O.K., I am a panic and anxiety sufferer...I take medication for this...zoloft and xanax. I started having chest pains as everyone does so I went through the whole gammet of test on the heart and wore an event monitor for 30 day's...ect...ect...well I just had my stress test, all came back normal...no problems. Well last Thursday I decided that I was going to quit smoking after 1 1/2 packs a day for 14 years...Did it cold turkery and haven;t had one since...here's my frustration...now my heart is beating slowwwwwwwwww any where between 45-60 if I am luckey...my blood pressure is 100/66...i am dizzy, and my chest hurts, but I saw the cardiologist today for a follow up to the stress test...and he said that he really didn't no the cause for the slow heart rate...I have had about a gazillion ekgs, echo cardiagram and now a tread mill stress test...and no leaks, blockagaes anything like that...he told me to start exercising...does this sound right to any body? I am worried about the slow heart rate...should I be?

Thanks,
Sara

Hi Sara:
Exercise is your best bet. Your low heart rate shouldn't be a problem - in fact, it will increase during aerobic exercise (cycling, jogging, etc.). Start off slow and increase duration/load as tolerance builds. You might also want to get involved in some light weight-training. This will tone up your muscles. In time, most of the muscle aches you are currently experiencing will be a thing of the past. To get the full benefit, make sure you eat healthy.
Congrats of the smoking cessation and best of luck.
Nancy