Low BPM on portable monitor - should I be worried?

Health & Diet Health & Diet: Questions / Help
21

I agree with Queenie! Get a correct diagnosis from your doctor, Foxy.

22

You need to get one of those dratted holter monitor thingies. If it’s AF and fairly recent then they do that electric shock therapy to try to jump start the heart back to normal rhythm. So get a quick referral to check what’s up.

23

Foxy get in touch with a doctor without further ado .
it may be your machine is faulty but this is no time for speculation .
Paramedics will come out day or night .

24

Hope you’re OK Mr Fox…make that telephone call today…dont forget.

25

Hurry back to us Foxy. We are all worried about you.

26

… wishing you well foxy.

27

Good luck OGF. Hope to hear later today that you’d had some proper treatment and advice.

28

Hope you get the AF problem ‘sorted’ OGF, meanwhile don’t go overdoing things! :slight_smile:

There are various treatments, depending on the exact cause. A close family member has this problem but the opposite with a high heart rate, medication helps with it. :wink: :slight_smile:

29

Hi Bob :slight_smile: a low heart rate is usually Bradycardia and not necessarily AF which is usually characterised by a ‘regularly irregular heart beat’ and a fast heart rate.
If you think you have AF the person to see is an Electrophysiologist not a Cardiologist, they are heart plumbers you need a heart electrician.
Athletes can be susceptible to AF.
There is no ‘cure’ for AF, treatment may control it and improve the quality of life.
Anne mentions cardioversion, a temporary measure to ‘reset the clock’ .There is also ‘chemical cardioversion’ using anti anthemic drugs.

I have an active uncontrolled very symptomatic form of AF , I take medication to help prevent a stroke as I have a high score on the CHADVAS scale, I refused to have the procedure called ablation to improve my quality of life for reasons I won’t go into here .
There are new treatments being trailed that may be available in a few years.

30

Adding my best wishes to all the above OGF. Hope you manage to get checked out very soon, and that all is well. Please take care until you do :hug:

31

So until I can get checked out it’s walking and some steady static bike riding to keep fit, I’ll post any results, so thanks for all of your replies…

Staying alive is more important than keeping fit at the moment Kiddo,
so take it easy,listen to the good advice from Folk on here who know what They’re talking about…and do as You’re told…for once in Your Life :-p…Good luck,x

32

Thanks again everyone, I’ve made an appointment with a cardiologist who specialises in Atrial Fibrillation and Arrhythmia and he will see me for a consultation on Thursday morning.

Your symptoms sound very similar to mine Meg.
Unfortunately a Holter won’t highlight the problem Annie, I’ve worn one before and they said it came back normal. One of the reasons for this is because it takes an average and doesn’t indicate a temporary low or high reading.
A treadmill test is best for understanding the hearts reaction to load conditions.

Today was different again, I did my usual Tuesday five mile run, but had to add some walking occasionally. I felt good and was able to sustain a good pace on the running bits. I used both my blood pressure monitor and oxymeter when I returned home and my heart rate was in the fifties on both instruments, which is an acceptable level. Apart from being tired later in the day, I experienced none of the heart flutterings and shortness of breath I experienced yesterday.

I’m still not receiving notifications of most of the posts I make or subscribe to, so I apologise if I haven’t responded to any comments directed at me…:frowning:

The squigly lines against the heart symbol indicate an irregular heartbeat and are always present on my readings. This was recorded about thirty minutes after my run.

33

I’d say 50+ bpm is pretty damned good after a five mile run.
If I tried to run five miles, my heart rate would be 0!

Re. the lack of notifications, I’m in the same boat. In a way, that’s encouraging because it suggests it’s not just me, but this site. I should also offer my apologies for the same possible lack of my responses.

34

Relieved to see you posting Foxy.

35

Me too, xxx

36

Me three.

You did well arranging an appointment so quickly too, which of course will hopefully lead to real answers.

37

Thanks JB…:wink:
I’ll be glad when the forum is back to normal…:frowning:

38

Thanks Longdogs, I’m not at death’s door yet…:017:
But perhaps I should let the doctor decide that tomorrow…:shock:
Cheers Mate…:wink:

39

Thanks LQ…:hug:

40

Thanks Zaphod, that drink looks inviting, but I had better wait to see what the doctor says tomorrow…:wink:
I had to go private, hence the speedy appointment…:cool:
If I had to wait until my regular GP would see me I’d have snuffed it…:shock:

The bloke I’m going to see specialises in Atrial Fibrillation and irregular heart rhythms. And hopefully will test my heart under load conditions on a treadmill. I’ll post the results tomorrow.