High sleeping heart rate

[shadowstar240]

I've just started monitoring my sleeping heart rate and I'm finding that it is mostly always higher than my resting heart rate. My resting heart rate during the day hovers around 60bpm. I'm sleeping really poorly at the moment and have found that my heart rate seems to increase as I'm falling asleep but then gets lower towards the morning. I can't find anything that says if my sleeping heart rate should be lower than my resting heart rate - I just want to find out if this is unusual. I find that I get really hot in my sleep too when I'm normally always cold while awake. 

[EileenThirteen]

It's so difficult to get to the bottom of it. Anyway I am going to a sleep
clinic in a few weeks just to verify the accuracy of the fitbit as my
cardiologist doesn't trust it and I didn't have the usual issue the night I
wore a heart monitor...Will update here after sleep clinic

[Sailormoon73]

That would be interesting…. Well do e on getting into a sleep clinic!


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[Sailormoon73]

I think you’re right about stress-induced inflammation. The one and only real clue is that when I had a steroid injection for a frozen shoulder my HRV shot up to 70 (from 20 ish) …. It makes me really worried to think im chronically inflammed and the steroid proves it can be different 😞

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[MrsFrear]

I wore a clinical heart monitor for 4 weeks (still waiting for the results re: nighttime increase in HR) 

[Sailormoon73]

Wow… four weeks? Thats impressive… You mist be dying to know the results… I know there must be a reason some of is have this…. We just need the medical professionals to catch up and confirm a few things…
Good luck and please do lets know what happens….


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[EileenThirteen]

That's actually quite scary....

[WanderingSal]

I’m not sure if everyone will see this if I reply to this comment only but here goes.

I did the 24 hour heart monitor and although it showed the same pattern, my
heart health is good and there’s no extremes so they did not seem
concerned. Covid put pay to attending a sleep clinic.

However, I thought I would update you as I may have found an answer.

I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and started medication. Almost
immediately my sleep improved and for the last few nights I have achieved
sleep that is 95 to 100% below resting heart rate. An incredible turn around.

I don’t know if it’s the meds directly affecting sleep or if it’s the
‘fixing’ of other issues that is leaving me able to sleep better. Primarily
I struggled with hyper vigilance following an abusive marriage and I
believe my brain would switch into super vigilance when I was
naked/asleep/in the dark etc as I would feel vulnerable even on a
subconscious level.

Who knows, but I would urge you all to take this online test and speak to
your GP if you score highly. ADHD was not even remotely on my horizon, it
came as a complete surprise when my GP suggested I take the test.

You can take a free screening test at ADHD360 (I tried to post a link but it wouldn’t let me). 

I will continue to monitor and update again.

[Sailormoon73]

…. I can certainly see how ‘hypervigilence’ would make your heart rate rise … I definitely have issues switching my head off…

Could you share which ADHD meds they’ve given you… I’ll research the ingredients..
So you’re saying the meds have fixed the hypervigilence? Great news…

Why is it you say you’d never suspected adhd ? (Or rather… how did the gp suspect it when you didn’t?) - if thats not too personal to ask…

Do you feel more rested in the morning also?

Thanks for your help with the detective work!
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[WanderingSal]

Lisdexamphetamine. 

It came about because I have ‘tics’ and they were getting bad and when I try to control them I developed a new one in my shoulders. Then I randomly saw the Lewis Capaldy documentary and wondered if I might have Tourette’s like him (again, something that would never have been on my horizon until watching that). It was not my regular GP and just happened to be the GP who is involved with the ADHD patients and after a quick chat he suggested I did the test and I scored very high. It was a shock but now a lot of things make a lot of sense and the medication has (so far) been very helpful indeed. I’ve even seen a reduction in my chronic pain (osteoarthritis and another bone condition) because the meds alter your perceived pain levels. 

I’m not someone who believes in medicine as an easy fix, but in this case it does seem like I may be on the right path and I just wanted to alert others. 

I am aware I may come back here and report the results didn’t last, or the side effects are not worth it or whatever, but for now it’s looking like a good start to a healthier life.

[WanderingSal]

PS - absolutely more rested in the morning. I never used to get much deep sleep, sometimes none, but now I’m almost reaching my benchmarks.

