Tachycardia in the night causes, treatment and self-help

Nocturnal rapid heartbeat - rapid heartbeat at night

Tachycardia at night refers to a too fast stroke of the heart. Some immediate triggers are not a disease but a normal reaction. When the circulatory system has to work more, the heart pumps faster, for example, when we "run out of breath" on the long distance run or "blow our hearts up" because we face the human of our dreams. Tachycardia at night is a common phenomenon that can have both organic and psychological causes. In addition, we will examine the causes and point out when and how those affected can become active themselves.

contents

• Nocturnal rapid heartbeat - rapid heartbeat at night
• When to the doctor?
• How does tachycardia develop??
• Increased automation
• atrial fibrillation
• Heart attack
• Causes of the nocturnal heart lawn
• alcohol
• Fast heartbeat at night due to stress
• Thyroid
• anemia
• What to do at nocturnal tachycardia?
• Checklist for tachycardia

When to the doctor?

But if there are no such triggers and the heart rate rises to 140 or more beats per minute at night, then we should consult a doctor. The causes are varied, from smoking to alcohol to anxiety disorders. But palpitations can also indicate dangerous, even fatal, illnesses such as the heart and thyroid. An indication of such serious problems may be other symptoms such as heart stumbling, shortness of breath, shortness of breath or dizziness.

The term "palpitations" is generally referred to as an accelerated heartbeat. This may be an important indication of a serious condition. (Image: H. Brauer / fotolia.com)

How does tachycardia develop??

Under certain circumstances, a "reentry cycle" sets in. That is, an electrical stimulation of the heart returns to its output and again triggers the heartbeat. The cause is, for example, a scar in the heart muscle. Some people have pathways between the heart chambers and the atria from birth, and sometimes these also lead to a reentry process. Typical of this recurring impulse is an accelerated but regular heartbeat.

Caution is advised in the event of an irregular tachycardia at night. Then smaller excitation processes alternate; it can be atrial fibrillation or ventricular fibrillation. Ventricular fibrillation stops the cardiovascular system - an immediate resuscitation is necessary, otherwise those affected die.

Increased automation

Another trigger is the increased automatism on the sinus node. The sinus node controls the pulse rate. Changes in the autonomic nervous system affect him as well as caffeine, alcohol and medications.

atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation is accompanied by an accelerated heartbeat. Here the bloodstream in the atria of the heart is disturbed and blood clots form. For this reason alone, people suffering from palpitations should consult a doctor. The blood clots can enter the brain and trigger a stroke.

Heart attack

Immediately to a doctor should you if the tachycardia occurs at night along with the following symptoms: shortness of breath, chest tightness, chest pain, dizziness and nausea. Then it can be an impending heart attack.

If the heart suddenly beats faster than usual during the night, for example, lack of water or a low blood sugar level can be the reason. (Image: iuricazac / fotolia.com)

Causes of the nocturnal heart lawn

However, most causes of nocturnal tachycardia are less dramatic and can be both mental and physical. These include:

1) Sleep disorders and or lack of sleep

2) An abnormality of electrolysis

3) anxiety, panic attacks, but especially clinical anxiety disorders. Here, the fear triggers a permanent alarm in the body, the blood circulation drives through the signal "danger in arrears" at full speed.

Fears immediately activate the stress response of the body. There is no boundary between physical and mental, and the reaction has nothing to do with whether the response is objectively justified. The stress response causes immediate physiological, psychological and emotional changes in the body to enable the body to respond immediately to a threat - to flee or fight (fight or flight).

The accelerated heartbeat is not a sign of disease here (even if the disorder itself is one). Rather, the body needs more circulation to respond to a threat acutely.

4) Excessive consumption of alcohol

5) lack of water

6) Certain supplements such as ginseng, bitter orange or hawthorn

7) Physical effort, hard work and competitive sport

8) arousal, euphoria and anger

9) fever

High fever can be associated with racing heart. (Image: tab62 / fotolia.com)

10) Hormone fluctuations, for example during pregnancy, menstruation or menopause

11) hyperventilating

12) Coffee, chocolates, diet pills and energy drinks

13) Low blood sugar levels (often in anorexia patients)

14) Low oxygen content in the blood

15) Nicotine

16) Sudden rising or frightening

17) nightmares

18) Asthma drugs and beta-blockers

19) Cocaine and Metaamphetamine

20) stress

alcohol

Alcohol, consumed in amounts, causes heart racing at night, high blood pressure and low blood sugar. The last two alone also trigger an accelerated heartbeat.

