 25-hydroxyvitamin
CBC
BMP
Prolactin

But I am not a doctor, what do you think? Facade is going to go for some hormonal testing possibly and I want to be sure she has a “second opinion” on what might be worth testing, but I don’t want her to rely on my opinion.

@JLeslie I don’t think he could make a recommendation without knowing everything that’s going on with me…

@Facade you have to take into account that it’s a guideline and not an absolute.. like i said earlier many things can influence your HR. If you think you are out of shape that could be a contributing factor and getting in shape will lower the heart rate. If you still feel that this isn’t normal then you can go see a cardiologist and get some answers.

@JLeslie i hadn’t read that before but a lot of those symptoms can be explained. In fact we’ve already had a similar conversation and have found her habits to be less than ideal. Now i don’t have a time-line for the discharge but would venture a guess and say it’s not recent and may not be related. As far as testing goes that should be decided upon a thorough check-up. Suggesting anything without having a clear clinical picture would be ill-advised.

Things often sound a lot more complicated than they are… especially in conversation. A thorough check-up will help determine necessary tests and help guide diagnosis.

Yea, I agree. I’m pretty sure a lot of it is psychologically induced. I’ll work on it.

@Dr_C Thanks :).

I relate her situation to me and my problems. But, of course I can’t have a full picture from this and am not a doctor.

@Facade hopefully you will get a simple answer soon.

Me too