Low pulse after giving up smoking

[Thestoff]

Early December last year I was told that I have Hypercholesterolaemia and I would have to take Simvastatin 40 mg and quit smoking, I'm male and almost 52 yrs old.  I went on Champix to quit and I haven't smoked for 12 weeks and have now finished the Champix, what concerns me now is my BP has always been slightly low, 125 / 75 and my HR around 70, now for the last month my HR has dropped to between 55 to 65, I been getting some dizzyness, feel washed out and have some mild chest discomfort, my GP is sending me for an ECG.  He also told me that nicotine speeds up the HR and so smoking could have masked a problem for years, has anyone got any advice as to what the future holds and what the treatment could be?

[Thestoff]

Thank you for your reply, I'm feeling better by the minute.

[Thestoff]

Jerry, thankyou for your comments, smoking, I'm taking it one day at a time and it seems to be working.

Regarding the dizziness, I hope your correct and it is just a period of adjustment to lower HR and BP.

GP said he'd refer me to a Cardiologist depending on the test results.

With Simvastatin cholesterol down from 7.3 to 5.5 in 2 months.

The annoying thing is apart from smoking I've always eaten reasonably healthily, kept myself slim, played Squash at a fair standard for over 20 years and weekend cycled.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

[kane3]

Experienced the exact same problem after quitting smoking, and now 4 months later, I still have the same low HR (around 50-60), the dizzyness here and there, and the low BP too. I too went for a series of tests and all came back normal except for a large amount of PVC's i experience. I think some of us just experience this when quitting smoking, but other than that all sounds normal! Take Care

[Jerry_NJ]

First, congratulation on quitting smoking, KEEP UP the good work.

I see nothing wrong with a HR of 55-60, assumed to be at rest HR.  Most of us would love to have that "problem".  If you are having problems with dizziness it could just be an adjustment to lower HR and BP, most of us adjust to those changes as long as the numbers are not too low, e.g., HR under 30, not sure what too low a BP is, dizzy isn't good.

Good to get an ECG, I assume for a cardiologist.  Many GPs do ECG/EKG, but I'd think it better to have a cardiologist look at the result and give you a general hands and ears on check-out.

The statin should not give you any problems, bes I know.  I take 20 mg Samvastatin, a low cost generic and works very well for me.