Tachycardia is a fast heartbeat.
Finding out you have tachycardia can cause uncertainty. It’s important to understand what it is, the different types of tachycardia, its symptoms, and the potential risks to your health. This will help you, your loved ones, and your doctor make informed choices about treatment options.
What is tachycardia (fast heartbeat)?1,2
Tachycardia is a condition where the heart beats too fast. A healthy heart beats between 60 and 100 times per minute and pumps about 75 gallons of blood every hour. Sometimes, things like exercise, stress, or fear can make your heart beat faster, and that’s normal.
But with an abnormal tachycardia, the heart beats more than 100 times per minute, and it can even go as fast as 400 beats per minute, even without influences like exercise or stress. When this happens, the heart can’t pump blood properly to your body and brain. It’s important to talk to a doctor about causes, symptoms, and treatments.
What are the symptoms of tachycardia?3
When your heart beats too fast, you might feel different symptoms that can include3:
- Shortness of breath
- Dizziness
- Sudden weakness
- Fluttering in the chest
- Lightheadedness
- Fainting
What are the different types of tachycardia?1,2
There is a normal type of tachycardia called sinus tachycardia that can happen during things like exercise, stress, or moments of fear. There is also an abnormal type of tachycardia that can be caused by underlying heart conditions like atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation (AFib), ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation. These conditions are named for the area in the heart that is causing the fast heartbeat.
Fast heart rhythms can occur in either the upper chambers (atria) or lower chambers (ventricles) of the heart.
- Atrial flutter and AFib start in the upper chambers of the heart.
- Ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation start in the lower chambers of the heart.
- Upper chamber
- Lower chamber
Tachycardia can cause sudden cardiac arrest (SCA), which is an electrical problem with the heart that causes it to stop working and beating properly. If not treated immediately, SCA is usually fatal.
Talk to your doctor about the risk of SCA.
Once your doctor identifies your specific type of tachycardia and the root cause, you can work together to determine if you are at risk of life-threatening conditions like SCA.
Information on this site should not be used as a substitute for talking with your doctor. Always talk with your doctor about diagnosis and treatment information.
