You know the feeling of your heart pounding in your chest when you're excited, anxious or scared. While a healthy heart rate indicates that your heart is beating properly and functioning well, a racing heart can be concerning and indicate some problem with the heart. But a number of medications, particularly stimulant medications, can increase heart rate and make it pound rapidly.
What Does Heart Rate Mean?
Your heart rate, also called your pulse, is a measurement of how many times your heart beats in a minute. If your heart rate suddenly becomes irregular, it could be a sign of a problem with your heart or other health problem. A rapid heart rate could mean you are dehydrated, or have some sort of infection.
A Healthy Heart Rate
An ideal heart rate is around 60 to 100 heartbeats per minute, according to the Heart Rhythm Society, unless you've just exercised or are under some sort of stress. To measure your heart rate, you can put your middle and index fingers against your wrist or neck until you feel the blood pulsing and count the beats that you feel for a minute.
Stimulant Medications
Taking medications, particularly stimulants, can make your heart rate abnormally high. These drugs not only boost heart rate but make you breathe more quickly. Stimulant medications are used to treat certain medical conditions, such as cardiac arrest or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. But stimulants in some medications, such as cold medications, sometimes cause increased heart rate as an unintended side effect.
Tachycardia
A rapid heart rate may be a sign of a condition called tachycardia. Tachycardia is usually accompanied by an uncomfortable feeling in the chest, feeling like you may faint, feeling dizzy or difficulty catching your breath. Tachycardia is a type of arrhythmia, which is an irregular heartbeat.
Signs of a Problem
If you're taking a stimulant drug, you can talk to your doctor if you have an elevated heart rate and it's causing problems for you. It's also important to be careful when taking a stimulant with other medications, and only do so with your doctor's permission. If your heart rate is very high the condition can be very dangerous and should be immediately treated by a doctor.
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