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Anyone else develop low heart rate?


Weary

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With the onset of my dysautonomia my heart rate dropped and it is now dropping again. So this morning im at a new low of 56 bpm while lying down. Havent gotten up yet to see standing rate. When i first got this, i had a resting  heart rate of a out 82 bpm sometimes higher  then one day blew me away when i saw hr of 64. I thought maybe hormone changes. The best of my docs at the time said of the drop  i"interesting" and the other idiots stupidly said still in the normal range.  LAter 62 bom became the norm and now under 60 , with 58 or 59 most mornings and today 56.

Dont know if direct consequence of dysautonomia, or perhaps reactive change to the very high bps and spikes or perhaps reactolive  to the tachy episodes i got - but have not had a big one in a few months now 

incidentally when  discussed  with a smart EP cardio that my 24 hour heart moniter showed back in dec 2017  a ramge of 63-146 all with zero excercise and exertion during the 24 hours, he said its good to have a reactive heart...

i dont know if i should tey to get another 24 hour moniter since alot has changed since december  one reason im reluctant is that one shows up things because had an attack while wearing it  if i dont get an attack this time dumb docs will say well its fine now (thats also why i dont want to repeat the blood metenephrines and have them say well your fine now)  i can also do a 30 day moniter  

anyone else have a falling heart rate or suggestions on how it fits in. 

 

Thanks. 

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I did, after a concussion in 2016.  If you're interested here is the link to my experience, spanning about a month from concussion to getting a pacemaker implanted. My Cardio said that this was a change in how my dysautonomia was manifesting itself. Having a heart rate that will respond to meet the needs of the body is a good thing. I was not having an appropriate rise in heart rate before my pacemaker, PT had me move around to instigate a higher rate but it would hardly budge. 

 

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,My resting heart rate often drops to 51and is mainly in the fifties it will shoot up to 130s when I first stand and depending how tired  I feel will settle or just keep spiking and dropping . I don't tend to worry about it any more my fitbit gives me a rough idea what's going on so I just use the numbers to help guide me to control my symptons, it helps me know how much I can push or not on a daily basis 

 

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Yes - I certainly get bradycardia. Often it goes into the low 50's  ( that is not considered a concerning HR, @Weary). More concerning are the symptoms you might have with it ( if any ). I suffer from chest pain and shortness of breath when my HR is low. Suffer from different chest pains and excitability when HR ( or BP ) are up. Many people have low HR, even healthy people. It is not concerning unless you have symptoms with them and even then - it most likely will be harmless. I know you are very worried about your numbers - I was too. But it is much more effective if you listen to YOUR SYMPTOMS rather then the numbers. That will show you and your physician what your body tolerates or compensates for. ( Do record your numbers but do not necessarily get stuck on them alone ). This has been true for rme. 

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ok, thanks much everyone! So i guess its not uncommon to develop low hr in addition to the tachy episodes. Guess its part of the disregulation rather than a compensatrory mechanism for high heart rate or high bp. Of course that's so hard to unravel and it could be all three - dysregulation, compensation for high heart rate, compensation for high blood pressure.  And any one person can have any combo of the 3 causes. So i guess not much help from the symptom beyond "stuff isn't working right"...

Also seems like there are "stages" to this, so wondering/predicting what will happen next.

(I also like at least one of the posters do not feel quite right when my heart rate is low for me). Could also be that "non specific T wave" abnormatilty which docs refuse to acknowledge. my chest feels funky when i have that- forget the type, something about depolarization.

next up is figuring out my  bizarre electrolytes and whether i'm having a kidney issue or pituatary issue from all this.

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@Weary - I have T-wave inversion which can be a sign of heart attack ( MI ). But since it shows consistently in every EKG it is not of any concern. CHANGES in EKG's are concerning because they show an acute event. So if you have unspecific T-wave abnormalities and they are in every EKG it is harmless. 

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What is your BP doing at the time and are you taking any medication? You can get reflex bradycardia when your BP is raised, either naturally or by taking something like midodrine.

My resting HR can be in the low 50's too. My HR and BP often don't correlate well with how I am feeling.

Have you had your thyroid checked?

Another theory I have (this is not scientifically confirmed) is downregulation of cardiac beta receptors after prolonged exposure to high levels of noradrenaline.

B x

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@bombshell : Thanks for your thoughts. In general, my bp is too high, but not sure it co-occurs when the hr is low. So when i said it may be compensatory change from high bp, i was thinking in general, and not just at that specific time. (work has shown hr can go down with high bp- though since i also have adreniline excess, am surprised to see it. usually in that case, both hr and bp are up. still wonder if i'm in  a new stage. haven't had a 140 heart rate in a few months).

I like your idea  that excess nor adreneline leads to downregulated beta receptors. in a way, is consistent with view i've had that increased heart rate at other times led to compensatory change (the way it does in endurance athletes), but you have a slightly different twist on that.

my last thyroid check was in november in ER, but just TSH. They always suspect hyperhtyroid, given also how thin i am, but none of the markers show up, and do not have the trembly hands. Take tyhroid tests usually once a year. Amusing docs think they can get the big bucks for suspecting thyroid. yawn. when it turns out i don't have the 3 most common ailments, they just shrug and move on to the next simpler 15 minute patients.

 

@ pistol   So far, I cannot imagine having more differening views than anyone than you and I have! But its good for forums to have opposing perspectives and i think people benifit the most that way.

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Check with your Dr but a HR of 56 while lying down/sleeping is not unusual even in healthy people. The normal range is 60-100 and it is common for HR to drop below this during sleep.  You can search the forum, there are many posts on this. Separately dysautonomia can cause both high or low heart rate. If you are walking or running and your HR is 50 that might be more of a dysautonomia related issue, esp if your BP is too low.

If your BP is high that can also cause your HR to be low.

Edited by yogini
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7 hours ago, Weary said:

Even if its not low in the normal population, it is low for me and thats what i think mAtters.  For others normal, for me a symptom. 

You wrote above that when you mentioned to your doctors they either ingnored or indicated it wasn’t a symptom. I just meant that this is very consistent with advice many others on this forum have received from their doctors, when we had the same question as you. Obviously each person is different. Hope you feel better soon.

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I'm being treated for tachy and am on a very low, steady dose of beta blockers. But for the past couple days I've been having episodes of extreme sleepiness, heaviness/pain in my chest and trouble thinking so I checked my HR and it was below 50 after having just done a flight of stairs. (normal for me after that is 130+)

They last a couple hours and if I can get myself up and moving to raise my HR I start to feel better. It's definitely a strange feeling being at the other end when my life has been all tachycardia for the past 2 years. Are swings like that common for people with dysautonomia? 

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@Lainy I used to get episodes of brady down to 48 and feel like that. At that time they cut my BB in half and my tachy started again. So they switched the BB and all has been good since then unless I am in a flare. My BP has not been below 54 in years. @Weary I saw my cardiologist today and he says that there are many people with HR of 50 that are completely healthy. I believe it is not the number but the symptoms that need to be addressed. 

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22 hours ago, Lainy said:

I'm being treated for tachy and am on a very low, steady dose of beta blockers. But for the past couple days I've been having episodes of extreme sleepiness, heaviness/pain in my chest and trouble thinking so I checked my HR and it was below 50 after having just done a flight of stairs. (normal for me after that is 130+)

They last a couple hours and if I can get myself up and moving to raise my HR I start to feel better. It's definitely a strange feeling being at the other end when my life has been all tachycardia for the past 2 years. Are swings like that common for people with dysautonomia? 

Call your dr or pharmacist to ask if your BB dosing should be changed.

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