Holter Monitor Results

[Kham]

My cardiologist called yesterday and said that my holter monitor test was ok but he was concerned about my pulse rate. My low was 39 and my high was 103. The one time I went to 103 was in the middle of teaching hip-hop so I was working hard. Doc says my heart rate should be well above that when exercising. He thinks its either due to a vagal problem (?) or sinus node disease. He said with the vagal problem my pulse would go up when laying down mine does not. He said he normally doesn't put pacemakers in 44 yr old women but he thinks that's where we are heading. That kinda scares me. Anyone else with similar problems? I would be willing if it would make my fatigue and shortness of breath go away.

[Canadiangirl73]

Sorry you're going through this. What other tests has your cardiologist conducted? An echo could shed light on minimal HRV.

[MomtoGiuliana]

I have a very dear friend who is 37 who got a pacemaker last year. She had a low hr both exercising and at rest--although more pronounced than yours. Her doctor (same EP I see actually) first tried a couple different meds, but ultimately the pacemaker was needed. She got her life back. She feels sooo much better now--she was severely fatigued prior to getting it--although ironically, she felt best when exercising (she teaches Zumba). PM me if you would like me to give you more info--maybe she would be willing to correspond w you. She was told that what she has (heart block) is very rare at her age.

[Guest Alex]

This may be a long shot Kham, but another thing you and your drs may want to investigate is Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy. Those with high autoantibody titers for this can present with a blunted heart rate (in addition to a host of other dysautonomia symptoms). If you search the forum you should be able to find links to a lot of relevant articles about this condition.

Keep us posted, please.

Alex