Irregular Heart Rate with Exercise & ADD Meds

[Amy303]

I am healthy, 37 years old, and have always been an athlete (competitive swimmer growing up, have run several marathons, etc.).  I was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder 3+ years ago and in the last 6 months, I notice a huge fluctuation in my heart rate when running.  It seems to "get stuck" at about 84 beats per minute and then "stuck" over 190.  For each, if I stop running, it jolts my heart back to normal pretty quickly.  I went to a cardiologist and ran on a treadmill and they can't see anything.  I also ran with a portable heart rate monitor but it jostled so much that it didn't get a reliable reading.  

Does anyone have any experience with anything like this or any suggestions on what to ask the doctor or what to do?  I am not really worrying because I can't identify anything wrong but it is weird.  Thoughts?

[Amy303]

In answer to your question, I was on Adderall and am now on Vyvanse - my doc wanted to see if changing the prescription would help the heart rate issues.  I'm taking about 35 mg a day and that maybe too much.  More info than you need but maybe it will help .... I've always struggled with mood but Adderall helped it.  I am now struggling again but my grandmother just died and it might be grief-related.  My family is a very close southern family and she was the matriarch - so to have her suddenly fall ill, to put her in hospice, and then to say goodbye 5 days later was hard on the entire family.  

Needless to say, with the crisis I have put the cardiologist on hold.  He and I left it, in mid-November, by deciding that I had a broken heart rate monitor.

I got a new one but did not run for the weeks that my grandmother was ill and we were planning memorial services, going to them, etc.  I got a new monitor and have run twice since her death - and unfortunately my heart rate is still acting up.  So I need to call the cardiologist and get signed up for two more tests - a treadmill test running the way I run instead of his traditional test and then some other test that I had to cancel due to the family emergency.

Any thoughts on this?  Have you had something similar happen?

[Brooke_38]

Hello...

You didn't mention what ADD medication you are taking. These drugs are stimulants can be associated with rhythm disturbances in the heart.

After all the monitoring, what did your cardiologist suggest as the next step?