Low heart rate/ bp... cause for concern? - Heart Disorders Message Board

Mudiefeets · 08-07-2006, 02:13 PM

I have both low heart rate (when sitting at rest, upper 30's in the evenings and mid to upper 40's during the day) and low blood pressure (90/60 give or take a few digits)...

I am 25, 5'8 1/2" , 145 lbs. Moderately active (4 days p week of 20-60 min exercise average).

No known health conditions that would cause this that I know of but I just find myself feeling lightheaded and dizzy, fatigued quite a bit and am frankly , tired of it. I am wondering if I should possibly be concerned with stats like this?

started04 · 08-08-2006, 10:05 AM

A slow heart rate is considered beneficial, but a very slow HR is possibly a serious problem waiting under the right circumstances to happen.

The danger is a very slow heart rate can cause blood to pool and stagnate in the heart chambers causing clots. Also a very slow HR can/will signal the kidneys to retain fluids causing edema (excess fluids in the organs and peripheral areas of the body).

BP isn't in a harmful range, and usually considered a good condition. The fatigue you are experiencing can be due to your body is not getting a healthy flow of oxygen righ blood with each heartbeat (stroke/volume). But under those conditions your heart should beat faster?!

Are you taking medication?

CircusSquirrel · 08-10-2006, 10:05 AM

Are you in excellent cardiovascular condition? That could be the reason. The bp could come from dehydration, but one would expect the heart rate to rise to compensate. You are young, so you are more able to tolerate the lower heart rates and bp than would an older person, and it may be that you're one of those people who are just on the very low end of normal. I would go to my primary care and ask about this, though, especially since you are symptomatic with dizziness. While waiting for your dr. appt, I would try and stay very hydrated and possibly take in some excess salt, maybe from an electrolyte drink. This may reduce the dizziness.

started04 · 08-10-2006, 12:35 PM

[QUOTE=Mudiefeets][FONT="Comic Sans MS"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="Blue"]I have both low heart rate (when sitting at rest, upper 30's in the evenings and mid to upper 40's during the day) and low blood pressure (90/60 give or take a few digits)...

"When the heart rate is less than 60 beats per minute and the heart's electrical system functions normally. This type of slow heart rate is often seen in healthy, athletic people.

Risk of complications? This type is not likely to cause complications, unless the heart rate is very slow (less than 40 beats per minute).
Treatment: It rarely requires treatment unless it causes symptoms. Then, a pacemaker may be implanted if there is no underlying cause that can be easily treated."

HR less than 40 bpm (very slow) can cause blood clots!!

CircusSquirrel · 08-10-2006, 02:04 PM

HR less than 40 bpm (very slow) can cause blood clots!![/QUOTE]

Yeah, I totally agree he should get it checked out, but it doesn't cause blood clots or isn't necessarily harmful in EVERY case, but usually these heart rates are seen in athletes, the elderly who are on a lot of medications, or occassionally, just a guy off the street who doesn't fit in the norm. My husband has always been in great shape, but not athlete level shape, and when he was a little younger (late 20s to early 30s), his pulse was regularly 38-42, granted he had absolutely no symptoms. It's now more like 55-65 resting, but he doesn't run as much. So I'm just saying, maybe this guy is ok, but he should definitely make an appt. ASAP but let's not terrify him. Maybe this guy is in better shape than he thinks he is----there are many athletes and very in shape people (granted, that's a small percentage of the population) who have resting HRs in the 30s to 40s and they aren't having complications. I think the thing to be concerned about is that he's having symptoms and he needs to see if he's just got an extraordinarily fine tuned cardio system or an actual abnormality. It's good that you brought the "40" to his attention. My HR sometimes gets into the 40s resting but I'm on beta-blockers and in decent shape. My cardio told me that's fine for a 30 year old but in a few decades that he would not find that HR acceptable unless I was in super great condition and totally symptom and disease free. He also told me that there is a good deal of variability in what different people feel with different heart rates, and what different hearts can handle (We have long heart rate discussions because I have out of the blue episodes of sinus tachycardia for no particular reason, and beta-blockers help that, but I have to deal with the lightheadedness and cold extremities, so we're trying to balance my meds, my HR, and my BP). Some cardios and primary care docs set the cutoff for HR at 50; they don't like their patients going below that, but if a patient has to take a certain medication or is very fit, then there's not much a person can do about it unless it causes problems and they (eek!) need a pacemaker. And Mudiefeets, I'm sorry I'm talking about you in the 3rd person, but please take kenkeith's advice and call your doc (or get a doc) ASAP. Let us know how it turns out.