What Causes Weakness In Legs With Difficulty In Walking And Fast Heart Rate?

Posted on Fri, 19 Feb 2016

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

Fri, 19 Feb 2016 Answered on

Thu, 28 Apr 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I'm 57 yrs old and for the past week I've been experiencing the following issues: difficulty walking more than 25 ft without my legs feeling like jello, weakness, my heart races and I get out of breath. Feeling exhausted and chest feels anxious and nervous.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (57 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Some tests.

Detailed Answer:
Hello and thank your for your question. I understand your query. Welcome to HCM.

Actually, there are some diagnoses that could fit these symptoms. Regardless of this fact, I would recommend you some tests that relate to the most probable diagnoses.

I would start with a simple blood work: total biochemical analysis of kidney, liver, fat and electrolyte panel; a complete blood count, to assess the white, red and platelet count of cells.

Then, according to your description, some specific, heart and leg related tests are required.

First, an EKG which assesses your heart electrical system at resting state, then a cardiac stress test - which is an EKG in physical effort. These are done because, if there is an abnormality in your cardiovascular system, these tests would reveal it.

Second, an echo Doppler of the leg arteries, to evaluate the flow in these arteries, because tiredness on the legs after carrying out a 25-feet walk should be evaluated. Depending on the results of this test, a computedh tomography (CT) of the peripheral arteries may be recommended.

I hope my answer is helpful. I am happy to help, if you have further questions. Please rate the answer, if you do not.

Kind regards,
Dr. Meriton

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad