Pounding heart and short of breath?

I'm waiting to hear back from my OBs office but I'm getting impatient... I called two hours ago and am still waiting.

For the last week, whenever I'm on my feet for a while, say at the grocery store or something, my heart rate gets pretty high - much higher than it normally would when I was grocery shopping. I also get the feeling that I need to sit down or something bad is going to happen. I've always just sat down so I'm not quite sure what would happen if I didn't, but I imagine it might be fainting or severe dizziness to the point where I'd nearly faint. My breathing becomes labored and short.

Once this starts, it doesn't go away for a long time. I can sit down for 5-10 minutes then get back up for a very short while but then I need to sit down again.

I took the day off today and I've barely allowed myself off the couch or bed. Yesterday was really rough. It started early in the day when I was out shopping and didn't stop at all.

My resting HR is usually in the 70s (I know this because I used to keep up with it so I would know my target HR for exercising). I understand it does increase when you're pregnant but I can tell a big difference between how it's been for the last several months and how it's been for the last week or so. I just checked and it's at about 102 right now. I haven't gotten off the couch in over an hour and it's 102bpm.

Last night I sat on the bed for a long time on the laptop trying to find an answer. Just out of curiosity, I got up off the bed and walked to the end of the hall and back... my HR was 135bpm just from walking down the hall and back. It used to be in the 140s when I'd jog on the treadmill for a while! 
 
Any ideas?? Like I said, I've already contacted my OB but I'm worried.

ETA: Oh, and I've been having a lot of braxton hicks this past week whenever I'm on my feet for a while. Not sure if the two are related but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Are you drinking tons of water?  I complained of the same thing to my doctor and she said the most common cause of irregular heartbeats in pregnant women is dehydration.   I normally drink a ton of water...like at least 96oz per day...during the week while I'm sitting at my desk. 

When she said that, I realized that these episodes were generally happening on the weekends when I'm not as good about getting all my water in because I'm not sitting at my desk sucking down water.  Since then I've been more careful about my water intake and Ihaven't had another episode.

*goes to fridge and gets a bottle of water*

I'm not the best at getting in enough water... especially on weekends. Thanks for the tip! 

Oh and she told me if it happened again, to drink a lot of water and lay on my side and it should get better.

I was going to suggest the same thing - water water and more water! Also, you should have your BP checked AND are your blood sugars dropping at this time as well? That's how I feel when I am having hypoglycemic moments.

Feel better and be careful!!

Liz

I noticed my heart racing occasionally but it always seems to go back down, sometimes it takes awhile though. I also heard to drink more and it seems to help. I just about fainted in Wal-mart last week though, I had to sit down. It was like I got really hot, dizzy, and felt kind of strange, but it passed. I am glad you have a call into the doctor. I hate when they take forever to get back to you. Let us know what they said. I hope it's no big deal.

When you were first describing it, it sounded like a panic attack to me. Be careful about drinking just TONS of water if you feel you are already pretty hydrated. I would, however, drink some water and lay on your left side as some ladies have suggested, but I would couple that with eating some banana and something a little salty like crackers. That way you don't screw up your electrolyte balance with too much water. Sometimes unbalanced electrolytes can be the culprit of pretty weird things. I've had a history of palpatations, arrythmias, PVC's etc. all because of electrolyte imbalance (and malnutrition in my case).

But in any case, in pregnancy your heart rate does increase as your heart is trying to pump more blood to the uterus so your heart will be working harder to pump sufficient amounts of blood to the rest of your body. Also, hormonal changes can cause this rapid heart rate as well as some of the shortness of breath.

Good thing you have a call in to your doctor as you can see, there can be a few causes. I hope you feel better soon.

 When this happens, how long has it been since you ate? I noticed during my third trimester I had to snack pretty regularly or my blood sugar would get too low easily and I would feel terrible.

Also, these are listed as possible symptoms of preeclampsia:

Racing pulse, mental confusion, heightened sense of anxiety, trouble catching your breath


I think you really need to call your OB.