Sign-in to Ask A Doctor - 24x7
OR
Sign in with Google
Shortness Of Breath With Racing Heart Rate. Medical Test Normal. Should I Be Worried?
Question: Hi
About once to twice a year whilst cycling I get shortness of breath and the feeling of a racing heart. Today we were doing a 50 mile reliability and this occurred after about 30 miles of fast cycling. I had been doing a lot of work on the front and after this I had to hang in the pack for a few miles then afterwards I was fine again. I went to my doctor and had a blood test, an ECG and chest X-ray but everything came back ok. Most of the time when cycling everything is ok. Do I need to worry? I don't get tightness of the chest and if I'm climbing steep ascents everything is ok!
Best regards
XXXXXXX
About once to twice a year whilst cycling I get shortness of breath and the feeling of a racing heart. Today we were doing a 50 mile reliability and this occurred after about 30 miles of fast cycling. I had been doing a lot of work on the front and after this I had to hang in the pack for a few miles then afterwards I was fine again. I went to my doctor and had a blood test, an ECG and chest X-ray but everything came back ok. Most of the time when cycling everything is ok. Do I need to worry? I don't get tightness of the chest and if I'm climbing steep ascents everything is ok!
Best regards
XXXXXXX
Hi,
Thanks for writing.
I very much appreciate your efforts and the ability to do long cycling.
Sudden onset of breathlessness with feeling of racing heart can be related to an arrhythmia of heart. I am glad that you met a cardiologist. You could discuss with him about using a Holter machine while cycling - we could record your heart rate at the time of your symptoms to easily rule out arrhythmia.
The second possibility is a normal physiology - straining hard while fast cycling increases oxygen demand. Heart pumps hard to cope up with this demand resulting in uncreased heart rate and breathlessness. This settles down when you take a rest.
At this moment it would be hard to predict which of these two - normal and abnormal event caused your symptoms. Holter test can clarify our doubts. Discuss with your cardiologist.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have other concerns.
Take care.
Thanks for writing.
I very much appreciate your efforts and the ability to do long cycling.
Sudden onset of breathlessness with feeling of racing heart can be related to an arrhythmia of heart. I am glad that you met a cardiologist. You could discuss with him about using a Holter machine while cycling - we could record your heart rate at the time of your symptoms to easily rule out arrhythmia.
The second possibility is a normal physiology - straining hard while fast cycling increases oxygen demand. Heart pumps hard to cope up with this demand resulting in uncreased heart rate and breathlessness. This settles down when you take a rest.
At this moment it would be hard to predict which of these two - normal and abnormal event caused your symptoms. Holter test can clarify our doubts. Discuss with your cardiologist.
Hope this helps. Let me know if you have other concerns.
Take care.
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Prasad
Answered by
Get personalised answers from verified doctor in minutes across 80+ specialties
