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Slow heart rate with pauses
I have had a problem with focusing on my heartbeat for a couple years now. I am 33 5'9" 155# lean toned and workout about 3-4 times weekly. I have done alot of cardio workouts at the gym. Stair climbing, eliptical machines, etc. My rate when I wake up in the AM is usually 42-45. When I go to the gym, it gets up to about 110-120. It also recovers quickly. I have had every test in the book done. And I also see 2 different cardiologists. Sometimes when it is this slow, I feel a little off balance and a little tired. But I also checked one day after having a stress test and I felt very dizzy driving home, of course I had nothing to eat all day and this was at like 5pm, my heart rate was about 55-60. Both doctors think this is due to anxiety, which I see a therapist weekly for. They say I am too focused on it and to stop checking it. Now my questions:
1. My pulse throughout the day is usually 45-48. Is this bad?
2. I sometimes feel pauses, not like the pauses you get with PAC's or PVC's, where you can feel the early beat, they just feel like pauses. Both doctors say I have sinus pauses during sleep where my rate gets into the 30s. Are sinus pauses bad?
They feel like my heart stops for a couple seconds. On one holter test, the longest one was 2.1 sec, during sleep. On the same test I had 145 late beats in 24 hours. What are late beats?
3. Last holter was 4 months ago. Had an episode of pauses for like an hour, and told doc, and nothing but PAC's PVCs and aberrant beats showed up during this time. What are aberrant?
AVg rate was 45. Is this SSS??
1. My pulse throughout the day is usually 45-48. Is this bad?
2. I sometimes feel pauses, not like the pauses you get with PAC's or PVC's, where you can feel the early beat, they just feel like pauses. Both doctors say I have sinus pauses during sleep where my rate gets into the 30s. Are sinus pauses bad?
They feel like my heart stops for a couple seconds. On one holter test, the longest one was 2.1 sec, during sleep. On the same test I had 145 late beats in 24 hours. What are late beats?
3. Last holter was 4 months ago. Had an episode of pauses for like an hour, and told doc, and nothing but PAC's PVCs and aberrant beats showed up during this time. What are aberrant?
AVg rate was 45. Is this SSS??
I shall keep most of this in point form since it is easier on the eyes
Myself:
37, m, single, smoker (3-4 now)1/2pack,little stress in my life
active for the past 15yrs - kickboxxing 3yrs, gym 3x wk for 6-8yrs (3-4 hrs) . Lean musclular build 5.6 165lbs
* one meditronic 2 chamber pacemaker
I am NOT a doctor
My answers to Your questions
1)Is pulse of 45-48 bad? It is if it is causing you so much stress. Pulse alone isnt a measure of "healty"
2)Late beat. More specificly, that is the time it takes the AVnode to recieve a signal from the SAnode. SA/AV refers to the heart natural electrical signal generater/reciever. Instead of going beep beep it goes beep--- beep.
3)2nd guy said it best
More detailed
The number of times a heart beats is not as important as the volume of blood that gets displaced. Another way of looking at it is a fast beating heart (75/min) can pump smaller amount of blood more often. A conditioned heart can pump large amounts of blood less often, yet over the time of 1 min both can pump the same volume of blood. There is advantages and disadvantage to both. A heart that beats fast is subject to more wear and tear over the course of a life time that sort of things. A quick recovery time after exercise is a good sign of not just a healthy heart but of the other organs (lungs in particular) also.
