Slow Heart Rate

[Mary051282]

Why is my heart rate slow? The rate is normally 54bpm and sometimes it goes as low as 46bpm. I went to my gp who did blood tests but didn't come back with anything and couldn't give me an answer. My health has been fine but not for the last 4 months where I have been having dizzy spells /  no energy to to anything / sleeping 10-12 hrs a day / headaches / also put on a stone in the first month and kept it on and can't get rid of it. I am not pregnant and have been told that it is a viral infection by my gp

[pinkdalmation]

Hi there, i seem to have the same problems as you. My heart rate is slow (49bpm) and my blood pressure is low (90/70) but strangely my cholesterol level has gone up from 193 mg/dl (HDL = 87 mg/dl, LDL= 93 mg/dl in 2008) to 224 mg/dl (HDL=96 mg/dl, LDL=116 mg/dl) in 2009.

I did a stress test last year which was normal, but only this year been feeling constantly tired w headaches/dizzy spells only difference is that I for the past 2 weeks or so I havent been able to sleep well.
If you do have any solutions to whats going on please share.

[Cleveland Clinic]

I would recommend doing an exercise stress test to see what your heart rate does under exertion.  If the heart rate doesn't increase as would be expected with exercise, I think it would be safe to say that you have something called chronotropic incompetence.  Of course, your doctor would have to rule out thyroid problems, anemia, etc before making any further decisions.  If you do have a viral infection, one would expect it to go away shortly, so if this has been going on for some time, the likelihood of improvement would be low.  I think you should probably seek a second opinion at this point.