How Coughing Affects Your Heart Rate and Rhythm

How Coughing Impacts Your Heart Rate

Coughing serves an important protective purpose, but prolonged intense coughing spells can disrupt the heart's regular rhythm. Understanding exactly how coughing affects your cardiovascular system can help you recognize when a cough may warrant medical evaluation.

The Vagus Nerve Connection

There is an intimate connection between the nerves controlling cough and those regulating heart function. Both are governed by the vagus nerve, the longest cranial nerve stretching from the brainstem to the colon.

This nerve plays a role in key involuntary functions like digestion, sweating, heart rate variability and of course, coughing. So it's no surprise that excessive coughing provides a direct pathway to interfere with normal cardiac activity.

How Coughing Alters Heart Rhythm

When the vagus nerve is strongly triggered by severe or prolonged coughing, communication gets disrupted between the brain and heart. This causes the heart to beat irregularly or even temporarily stop in some cases.

Doctors refer to this phenomenon as a vasovagal response. While usually brief, this sudden change in heart rhythm generates common symptoms like:

• Lightheadedness
• Tunnel vision
• Nausea
• Flushing
• Sweating
• Fainting

Who's at Risk?

Those most vulnerable to significant heart rate disturbances with coughing include:

• Elderly individuals
• People with underlying cardiovascular disease
• Anyone using certain heart medications
• Those with electrolyte abnormalities
• Patients recovering from major surgery
• People experiencing fevers or dehydration

However, even young healthy adults can experience occasional lightheadedness or dizziness when coughing forcefully.

Identifying Abnormal Changes in Heart Rate

How can you know if a cough is impacting your heart rate excessively? There are couple key things to monitor.

1. Track Heart Rate Changes

Carefully documenting your heart rate before, during and after coughing spells can reveal meaningful patterns. Normal resting heart rate generally ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.

Is your heart rate spiking over 100 BPM or plummeting below 60 BPM multiple times daily in sync with coughing fits? This signals coughing is interfering with your heart rhythm.

2. Note Any Symptoms

Monitor yourself closely for concerning symptoms arising concurrently with coughing episodes such as:

• Racing, fluttering or skipped heart beats
• Sudden onset of dizziness/lightheadedness
• Vision dimming or blurring
• Fainting
• Sharp chest pain
• Shortness of breath

Emergent medical evaluation is needed for symptoms like passing out, trouble breathing or chest pain alongside coughing.

When to Seek Care for Cough Heart Rate Changes

Occasional brief dizziness or racing heart from coughing isn't necessarily problematic on its own. But more consistent or severe heart rhythm issues do warrant medical assessment.

Specifically, seek prompt care if you experience:

• Frequent fainting or nearly passing out
• Uncontrolled cough disrupting daily activities
• Persistent irregular heart beats
• Wheezing/trouble catching breath
• Ongoing severe fatigue/weakness
• Cough producing bloody mucus

Evaluating the underlying cause for cough along with heart rhythm changes is key. This evaluation would include a medical history, exam of heart and lungs, oxygen monitoring and possible testing like EKGs, chest X-rays or CT scans if concerning findings emerge.

Emergency Warning Signs

Call 911 or go to emergency care immediately for these red flag cough symptoms:

• Loss of consciousness
• Severe chest pressure/pain
• Blue tint to lips/fingernails
• Extreme breathlessness

These all indicate a potential life-threatening problem needing immediate treatment.

What Could Cause a Chronic Cough Impacting Heart Rate?

There are a wide variety of medical conditions that can generate repeated bouts of heavy coughing leading to heart rhythm issues. Common culprits include:

Lung Infections

Lung infections like pneumonia, bronchitis or COPD exacerbations spark severe coughing which strain heart function.

Asthma

Poorly controlled asthma is a prime driver of sudden, violent coughing episodes that quicken heart rate.

Allergies

For those with respiratory allergies, exposure to triggers like pollen or pet dander can ignite fits of coughing with associated dizziness.

Acid Reflux

When stomach acid backflows into the esophagus and vocal cords, chronic coughing and heart palpitations often result.

Medication Side Effects

Certain medications used to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and Parkinson's disease list cough as a potential adverse effect.

Smoking

Heavy smokers tend to develop the smoking cough along with side effects like rapid heart rate and low blood pressure.

Pinpointing and properly treating the root cause is key to managing problematic cough and linked heart issues.

Lifestyle Changes to Lessen Cough Severity

While most chronic cough requires medical management, you can take measures at home to try dampening cough intensity:

• Use cough drops/lozenges
• Drink plenty of fluids
• Run a cool mist humidifier
• Quit smoking immediately
• Avoid airborne irritants
• Practice cough control strategies

Consult your doctor before taking any over-the-counter cough medicines, as ingredients like dextromethorphan can negatively interact with some heart medications.

The Takeaway

Coughing is normal, but new, persistent or intense coughs that alter your heart rate do warrant medical evaluation. Proper treatment of the underlying condition causing chronic cough leads to the best control of associated cardiovascular effects.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.