What Causes Increased Heart Rate, Shortness Of Breath, Chest And Left Arm Pain?

Posted on Sat, 28 Mar 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 28 Mar 2015 Answered on

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : Hi there, I am a 29 year old male who was sent to ER on Thursday after 4 days of increased heart rate and shortness of breath. I also had chest pain and pain in my left arm, along with less severe pains elsewhere. The diagnosis is that an arrhythmia is causing this - I need to organize a 24 hour ECG heart monitor and we are using valium at present to see if it settles things down, to prove whether or not this is in any way related to anxiety. The valium has so far done nothing to slow the heart rate down, which comes and goes. My questions, until I see my doctor on Monday is: I have quite a bit of pain and discomfort in my feet and my hands/arms - the ER doctor told me the other day that was due to the heart trying to pump so quickly because of the increased heart rate. This is now nearly two days after my discharge from hospital and should I be worried about the pain in my hands and feet? It is quite noticeable. Thanks, XXXXXXX

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rovena (7 hours later)

Brief Answer:
don't need to worry.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

I read carefully your query.

Usually heart arrhythmia doesn't cause pain in legs and arms.It can happen that when the heart rate is very high ,the efficiency of pumping blood in systemic circulation decreases (because the heart contracts very quickly and the time that need ventricles to fill with blood get shorter).
This may cause some small problems with blood circulation in distal extremities like feet and hands causing little swelling and discomfort.
You don't need to worry about it.The discomfort will improve as soon as your heart rate decreases.

Hope it helps.
Let me know if you have any other questions or doubts to clarify.I would be happy to help.

Kind regards,
Dr.Rovena Murati

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar