Slow Heart Rate, Scared--Anyone Else?

[Itsallinmyhead416]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I've posted but lately I've been freakin' myself out!

I'm 25 about to be 26 in a couple of weeks, male, and pretty active. I workout at least 5 days a week but I am by no means a Lance Armstrong, but I do consider myself to be in pretty good shape.

Lately I've been feeling tired and lethargic and I'm concerned its related to my heart rate. My RHR can range anywhere between 43-50bpm. I've had an ECHO about three years ago, EKG's and all that other stuff and always been giving a good bill of health. I have white coat syndrome so doctors never see my slow HR because it's always elevated along with my BP when I'm there. At home its seems low though. Anyone else experience this? I'm just scared that my heart is going to stop and I'm gonna drop dead! Reassurance please!

[RVP]

43-50 resting heart rate is fine in someone that's fit and healthy.
You mentioned that you're tired so your heart rate being low could be fatigue in which case you need to rest and not do excercise for a couple of days.

my HR goes quite low if i've cycled for a whole week without taking days off.
And your white coat syndrome, I have exactly the same..when I went to get my 24hr BP monitor at doctors it was 180/110 at home after 2 hrs it was 140/70 and kept going lower :P
I'm even on BP meds, not sure if I actually have BP or if it's all white coat.
I'm 21btw

[katielou80]

my heart rate resting is usually aroound 68-75bpm. Stupidly i have an app on my iphone which measures your pulse!!! >..< and with health anxiety i know its stupid! however, im 32 and my hubby is 37 his resting pulse is 50!! drs say its fine, he doesnt work out and is slightly overweight. x

[Itsallinmyhead416]

RVP, yea white coat syndrome sucks! I always get nervous in a doctor's setting so my BP and HR are always elevated. They tried to put me on meds once but I never took them because my HR is low at home and I didn't want the medication to lower it and kill me. The reason I've been paying attention to my HR lately is because my doctor wanted me to test my BP twice a day at home to confirm white coat and stupidly I'm freaking out over my HR now...my new worry is this and do I need a pacemaker! Hate this!

---------- Post added at 07:39 ---------- Previous post was at 07:34 ----------

Thanks katie, with everything going on in medicine and reading about the normal ranges of HR being between 60-100, it's pretty easy to get freaked out over this stuff. Just don't know why I feel tired sometimes.

[RVP]

I don't think BP medication actively slows the heart, I may be wrong but all I know it just relaxes the muscles so it's not working as hard i.e not beating hard. And trust me you don't need a pacemaker :P
Also I found doing my BP at home just made me stress out even more, I constantly used to check my BP now I haven't checked it in god knows how many months.
If you want reassurance ask for a 24hr BP monitor so it can check your BP while you sleep too.
Despite having a few high readings when I had my BP monitor my average 24hr result was 137/70

[Itsallinmyhead416]

Thanks RVP,

I always get real worried when it comes to stuff like this. My BP at the doctor's office can be as high as 150/80 with a high heart rate but when I do it at home its actually perfect, 119/71 with heart rate as low as 44...what scares me is that lately I've been feeling weak and lethargic and despite all the tests I've had I always convince myself it has to do with my heart. It's hard to decipher whether its serious or anxiety related. I just got out of the military after 8 yrs and been relaxing at home for about a month while my wife works and now I'm starting to think I'm just depressed or worse...I just really don't know

[buckeroo]

my heart beat is 35 beats per minute all the time, its not dangerous so the doc told me,marathon runners are down to 30 beats per minute

[Itsallinmyhead416]

Well that's reassuring, I'm not a marathon runner by any means but I am pretty fit...I'm more of a weightlifter but I can run a mile in like 6 min and occasionally run 3 miles here and there...do you ever feel real tired or lethargic?

[buckeroo]

you got nothing to worry about honest. i always worried about that,until i was pout on an ecg in november and the nurses said nothing to worry about

[Itsallinmyhead416]

thanks I appreciate it, just gotta snap myself out of this horrible cycle

[Gotagetthroughthis]

Hey,

Im similar to you and used to have similar worries. I am 24, I wouldnt say im especially fit but i am in decent shape. My Resting heart rate is always between 40 - 45 BPM and my blood pressure is usually 100/50. I also have white coat syndrome so the doctors never see these numbers either, I have mentioned them and they don't seem at all worried.

Hope this gives you some reassurance.

[Ronno]

When it was discovered I had high blood pressure I was put on beta blockers, these were great , brought my bp down and I felt quite relaxed . But unknown to me I had white coat syndrome , my bp had come down so low I couldn't stand with out swaying and feeling really tired , and my heart rate dropped under 40 beats per minute , the doctor was amazed I hadn't blacked out , I was taken off the meds but even now a few years later my resting heart is only 50 bpm.
Which the doctor says is ok .