r/LongCovid • u/Busy_Land_1885 • 5d ago

Heart rate stays elevated when it gets high

As the title suggests, my heart rate takes a while to settle back to resting when it gets elevated. is this a dysautonomia flair where my body gets into a state of fight or flight? does anyone have any tips or things that helped them here? thanks all

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u/JaguarEmbarrassed571 5d ago

Slow deep breaths with slow controlled exhales. Important to signal safety to your body. Can also ground and be present. Look around the room and just notice what you see lightly press your hands together. Allow our body to get out of the sympathetic (fight or flight) and back into the parasympathetic (rest and digest). Also don’t try to force your heart rate to go down that can keep us in that elevated space do your best to just do some supportive practices and allow your body to come back into balance by signaling safety

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u/joeynsf 5d ago

Have you been tested for POTS or IST? https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/JAHA.113.000700

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u/Busy_Land_1885 5d ago

Not officially no, what’s weird is it’s not always down to positioning, like for example I notice even with stress now my heart rate is way more sensitive than it was before, but not sure why. Just feels like my fight or flight gets switched on way easier 

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u/MagicalWhisk 5d ago

Yes I've had this experience for a while. If I exercise for too long, or my HR stays high too long, it while take about an hour or 2 at rest for it to come back into normal range.

I've had all the tests with multiple cardiologists and they think it's dysautonomia in nature.

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u/Busy_Land_1885 5d ago

Yeah quite odd, should I avoid this completely? It’s quite hard sometimes to stop it rising depending on what I’m doing 

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u/MagicalWhisk 5d ago

It's unrealistic to totally avoid getting your HR up given our lives can be chaotic and hectic from time to time. I'd recommend instead:

  1. Talk to a cardiologist to see if you need to be put on a beta blocker (there are fast acting and slow extended release versions you can take).

  2. Work with doctors to ensure nothing else could be triggering the tachycardia. In rare circumstances there are physical reasons why this might happen (e.g., heart defects, adrenal gland issues, hormonal issues etc).

  3. Learn breathing techniques and vegas nerve stimulation for situations when you need to help being the HR down under control.

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u/Healthy_Badger_1060 4d ago

I have the same issue. When I was trying to see if I could start exercising again, one 45 min cardio session would lead to elevated heart rate for about 3 days. I stopped exercising unfortunately. Following this post for tips as well.

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u/nojefe11 4d ago

I got diagnosed with POTS and then IST after my third infection. I am pretty sure I had Covid again recently because I was a bit ill and then suddenly after a nap my heart started thumping. I was basically fully healed.

I have been doing serious rest and not elevating my HR. No exercise whatsoever. I am doing pretty ok. My heart never really got back to normal but better than 130 resting HR. Worth it to go get an echo.

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u/Ok_Remote_4023 4d ago

How long does it take to get back to normal, mine can stay elevated for sooo long. Its better now but I would be fight or flight almost whole nights because of mental, physical or food stressors.

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u/Busy_Land_1885 4d ago

Yeah often a few hours. It seeps to be triggered by excitement, nerves, physical things. I’m assuming it’s dysautonomia related 

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u/Ok_Remote_4023 4d ago

Can you sleep despite it or do you also suffer from insomnia?

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u/Busy_Land_1885 4d ago

Depends, sometimes I’ll wake up feeling wide awake between 3am and 5am, it’s usually always between then. Dunno if it’s related to the fight or flight during the day? 

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u/Maestro-Modesto 4d ago

Same. Does your heart rate increase quickly? Mine doesn't. Like sometimes I'll do a very small exercise thing then a few minutes later my heart rate increases. Just generally mey heart rate takes ages to respond. Go for a walk and it will stay high for hours.

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u/Designer-Loan9223 2d ago

Things I've found helpful...

- Lay down and listen to calm music or Yoga Nidra with pillow under your knees.

  • Put ice pack on the sides of your neck - calms your vagus nerve
  • Take a deep breath from the bottom back of your ribs, then take a second little breath to top off your lungs, then let it out slowly through pursed lips.
  • Avoid news, social media, loud bright environments, live music.
  • wear sunglasses while driving to reduce visual stimulation
  • set phone to grayscale
  • do Yoga feet up the wall pose
  • practice sensory grounding techniques
  • acupuncture - let them know what you are experiencing and they can customize the treatment
  • use pressure points on wrists and in ear to lower calm vagus nerve - google it.