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I'm 20 years old with a resting heart rate of 90 bpm; do I need to see a doctor?

Or at least, how can I lower this rate? I'll admit, over the summer I've barely exercised but I have recently reduced the amount of caffeinated drinks I drink.

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Reply 1

Foghorn Leghorn

Well it is a decent amount higher than the average. They say a good resting heart rate should be around 60 bpm. However it also depends on the person, just because your resting heart rate is high doesn't automatically mean something is wrong. However I would visit your GP anyway and get checked just to be safe.

Reply 2

SheridanLM91

I am sure nothing is wrong. However my boyfriend had that symptom and also felt nausea. Turned on he has hypothyroidism. It not an extreme case. He just has to take pills in the morning because his levels are low and that's why he felt that way. So it could be something like that, but your best is to go to the doctor's and rule out any illness first and then focus on your diet to see if it helps. :-)

Reply 3

boba

the nhs website says anything between 60 and 100 is average, but really fit people will be below that so although this indicates that your not exactly fit it does say to contact your GP if its over 120 which your a fair bit off so I wouldn't worry to much.

Reply 4

silent ninja

How can you lower your rate? Do some serious cardio. Stop being lazy.

Reply 5

Foghorn Leghorn

Original post by boba

For a 20 year old 90 bpm isn't average. He should contact his gp for 90 bpm. That's not to say he is unfit, most likely if there is a problem it will be cause by something else not necessarily his fitness.

Reply 6

boba

Original post by Foghorn Leghorn

I disagree I think he should at least try exercising more and trying to increase his fitness and see if that reduces it before assuming that there is probably something else behind it. Especially since he mentions in his OP he's barely exercised. He also mentions that he has recently cut down on the caffeine he consumes which implies he used to consume a lot and depending on how recently he cut back that still could be having an effect. I really don't think this is anything he needs to go to his doctor with unless he gets to the point where he IS fit exercising regularly and not drinking much caffine and its still like that.

Reply 7

bin94

I'm 18 and my resting heart rate is 96bpm :/

Also, I've got quite low blood pressure as well, I'm not sure what the exact numbers were though.

What could this mean?

This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

Reply 8

User237126

How are you measuring your resting heart rate? Cos the best way to measure it is to do so approximately 2 minutes after waking up in the morning (UNLESS you've just had some kind of dream/nightmare that may have raised your heart rate).

Reply 9

Foghorn Leghorn

Original post by boba

No! What he should do first is go to his GP to rule out any underlying problems. Even if it is his fitness he should go to his GP and have his heart checked before taking on any fitness regime given his resting heart rate is so high.

Saying he shouldn't go to his GP is bad and potentially dangerous advice. For all you know he could have a heart condition, not know this he goes out for a run making his heart goes into cardiac arrest. If it is his fintess and his heart is beating at 90 bmp because he is so unfit he should still go to his GP to ensure his heart is strong enough to take on any exercise.

A 20 year old with a resting BPM of 90 isn't typical for a 20 year old and suggests something is wrong which warrants a check up. Then again for all we know there could be aboslutely nothing wrong with him, which is most likely the case. He wont know anything until he sees his GP which for his own safety should be done first.

It is within the normal limits, but the fact he created a thread about it means he is concerened enough, hence he should see his GP to ensure he is ok.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 10

SheridanLM91

Original post by Foghorn Leghorn

No! What he should do first is go to his GP to rule out any underlying problems. Even if it is his fitness he should go to his GP and have his heart checked before taking on any fitness regime given his resting heart rate is so high.

Saying he shouldn't go to his GP is bad and potentially dangerous advice. For all you know he could have a heart condition, not know this he goes out for a run making his heart goes into cardiac arrest. If it is his fintess and his heart is beating at 90 bmp because he is so unfit he should still go to his GP to ensure his heart is strong enough to take on any exercise.

A 20 year old with a resting BPM of 90 isn't normal and suggests something is wrong which warrants a check up. Then again for all we know there could be aboslutely nothing wrong with him, which is most likely the case. He wont know anything until he sees his GP which for his own safety should be done first.

It is within the normal limits, but the fact he created a thread about it means he is concerened enough, hence he should see his GP to ensure he is ok.

I agree with you. Even though he is young and it's unlikely he should get checked out. Especially since we know nothing about the OP's medical history. Something to point out if any family members have suffered from heart problems before the age of 40. Normally the doctor will want to do blood work quickly if this is the case.

Reply 11

Octohedral

Original post by silent ninja

How can you lower your rate? Do some serious cardio. Stop being lazy.

I would think it's probably not just that - I'm 20 and very unfit, and I have a resting heart rate of 58.

OP, cardio will lower it, but as people have said you may want to check with your GP before going into anything too intense. Is it a new thing or has it always been like that? I imagine it's nothing, particularly if you have family with high heart rates, but either way you will probably want to build up your fitness slowly.

Reply 12

emilie18

Check with your GP - it's better to be safe than sorry!

Have you had any other symptoms? Dizziness or headaches? I had these and it turns out I have tachycardia (fast / irregular heartbeat). Even if you have just the one symptom, go to your GP. At the very least he can reassure you, and if there is a problem, he'll be able to advise you about seeing an expert and getting some medicine, or changing your lifestyle etc.

All the best, hope this helped.

:smile:

Reply 13

desijut

damn, i just tried mine and got 84 and I would consider my cardiovascular fitness to be well above average (although not as good as a year ago) (I'm 18 btw)

Reply 14

Foghorn Leghorn

Just checked mine and it was 55 bpm (I'm 21), which technically means I have asymptomatic bradycardia, but I exercise a lot. I'm not super fit though.

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 15

A Mysterious Lord

Mine was around 105 six months ago, I was so unfit.

I've been going to the gym regularly since then, I've just measured it as 68bpm :smile:

Reply 16

Dragonfly07

OP, my resting heart rate goes up to about the same as yours when I'm very unfit (which is most of the time).

I just started doing some exercise and it went down to 75. I'm assuming if I keep doing it it will go down even more.

I think it's just that today you can literally do all your work sitting down with food around so you don't have to get up at all. Really easy for heart rate to go up. I think I'm naturally more inclined to ridiculous resting heart rate though (I've never been overweight, so it doesn't have to do with eating too much, just with moving too little).

Edit: considering what some people said on this thread I'm assuming it also has a genetic aspect to it.