So if you wake up from sleep after an intoxicated party night and your heart is racing, the cause is probably beer, wine and schnapps. If you do not have chronic alcoholism, strong palpitations by alcohol usually lasted within 24 hours.

Especially young men often suffer from the "coma run" under the "Holiday Heart Syndrome", atrial fibrillation, in which the heart beats too fast and at the same time irregular. If this happens to you more often, the therapy is clear: steer clear of alcohol.

Persistent stress is "poison" to our heart and increases the risk of serious heart disease. (Image: Dan Race / fotolia.com)

Fast heartbeat at night due to stress

Stress affects the autonomic nervous system. We can not control this with our will. Stress activates the sympathetic. Now norepinephrine and adrenaline are released, and these make the heart beat faster and pump more blood into the circulation. The blood vessels narrow, the digestion slows down.

With permanent stress, the heart is chronically overloaded. Then not only is nocturnal tachycardia, but the risk of developing coronary artery disease or heart failure, or even heart attack, increases.

Thyroid

The thyroid gland produces the metabolic hormones thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). These support the performance of the heart. At the same time, they potentiate the effects of norepinephrine and adrenaline. Both accelerate the heartbeat and strengthen the heart muscles. Due to the faster pulse, the heart has to pump more volume for greater pressure and needs more energy.

Nocturnal tachycardia may indicate an overactive thyroid. This leads to an inflated level of T4 and T3. The result: too much adrenaline ensures that the heart gets a much stronger drive than necessary. It causes tachycardia and sometimes even atrial fibrillation.

The suspicion of such hyperthyroidism condenses in other key symptoms: Increased reflexes, rapid weight loss, protruding eyes and high blood pressure.

anemia

Anemia can also trigger an increased heartbeat at night. Here the body lacks blood and therefore oxygen. The organism is now trying to replenish the missing oxygen by pumping the blood quickly.

What to do at nocturnal tachycardia?

If the doctor detects coronary heart disease, heart failure or thyroid hyperfunction, you will not get much with home remedies. Follow the treatment of the doctors. The situation is different when the heartbeat and palpitations are too fast as a result of anxiety and other triggers of stress, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine or certain medications.

In stress-induced tachycardia, the symptoms disappear completely when the stress mode ends. With chronic stress, you can eliminate both the symptoms and the cause. Are exaggerated fears the trigger? Then psychotherapy helps to control the fears. Is the stress caused by deadline pressure and excessive demands in the job? Then you see the raised heartbeat as a warning sign that something must change in this structure.

Strong fears can be overcome by appropriate psychotherapy. (Image: VadimGuzhva / fotolia.com)

In general, stress relief techniques can be used to reduce stress. These range from behavioral therapy to yoga and autogenic training to massages.

Exercise in the fresh air lowers the stress, hiking or cycling are a blessing - but not competitive sports, as this in turn increases blood pressure and increases the heart rate at night.

Checklist for tachycardia

The German Heart Foundation recommends in case of an accelerated heartbeat to create a checklist yourself, so that the doctor or the doctor can quickly classify the corresponding symptoms.

1) When did you have tachycardia for the first time??

2) When for the last time?

3) How common are the symptoms?

4) Start it suddenly or gradually?

5) Are there certain triggers such as exertion or excitement or only at a time interval?

6) How often does the heart beat during the heartbeat?

7) Strikes the pulse regularly or irregularly?

8) How long does the condition last??

9) Do you feel different during heartbeat? Pressure on the chest, dizziness or shortness of breath, headache or nausea?

10) Have you ever been unconscious? If so, you had tachycardia after that?

11) Can you stop the tachycardia in the situation itself? By behavior or medication? Do relatives of them have a similar problem??
(Dr. Utz Anhalt)

swell
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