Tachycardia in 3rd trimester??

Yesterday I went in for my routine checkup only to be kept for 3 hours...
My pulse was around 120 sometimes up to 130... the nurses let me know it should be between 60 and 90. My blood pressure is fine, no swelling on my body anywhere, no headaches- I saw a few spots while I was laying there, but nothing serious... I had eaten breakfast before going in about an hour prior.... Not diabetic
So I was sent from my OB to my primary care to have an EKG done.
Although the OB nurse had said she felt a slight arrythmia, the EKG was clear.
However, my new diagnosis is of Tachycardia.

The office was hesitant to release me, but after confrencing with all the doctors on the floor, it was decided that I would be sent home and told to rest- with the instruction of going directly to the ER should there be any complications or symptoms like dizziness, shortness of breath, spots, or tightness of my chest...
One of the things that stuck me as how serious this must be is the fact that my doctor made no effort to conceal that this was not normal and felt unsure of her own decisions... something I am not used to, but grateful for her honesty because she collected 3-4 other doctors to give their opinions before making the final decision on what to do next. So I feel confident that with that many minds working on it, it was the right choice.

Has anyone had this happen to them?
Some of the suggested problems were: Anemia (although I am only a little anemic- so little that the doctors told me not to even do anything about it other than take a folic acid pill picked up from Walmart's vitamin section) Thyroid- which was just drawn and came back fine... if anything the levels were a little low for me. Not much, but slightly.... And Blood Clots.

I am looking to see if anyone else has had this condition, and if it was an indicator of anything for you... Are there any other suggestions as to what could cause such a rapid pulse? I know that it still has not settled... But I feel fine. When I went in to my appointment I felt fine... I felt a little tired, in fact I kind of cat napped through much of my monitoring... But I felt nothing that indicated that my heart was going crazy.

I am being referred to a cardiologist, and I have a follow up on monday to review blood testing done today to determine if I will be meeting my cardiologist in the hospital or in his/her office.
I am also being referred to back to the perinatalogist- but they did not tell me why.

Does anyone know the risks associated with this condition?
What are the risks for the baby?

**BUMP***
Sorry, I know this may not appeal to everyone, but surely there has to be a nurse on here, or someone else who has experienced this...

I had to go to labor and delivery last wednesday and when I went in my pulse was 121. The nurse said why is your heart beating so fast?? I said I have no idea....from walking maybe? She said something about taking my blood pressure again before I left but she never did. My blood pressure was fine from what I saw. I'm anemic so I'm taking iron pills (wasnt until I became pregnant, guess thats normal) Anyway, I read in a book that the dr's office gave me, that its pretty normal for your heart to race in the last trimester. Its scary I know. Because yesterday I had just gotten out of the shower and when i sat down I could feel my heart racing again! I go back to the doctor thursday so I'm going to ask again whats going on. I doubt I've helped you in anyway lol but I have been there and I know what your talking about. Nobody has given me a name for it, but I know what it feels like!

Quoting buckeyechick88:“ I had to go to labor and delivery last wednesday and when I went in my pulse was 121. The nurse said ... [snip!] ... lol but I have been there and I know what your talking about. Nobody has given me a name for it, but I know what it feels like!”

The weird thing is that I felt completely fine. My heart rate was at 121 when I was napping... which is kind of frightening. And it stayed high from 11:00- 3:30 when I finally left the doctor's office. (so much for my quick 15-20 minute appointments that I am used to.... That was ridiculous! I had to cancel most of my day to stay hooked up to monitors!)
My pulse is still high today- about 118 on average... but nothing serious. No other symptoms.
I am guessing this will all be no big deal.
I am a little freaked out about the prospect of having blood clots. That just disgusts me to even think about!
but as long as everything is well with the baby, I guess I can live with just about anything.

Quoting MommyMeri:“ The weird thing is that I felt completely fine. My heart rate was at 121 when I was napping... which ... [snip!] ... disgusts me to even think about! but as long as everything is well with the baby, I guess I can live with just about anything.”

The other day was the first time I had noticed it. And I was like you I felt competely fine.

I was at my grandmas house last thursday and they have a blood pressure so we were talking about what happened with my pulse and they all took their BP so I took mine. My pulse was around 102 I believe. Theirs was around 65-72 (i'm thinking) They were trying to figure out why mine was so high, but never really got it figured out. I'm thinking its normal and everything is fine also, at least I hope.  

I know what you mean about the doctors visits being longer than expected! I went in one day figuring I'll be out of here in 10 minutes. Yea right...They ended up hooking me up to the contraction machine so I was there an extra hour or so... That sucked, but at least everything was fine   I hope its nothing like blood clots, that scares me too! Every time my boyfriend starts to massageme I freak out like NO! you cant do that! LOL But I'll at least ask my doctor or midwife, which ever I see, what thats all about.

