Cause for concern?

[Saylor23]

I have been experiencing a low heart rate for as long as I can remember recording it. It falls in the lines of 40s-60s resting usually below 60's. i have been experiencing frequent heart palpitations(skipping beats) when in resting and working out sometime. Should I be concerned? Will I have to have a pacemaker? I do get dizzy sometimes,  I also have hypertension my Bp runs in the 140's consistently, diastolic usually normal 70-80 usually. I'm on losartan 50mg and that's what my Bp runs...I've had a heart echo done few months back..all was normal other than a small leaky valve. Experienced some skipping then but more so now. I'm jus 22 years old...I play pick up basketball decently athletic.

[Saylor23]

Thanks for posting I will take your advice I've been only going to to the gym about  once or twice a week here lately although I try to play basketball or walk everyday I can. Just the skipped beats is a problem I've not had as often as I do now..it's a lil freaky. But I do pay too much attention to it I suppose. I've started taking my losartan at night so maybe the side affects will subside more. Now I'm just on a quest to lower my systolic pressure now my heart rate using a concern. I've not been adding salt to my food and everything seems to have a decent amout of sodium in it. So it's hard..I just wonder why I have isolated systolic hypertension and a lower diastolic and heart rate

[MichelleP_3811]

I think a pacemaker is only necessary if you are having issue functioning which it sounds like you don't at this point.  For healthy adult males who are athletic it is not uncommon to have low rates as you have. From my understanding it is only when you have disabling symptoms does it become concerning.  I think I read somewhere that the threshold is something like a three second pause is when it gets concerning and if i did my math right a beat of 40 is still only 1.5 seconds between beats.  It is possible that your low heart rate is being aggravated by your meds.  I am not sure if losartan slows your heart rate but I did read it can cause dizziness so it may be part of the reason for your symptoms so discuss with your doctor if a change in meds may be in order.  Also, try to maintain a low sodium diet if you don't already, this includes energy drinks like gatorade after you work out, if you drink it maybe try instead to just drink lots of water and see if that helps your bp.  Finally ectopic beats, the palpitations and skipping you feel, can be caused by an irritated heart.  Stress anxiety and adrenaline from working out can cause them to flare up but it is possible if you give your heart a bit of a break from working out too hard it will help settle down the ectopics.  The heart is a muscle and just like any other muscle in your body it can get aggravated.  So you don't necessarily need to stop your workouts but maybe just try and ease up a bit and not push as hard and see if giving your heart a little breather will help the ectopics settle down.  In any event, try to not worry too much about the rate your heart is at and focus on keeping a healthy lifestyle which includes not over doing things and it will keep on ticking just fine.