I have been having a palpitations the last 3 weeks where my pulse will get up to 180 or so. I am on carvedilol to help with my tachycardia. I have had tachycardia for 5 years now and have taken medicine for it but it does not seem to be controlling it. My doctor cannot give me a higher dose because it will lower my blood pressure too much. I also feel pauses in my heart beat and then a hard beat. My pulse gets pretty close to normal when I am sitting down but when I get up to do anything, it rises high. If I walk up a flight of stairs it will go up to 130-150. If I blow dry my hair, fold laundry, or anything at all it goes up. I feel fatiqued, short of breath, and have had some back pain when my pulse gets so high. Should I be concerned that I have a heart condition? I am a 35 year old woman, but I have a family history of heart problems. My father had his first heart attach at 33 years old. I am scheduled for a stress test next Wednesday.