I'm always in a state of tachycardia. My heartrate, on a good day, is at least 110-120bpm. Not good, but it's how life is for me. My doctors have never liked it. Every time that I'm in the ER, they start freaking out and hooking me up to monitors...instead of checking me outfor the real reason why I came in.When my heartrate skyrockets even higher, it's accompanied by sweating, headaches, seeing spots, feeling faint, and passing out. Needless to say, it's not healthy.
No one has ever figured out why this has been happening. My advice for you, check your pulse at home or get a home blood pressure cuff to measure it. If it gets high and is accompanied by other symptoms (cold sweat, headache, spots, feeling faint, passing out...), get to the doctor's or ER immediately. But if it's high with no other symptoms, sit down/lay down and try to relax. Read a book. Watch some tv. Take a bubble bath. Just do your best to keep your stress down. And remember, with pregnancy comes extra blood...and extra blood causes your heart to work a little more in order to get it all to circulate. A higher pulse is part of pregnancy. Just be careful, sweetie!

In my first pregnancy, 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with Tachycardia in the second trimester. I was hospitalized numerous times because my heartrate would go up over 180 up to 210, while I was just laying down. Luckily they caught a few of these episodes while doing an EKG. Because mine went so high, I also had syncope (medical word for fainting). My cardiologist decided with my OBat 35 weeks to do a c-section because it could be dangerous for me and the baby to try a vaginal birth with my heartbeat being unstable. At that time, I was having 8-12 tachycardic episodes a day. And, I had been on bed rest since my diagnosis. Also, for my c-section they put me under general anesthesia in case something happened with my heart during delivery. This was obviously a disappointment, both because it was a c-section and I was totally out for it, but once I woke up and was holding my beautiful little girl, it just didn't matter anymore!!!

Everything was fine, and things went back to normal after my delivery, although they kept me in the ICU for a week to make sure. My cardiologist explained to me that in pregnancy, your heart changes shape and obviously works harder because it's pumping more blood for the baby. Some women's heart just have a hard time with the changes. I am now in my second pregnancy, and am having problems with Tachycardia again. At some point my cardiologist wants to put me on bedrest again, but fingers crossed that it will not be for too long!

Good luck, and if you have anymore questions let me know!

Quoting carsonlia:“ In my first pregnancy, 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with Tachycardia in the second trimester. I was hospitalized ... [snip!] ... again, but fingers crossed that it will not be for too long! Good luck, and if you have anymore questions let me know!”

WOW! That is fast!!!!

I have issues with breathing... like I get crazy winded if I have to bend over to pick something up or if I climb stairs... Its kind of pitiful. I just attributed all that to being pregnant and fat...
I do see spots. Black floating spots.... I can sit there and watch them drift all over my field of vision. But its not all the time. When it happens, I just sit down and chill or if I already am sitting I just ignore them, and they usually stop within a few minutes.
I have had headaches, but not migranes.... and again, I attributed the headaches to being pregnant and the absurd amount of pollen in the air that keeps me in allergy misery... So i take an Allegra and an ibuprofen (which I am allowed on occasion) and try to wait it out quietly in a hot shower.
I have fainted a couple times, but not recently...
My blood pressure is good. Its 112/70... I am not one to have high blood pressure, its genetically very low in my family.
BUT, I do have a seizure disorder... Its been linked to blood sugar issues and stress, but I haven't had a seizure since August when I came off of a really horrible bout with them that left me hospitialized for a week... Seizure free and with no medication since...
I am almost wondering if maybe this could be linked to the seizure problem...

I just checked my pulse and I am at 84. MUUUUUUCH better.

I am really glad you guys shared that you have experienced this weird thing. It was kind of frightening to have the doctors responding the way they were... It was like they couldn't decide if this was a crisis or if it was just cause for concern... I have my appointment tomorrow, so I will keep you guys posted.
I'm assuming they will tell me everything looked fine and hopefully my pulse will be normal and they won't make me go to the hospital.
I already told the doctor that I do not have time to go to the hospital again. I have stuff to do and not a long time to do them in, so I don't intend to be hospitalized until its baby time.

Thank you guys so much...

I was diagnosed with Tachycadia at the age of 16 I have been seeing a cardioever since and they have discussed options of different surgery's before I feel pregnant because it can get worse during pregnancy, which it has because I didn't see the point of having surgery for when I only had and attack once every couple of months my resting heart rate is is roughly alway above 115 if I start walking it will jump up to about 140 but, but just remember this I find as long as I don't talk while walking or excercising I don't get to short of breath, but it can be very scary to have an attack and it can trigger without warning, one syptom I noticed others didn't mention is that I can tell when my heart has jumped into serious overdrive 180 and above all my limbs start to shake and I can't control in until I pass out or it calms down, I have been scheduled for a c section from week 20 to have my baby at 38 weeks becausemy cardio and OB believe it is the safest option but I think they are going to allow me to be awake.
Just try to avoid things like caffine, nicotine (even though you should be while pregnant) just general heart accelerants in food and drinks because that can make you rest HR worse.
And don't stress!!! stay as calm as possible, I have been taking vitamin E tablets during my pregnancy and I have managed at time to get my heart down to about 98 which is excellent for a person with tachycardia. But if it gets worse their are some tablets that your cardio can perscribe to you that you can take safely during pregnancy, just ask him about it I was offered but I decide to try a more natural way. Another thing if you can feel your heart beating really fast try some controlled deep and slow breathing, breath quickly in and slowly out that can help to relax your heart.
I hope I help and I didn't overload with to much info.

I am in my seventh pregnancy and have had mild tachycardia since I was in high school. I have noticed that the tachycardia comes back and gets a little worse with every pregnancy. By the third trimester, my resting heart rate stays around 100 to 120. My hubby is an ER doctor and isn't concerned at all, nor has my OB ever been. They say the heartrate goes up for pregnant women anyway because of the increased blood volume and strain on the heart, and mine goes up a little extra because I'm already tachycardic and my babies are usually quite large (9 to 10 1/2 lbs). I HAVE found that some things set me off significantly: eating sugar or carbs on an empty stomach,or getting slightly dehydrated. Caffeine, oddly enough, only seems to affect me very slightly. The sugar is much worse. OJ on an empty stomach and my HR goes through the roof, beats out of my chest, and my hands shake. If I drink plenty of water and eat lots of proteins and keep the carbs low, my "episodes" where I can really feel it shoot up and get uncomfortable are minimal. My hubby says a key cause of tachycardia (especially accompanied by low blood pressure as I have always had) is mild dehydration. I have terrible nausea/vomiting during most of my pregnancies and have noticed that very often when my heart is racing, I haven't hardly had a sip of anything to drink in many hours. Thought this might be useful info for others to try.

I am 31 weeks and have suffered from a high pulse rate throughout all of my preganany.The first really scary episode was when I was 17 weeks and had to go to the ER. When I arrived to the ER I felt my heart was gonna jump right out or explode. The nurse took my pulse and it was at 200.The dr saw me right away and hooked me up to all these machines and didn't find a thing wrong. They drew blood and I also had an EKG and everything was normal. After about 10 minutes after being monitored my pulse started gradually going down. It was a very scary feeling and have been uneasy ever since. Everytime I go see my ob my hr is always between 94-120 and she says it's normal.I've been to the ER about four times in this pregnancy and the dr's say it's a combination of the pregnancy and anxiety. When my hr goes up I can feel my whole body move with the throbbing which freaks me out and start to panic which I guess makes it worse.Other symptoms I have experienced is also sweating, seeing black spots, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue as if I ran a marathon and a little nausea. I've noticed my hr goes up the most in the morning after I eat breakfast whichis at it's worst. Also when I take a shower it goes up a lot. I always mention my concerns to my ob and she always says it normal but it still feels awful. My hr usually moderates at night time and is always between 78-104.

I ALWAYS have a fast heart rate   I am forced to take my own blood pressure/pulse 3-4 times a day and record it. Mine usually falls between 105-130  

tachycardia is simply "fast heart rate" i think that if it is at a constant high rate, it could lead to heart failure, which is why its important to figure out how to keep it at a lower level. when youre heart beats that fast, it is very strenuous on the circular system, thus making it more weak and susceptable to fail.

i think bouts of it are completely normal, but when it stays at a high level untreated it could be dangerous, which could aslo be why they wanted the other ladies baby out early, to calm the heart rate.

i would say not to worry too much, and try not to get too worked up while youre pregnant.
take it easy  

Quoting MerryDeath:“ Yesterday I went in for my routine checkup only to be kept for 3 hours... My pulse was around 120 sometimes ... [snip!] ... but they did not tell me why. Does anyone know the risks associated with this condition? What are the risks for the baby?”

Are you familiar with a condition called Dysautonomia? It's a disfunction of the autonomic nervious system which regulates body temperature, heart rate, etc.
People with autonomic disfunction usually have an intolerance to heat and even mild physical exertion, like walking up stairs.
Sitting myheart rate istypically between 75 and 95 bpm. It increases/spikes with movement and upon standing.
Pregnancy aggravated my symptoms. In the first trimester just walking up the stairs would cause my HR to hit 140. Starting a beta blocker that's acat. B drug(an older med called Sectral/ Acebutolol) helped.
My doctors don't seem overly concerned. Like you, myblood pressure has always been good (typical for folks with autonomic disfunction).Thyroid testing always normal.
I'mconcerned about labor and how my body will react (or OVER-react I should say) to the stress. Plan to discuss the possible benefits of ascheduled c-section at thenext appointment.
For more infoon Dysautonomia, here's a link:
http://www.dinet.org/
The website has a list of doctors and universities by region specializing in treatment. Vanderbilt is one of them.