It is a matter of supply and demand - O2
I fainted at work which earned me a visit to the hospital where I stayed for most of that day. 1/2 hour before i was to be released i fainted again this time connected to an ECG. It showed i had flatlined for 12 sec. My heart started back on its own. Now what i say is specific to what i was told here in Ontario. The heart SHOULD never stop. Talk of pacemaker starts when the pause is more than 1.5 sec. At 12 sec i was given a choice. No pacemaker no drivers priviledge or pacemaker driving priviledges. Now what the proper times are i dont know. From the meny articles and conversations I have had, and based on the feedback i get form the meny doctors that i have seen, there seems to be something to 1.5 sec. When i say i am 37 with a pacemaker i get the lift of the eyebrow from the doctor-when i say 12 sec flatline I get both eyebrow. I can hold my breath longer than 12sec so i personally dont see the big deal.Regaurdless to wether or not the pauses are a problem, the important part of your heart is perfect and that is the muscles, valves and the arteries. Its like this if the battery in your car dies you replace it because the important part, the motor, is still entact. I have never or had ever sensed a problem before. Since the pacemaker was installed to the first time it was checked it had ran 47 times. My pacemaker is set to start up (normal mode is "standby")at 50/min. One of my questions that i have been searching for is what is a persons heart rate when asleep.50/min seems high. The more i exercise the more often I feel this pacemaker starting up when at rest. I am guessing but the more health i make my heart the higher the volume of blood I get per beat the slower my pulse. A healthy conditioned heart beating at 45-48/min is good to me if it is supplying enough blood. The next time i go to the pacemaker clinic I will be sure to ask. As far as the dizziness you feel well just about anyting can cause that - flu for example. Two things you should look at is 1) dehydration - that causes less water in your blood which causes thicker blood - less blood flow to the brain (been there done that). The 2nd thing is alergies. Balance is (simplied) balance is a function of the ears. In each ear there are sacks that are filled with a fluid. They are exstreamly sensitive to motion by design. As you turn your head for example the differance in preasure acting on the fluid in both ear the brain interpts and establishes balance. Alergies can cause this process to become imbalanced. Excess fluid from the ears drains into the nasal cavity. If the nasal cavity becomes conjested so can the cavities in the ears hence causing your balance to be off. Alergies although rare can cause your blood preasure to drop also. Check for ringing in the ears. Those who like loud music or high volume of noise particularly static noise can damage the balance center in the ears. So does modern day medications.
Myself:
37, m, single, smoker (3-4 now)1/2pack,little stress in my life
active for the past 15yrs - kickboxxing 3yrs, gym 3x wk for 6-8yrs (3-4 hrs) . Lean musclular build 5.6 165lbs
* one meditronic 2 chamber pacemaker
I am NOT a doctor
My answers to Your questions
1)Is pulse of 45-48 bad? It is if it is causing you so much stress. Pulse alone isnt a measure of "healty"
2)Late beat. More specificly, that is the time it takes the AVnode to recieve a signal from the SAnode. SA/AV refers to the heart natural electrical signal generater/reciever. Instead of going beep beep it goes beep--- beep.
3)2nd guy said it best
More detailed
The number of times a heart beats is not as important as the volume of blood that gets displaced. Another way of looking at it is a fast beating heart (75/min) can pump smaller amount of blood more often. A conditioned heart can pump large amounts of blood less often, yet over the time of 1 min both can pump the same volume of blood. There is advantages and disadvantage to both. A heart that beats fast is subject to more wear and tear over the course of a life time that sort of things. A quick recovery time after exercise is a good sign of not just a healthy heart but of the other organs (lungs in particular) also.
It is a matter of supply and demand - O2
I fainted at work which earned me a visit to the hospital where I stayed for most of that day. 1/2 hour before i was to be released i fainted again this time connected to an ECG. It showed i had flatlined for 12 sec. My heart started back on its own. Now what i say is specific to what i was told here in Ontario. The heart SHOULD never stop. Talk of pacemaker starts when the pause is more than 1.5 sec. At 12 sec i was given a choice. No pacemaker no drivers priviledge or pacemaker driving priviledges. Now what the proper times are i dont know. From the meny articles and conversations I have had, and based on the feedback i get form the meny doctors that i have seen, there seems to be something to 1.5 sec. When i say i am 37 with a pacemaker i get the lift of the eyebrow from the doctor-when i say 12 sec flatline I get both eyebrow. I can hold my breath longer than 12sec so i personally dont see the big deal.Regaurdless to wether or not the pauses are a problem, the important part of your heart is perfect and that is the muscles, valves and the arteries. Its like this if the battery in your car dies you replace it because the important part, the motor, is still entact. I have never or had ever sensed a problem before. Since the pacemaker was installed to the first time it was checked it had ran 47 times. My pacemaker is set to start up (normal mode is "standby")at 50/min. One of my questions that i have been searching for is what is a persons heart rate when asleep.50/min seems high. The more i exercise the more often I feel this pacemaker starting up when at rest. I am guessing but the more health i make my heart the higher the volume of blood I get per beat the slower my pulse. A healthy conditioned heart beating at 45-48/min is good to me if it is supplying enough blood. The next time i go to the pacemaker clinic I will be sure to ask. As far as the dizziness you feel well just about anyting can cause that - flu for example. Two things you should look at is 1) dehydration - that causes less water in your blood which causes thicker blood - less blood flow to the brain (been there done that). The 2nd thing is alergies. Balance is (simplied) balance is a function of the ears. In each ear there are sacks that are filled with a fluid. They are exstreamly sensitive to motion by design. As you turn your head for example the differance in preasure acting on the fluid in both ear the brain interpts and establishes balance. Alergies can cause this process to become imbalanced. Excess fluid from the ears drains into the nasal cavity. If the nasal cavity becomes conjested so can the cavities in the ears hence causing your balance to be off. Alergies although rare can cause your blood preasure to drop also. Check for ringing in the ears. Those who like loud music or high volume of noise particularly static noise can damage the balance center in the ears. So does modern day medications.
