absurdly slow heart rate??? (and apnea)

Rico_B · Post by **Rico_B** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:33 am

What's the gig with bizarrely slow heart rates??? (and apnea)

my sleep study results showed that, in addition to having moderate apnea, my heart rate drops to 33 bpm prior to entering stage 1 sleep.

...33 beats per minute?? What the F? That's about 1 beat every two seconds... (???)

I stared at my doctor, finally said, 'isn't that a little SLOW?' she (a Harvard trained moron) said, 'ah, yeah, i've never seen one so low...' and proceeded to stare at me blankly

At which point I said, 'well gosh, is that bad? Is it ok? Should I do something??'

And she say, 'well, you seem to be ok. so (she shrugs)... I recommend that you try this apnea machine..."

Is this normal?? Do other folks have such a slow heart rate?? Is this part of apnea??

Thanks!

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 2:52 am

I would go see a Cardiologist and show him the report, they can loan you a halter monitor to see if there is a problem, I think the better shape you are in the lower your heart rate can be with limits, Lance Armstrong is the only one I've heard where a rate that low is normal.

I'm no Cardiologist but I would think if sleep disordered breathing was putting undue stress on your heart that you would have periods of rapidly beating heart not a slow one. I would only be concerned with that slow heart rate if you also had central or mixed apnea showing up on your PSG.

But what did your PSG show? Did it show any Central or Mixed Apnea? What was your SAO2 levels? How did those improve on CPAP?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:29 am

It's called bradycardia (opposite of tachycardia) and you should get it checked by a cardiologist (and get a new GP!).

Nodzy · Post by **Nodzy** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:18 am

A heart rate too slow (under 50 beats per minute) can be very serious at any time.

As mentioned above, a holter monitor may be prescribed for you to be worn for one night or more -- they attach it to you and you can't shower or get the sensors or unit wet. Usually, they're prescribed for one night, judging from my experience.

Bradycardia is nothing to toy with -- while it could be generally benign if you are very atheletic, it could also be symptomatic and be a cause or result one or more other problems you experience, or possibly aren't even aware of... yet.

Your 33-beats-per-minute rate is far below that of most resting athletes.

And yeah, what Julie said... find a GP that doesn't blow-off (unfamiliar to them) abnormalities in your stats.

Get it checked by a very good cardiologist.... soon. It's not normal.

Keep in mind here. For many hundreds of years doctors, and the world in general, touted snoring as a sign of beneficial and deep sleep... "cuttin' zzzz."

And we now know that uncontrolled snoring, for most folks, is a prescursor to premature death, and at the least it causes abnormal deterioration of the life and body.

Nodzy

Goofproof · Post by **Goofproof** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:13 am

I'll loan you a few BBP. I can spare them, I'm at 95 at rest on med's. Jim

Being a mechanic I know what happens when you overspeed a pump.

kteague · Post by **kteague** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:18 am

One day I went by my mother's house and saw her color was "off" around her lips. I took her pulse and it was in the 40s. Took her to the ER per her doctor's instructions. ER triage nurse couldn't get her vitals to register on the machine so she had to do them manually. She went to emergency surgery to have an emergency pacemaker put in.

If your doctor didn't even order any tests or refer you to a cardiologist, I wouldn't want to trust my well being to them.

Just my opinion.

Kathy

tater pie · Post by **tater pie** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:22 am

Last summer, my family doctor was trying to readjust my high blood pressure meds because they weren't keeping my blood pressure down. I'm one of those rare people that have a normal to slow heart rate even though I have high blood pressure. With blood pressure meds, my heart rate is about 55 to 60 a minute. With blood pressure meds, it can drop into the 50's. The doctor put me on clonidine along with Lisinopril and my heartrate dropped into the low 40's to high 30's. I could barely function. I called my family doctor and they said they were too booked up to schedule an appointment but to go an urgent care facility. I went there and they sent me to a hypertension specialist and told me not to drive or get up suddenly until I could see a specialist. It took two months to get an appointment with him. When I did see the specialist, he took me off clonidine gradually and put me on amlodipine. My heart rate is in the low 60's now. The two months my heart rate was so low were really rough. Everything was in a fog. I don't know if sleep apnea has anything to do with your slow heart rate but it certainly isn't anything to ignore. I hope you get some relief soon.

ozij · Post by **ozij** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 11:38 am

Bardycardia - extremely slow heart beat - is a well know phenomenon during a PSG for people with sleep apnea.

