Low heart rate

[jm12]

I just started using a Heart monitor the other day for concerns of an irregular heart rate.  My resting heart rate has been between 42 bpm and 58 bpm.  When I feel like my heart is pounding and "working over time" it is still only in the mid 60's.  I called in my results and the receptionist did not seem concerned at all when I told her this and provided me with no comfort or answers.  I have been dizzy, lacking energy and short of breath.  I am in my late 20's and in fairly good shape, I had been going to the gym multiple times a week but now I don't have the energy for any physical activity.   Anyone have any experience with this?  How low should I let my heart rate go before getting concerned or seeking help?

[Artaud]

Hi,

I trust when you say a Heart Monitor, you are speaking of a 30 Day Event Monitor? Also, when you said that you phoned the results to the receptionist, did you mean that you  phoned the results to the Technical Center than receives the communication from the Heart Monitor?

There's a difference. If you have a 30 Day Event Monitor, and you phoned the results to the Technical Center after you had an event, I would imagine that the Technician is trained to recognize dangerous patterns or conditions within the EKG, and also that the results are interpreted by a computer that receives the results.

For example, if you would have a 24 hour Holter, the Doctor does not sit and view each heart beat that occurs during the day (if an average Heart Rate of 75 per minute over the duration of the test is assumed for this example, there would be 108,000 Beats in that amount of time). In this modern day and age, each beat can be interpreted by a computer, looking for abnormal patterns in the EKG, as well as the areas that you flag by pressing the event button or by times that you recorded symptoms.

If anything unusual is found, in the case of the Holter, a print-out is obtained and shown to the Doctor.

In the case of the 30 Day Event Monitor, from one site I found the following: “A cardiac event monitor is a pocket-sized device that records the electrical activity of your heart while you are experiencing palpitations, dizziness, chest pain or other symptoms. This monitor lets you send your recording over your telephone to medical staff who will interpret it and send the information to your physician. In case of a life-threatening arrhythmia, your local ambulance and your physician will be notified while a technician stays on the phone with you.”

If you have a 30 Day Event Monitor, ask the Technician about what procedure is used if anything of concern is detected. In the above example, this site says that the local ambulance and the patient’s physician will be notified while the technician remains on the phone with the patient.

You have the right to know what to expect. I would always ask the Technician what they found, they usually sounded quite bored "you had a little PSVT” that would say, or “just some PVCs”.

Best of Health to You and Yours.

[lol7]

Hi jm12,

I had ventricular bigeminy prior to a recent cardiac ablation. This is where every second beat was s a premature ventricular contraction (eg. irregular heartbeat, normal heartbeat, irregular heartbeat, normal heartbeat). When you take your pulse with this it appears to be much lower as you cannot feel the irregular beats. Mine would often be at 35 when it really was 70. Also the beats I could feel felt very strong. With the bigeminy I felt extremely dizzy.

I would advise you to go to your doctor and request a holter monitor which you would wear for 24 hours to record your heartbeats. You record any symptoms you have while wearing it and the symptoms are then compared with your heart's activity during that time. This will determine whether your symptoms are caused by an irregular heartbeat or not.

I hope this helps. Keep us updated  ;-)

[slarew]

you need to get ahold of your doctor asap...not to scare you or anything like that,  but the receptionist does not necessarily going to know what to say. I do know that doctors get concerned about low pulse rates when accompanied by the symptoms you are describing. Does your doctor know about this low pulse rate and your symptoms? If anything, there should at least be a cardiac nurse you can talk to that could help you out.

best of luck

[twinbee]

I have a-fib and a-flutter. Sometimes the meds I'm on cause my heart rate to go down to the low 40's. When this happens I feel really tired and short of breath. My doctor told me this is normal with a low heart rate. I was also told by my doctor to call if my heart rate goes below 45.