A related discussion, PVCs and Palpitation was started.
A related discussion, heart pauses was started.
Billyboy,
Sorry to hear about your rhythm problems. It's hard not to worry when you don't know for sure what is going on. I just wanted to share my experience with SSS. I am in my early thirties. I was diagnosed after wearing a 24hr. holter monitor. My avererage rate for 24hrs. was 40. My rate would get down into the teens, and I had several pauses up to seven seconds. It actually got worse in the hospital. With SSS, not only do you have a very slow rate and pauses, usually longer than 3 seconds, but most people have high rate atrial episodes as well, like a-fib, or a-flutter etc.
My guess is your rate is normal for you. My husband's rate is 50bpm. He is perfectly healthy. Good luck. I know when people develop regular PVCs they start to wonder if there is anything wrong with their heart. Generally, the answer is no. If they have done an echo. and your heart is structurally normal, I wouldn't worry too much. I am not in the medical field, so I am only speaking as a patient with SSS.
Good luck to you!!
Sorry to hear about your rhythm problems. It's hard not to worry when you don't know for sure what is going on. I just wanted to share my experience with SSS. I am in my early thirties. I was diagnosed after wearing a 24hr. holter monitor. My avererage rate for 24hrs. was 40. My rate would get down into the teens, and I had several pauses up to seven seconds. It actually got worse in the hospital. With SSS, not only do you have a very slow rate and pauses, usually longer than 3 seconds, but most people have high rate atrial episodes as well, like a-fib, or a-flutter etc.
My guess is your rate is normal for you. My husband's rate is 50bpm. He is perfectly healthy. Good luck. I know when people develop regular PVCs they start to wonder if there is anything wrong with their heart. Generally, the answer is no. If they have done an echo. and your heart is structurally normal, I wouldn't worry too much. I am not in the medical field, so I am only speaking as a patient with SSS.
Good luck to you!!
Dear Billy,
Sorry to hear about your episodes of dizziness. Your slow heart rate may be a result of being physically fit.
1. A pulse of 45 to 48 is not bad. One should not become dizzy with a pulse of 45 to 48. If so, I would consider another cause for the dizziness. There are some studies which suggest that a slower heart rate may be indicative a better long term prognosis.
2. We typically do not report late beats. I am not sure what you are referring to. Sinus pauses are common and we often see them in younger patients such as yourself. In a setting such as yours, they are not associated with an abnormal outcome and no therapy would be recommended.
3. An aberrant beat is one whose width on the ECG is longer than normal. It suggests that this particular beat had altered conduction, and does not suggest anything abnormal. I don't think you have sick sinus syndrome. Your slow heart rate may be related to physical conditioning.
Thanks for your question,
CCF-MD-KE
Sorry to hear about your episodes of dizziness. Your slow heart rate may be a result of being physically fit.
1. A pulse of 45 to 48 is not bad. One should not become dizzy with a pulse of 45 to 48. If so, I would consider another cause for the dizziness. There are some studies which suggest that a slower heart rate may be indicative a better long term prognosis.
2. We typically do not report late beats. I am not sure what you are referring to. Sinus pauses are common and we often see them in younger patients such as yourself. In a setting such as yours, they are not associated with an abnormal outcome and no therapy would be recommended.
3. An aberrant beat is one whose width on the ECG is longer than normal. It suggests that this particular beat had altered conduction, and does not suggest anything abnormal. I don't think you have sick sinus syndrome. Your slow heart rate may be related to physical conditioning.
Thanks for your question,
CCF-MD-KE
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