[Sailormoon73]

Wow…. Magic! Thats great news…

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[Fitbunnies]

Wow - what an amazing discovery! It totally makes sense to me - I have huge problems switching off and get very easily overstimulated. I just found the online ADHD screening test - https://adhduk.co.uk/adult-adhd-screening-survey/ - and goodness me, I got 5/5 ... I'm not keen on more medications (already on heavy duty meds for another condition) but may investigate CBT, I understand that can work well for ADHD. I found in the past that mindfulness worked well for stress when I did it every day, but find it hard to stick to the routine - need to get back to that. 

So glad I found this group, thanks for sharing! 

[Sailormoon73]

Thanks for posting! Just out of curiosity… what kind of mindfulness exercises did you do?

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[Fitbunnies]

I use the Headspace app - have done for years - very helpful!

[EileenThirteen]

I used Jason Stephenson a lot...I find his meditation tapes for sleep very
good. I also did a very intense CBT mindfulness training programme with a
psychologist over a period of 6 months. It was hard work and took 45
minutes every morning and 45 minutes every evening...I started it to.stop
smoking and I will never again smoke. Thst was four years ago but I didn't
like the hard work involved in the CBT approach so stopped it once I had
achieved my smoking cessation....I feel that I would benefit from using it
to keep sleeping heart rate down, but I want to explore the other options
before I commit to such a hard regime.

[Rawbydesign]

This is late after your post none the less have you looked into Dysautonomia?   Dysautonomia is the medical term for when the autonomic nervous system (ANS) does not work properly. There are 15 " types" of Dysautonomia.  The ANS is nervous  system which is a part of what controls your heart rate. 

[VirginiaDNJ]

Hello Sailormoom73 and other interested parties!  Sorry to hear there are so many of us with this issue. After experimenting for the last year, I am pretty confident of the following:
- There is an element of long-term stress involved. I have started going to bed doing some deep, belly, breathing, and focusing on, allowing my body to melt into the bed. I have observed that I carry tension in my chest region, which gets worse when I lay down. If I focus on breathing and relaxing it, I sleep much better, and I’m much more likely to have my sleeping heart rate be lower than my resting heart rate. 

- I also believe inflammation plays a role. When mine is being well managed, I’m less likely to have the tension in my chest, which seems to elevate my heart rate while sleeping.

- I believe chronic tightness in the fascia around my rib cage and sternum. Also play a role. Some massage therapy and stretching has helped to loosen those chronically tensed areas.

I truly appreciate all the great ideas and feedback this community has provided. I’ll keep you updated if I get any further insights.

Keep working on it as there is no way this is normal!

[VirginiaDNJ]

Hi all whose sleeping heart rate is higher than resting heart rate,

I finally have a pattern with direct cause and effect. I have been working with massage therapist and receiving trigger point accupuncture to relieve incredible tightness in my back ( specifically my rhomboids). My sleeping heart rate for 1-3 days after treatment is not only below my resting heart rate, it is also much flatter, and much more sound sleep. 
I would encourage anyone wrestling with this issue to see if they have any areas of chronic pain or tightness. If so, try focusing on getting those areas to release and see if it helps your sleep. 
good luck and don’t give up!

[Sailormoon73]

Wow…. That’s incredible… I must admit, I wouldn’t have guessed that tight muscles would do it…that’s fascinating.
Do you think the massage is somehow relaxing you so much that it’s improving your vagal tone?
I do also have ongoing challenges with tight shoulders/ upper back… so I might look into this…. Thanks!

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[VirginiaDNJ]

I should have been more specific about the massage techniques being used. My massage therapist does about 50 minutes stretching and peeling apart my layers of fascia and my rhomboid muscle fibers (which are tight string like piano strings). Much of the time, I am almost white-knuckled with pain as we do this. So, why would anyone do this, you ask? Well, I’ve had almost 5 years of nightly chest pain with my heart fluctuating rapidly between 60 and 100 bpm where my resting heart rate is 53. After checking literally everything else (heart, lungs, …) we decided to see if the nightly pain could be coming from my back.

I have also slept better after a relaxing massage, but not like this. My Fitbit data shows that for 1-3 nights after having this fascia work done, I am sleeping with heart rate spikes and well under my resting heart rate. My energy has greatly improved since I’m sleeping better, and my back pain (which I’ve had for over a decade) is getting so much better. I believe the trigger point acupuncture was even more of a game changer as it seems to be unwinding my years of tightness.

If you have any area of chronic muscle tightness, it might be worth a try. It is the only thing in the last 5 years that has had a direct effect on my sleep.

Let me know if you try it, but brace yourself because both treatments hurt. 🥴