"Performing your original search, "sleep apnea" bradycardia, in PubMed will
retrieve 189 citations"

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entre ... Suggestion

Bradycardia during sleep apnea. Characteristics and mechanism

Heart rate during obstructive sleep apnea depends on individual hypoxic chemosensitivity of the carotid body.

In patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS), there are cyclic fluctuations in heart rate (HR), that is, bradycardia during apnea followed by abrupt tachycardia on resumption of ventilation.

Cardiac arrhythmias, snoring, and sleep apnea

82 percent of patients with mean nocturnal oxygen saturation < 90 percent had arrhythmias vs 40 percent of patients with mean nocturnal oxygen saturation > 90 percent (chi 2 = 7.4, p = 0.006), and 70 percent of patients with AHI > or = 40 had arrhythmias vs 42 percent with AHI < or = (chi 2 = 9.2, p = 0.002). We conclude that patients with sleep apnea as a group have higher prevalence of cardiac arrhythmias than nonapneic patients and that snoring alone, without concomitant sleep apnea, is not associated with increased frequency of cardiac arrhythmias.

Take the "apnea machine" from your doctor and start using it. She is taking you seriously. You should take her seriously too.

O.

Arizona-Willie · Post by **Arizona-Willie** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:08 pm

I have low blood pressure - most of the time - and sometimes it drops really really low.

So does my pulse.

My normal relaxed pulse rate is in the low 60's most of the time when just sitting her in front of the computer or tv.

It often drops into the 50's and occasionally into the upper 40's.

Observing data from my pulse oximeter on overnight recordings shows I have over a hundred " events " every night where my pulse changes significantly and my low pulse is always down in the 40's.

I showed a report to my cardiologist earlier this week and he is going to put a halter monitor on me ... but his office is so booked up it won't happen until the 12th of Mar because I'm not an emergency. Also, on the 11th they are going to do an echocardiogram because he said sleep apnea can mess up the pressures in your heart -- which I presume they can somehow tell with that test.

It sounds like you doctor doesn't have a clue ... I'd get a second doctor

paloa · Post by **paloa** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 5:39 pm

When I looked at the data from my pulseox I was convinced that it was broken. During a normal day it registered lows in the 30. Majority was 40 & 50s. Remembering the sleep study recorded my pulse I checked and found that it showed a similar range. I don't know why no one noted my extremely low pulse rate during the studies. I guess since my SPo2 did not drop too low they were not concerned.

I was concerned enough to see a cardiologist. After looking at my echocardiogram (normal) and discussing symptoms (none) he told me to pay attention to my body and come in if I noticed any of the symptoms of Bradycardia. He repeatedly told me low is much better than high. My pulse and blood pressure has been historically low. (I use to be a competitive miler and cross country runner. I would run 9-12 miles a day.) I don't recall my pulse being this low though. While my bp is still low it is no longer extremely low.

Bradycardia can be very serious so I strongly suggest you see a cardiologist.

xyz · Post by **xyz** » Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:12 pm

Some medications cause abnormally slow heartbeat. Ask your PCP to review _all_ your meds, even those prescribed by other docs (specialists), to see if any that you take could cause that. As a double check, also ask your pharmacist.

absurdly slow heart rate??? (and apnea)

absurdly slow heart rate??? (and apnea)

Slow pulse

Me too

Humidifier

Additional Comments: Aussie Heated hose, EncorePro, EPA, SPO Medical PulseOx 7500