1. < Aortic Aneurysms

How low do you let your heart rate go before seeing your doctor?

Posted by wyomingmiller208 @wyomingmiller208, Jan 31 6:52am

So I need some opinions from all you experienced people out there. I am a bit of a worrier by nature but so far have been pretty calm about my thoracic ascending aortic aneurysm. It grew by about .3 cm to a 4.7cm after four months. I am not scheduled for more tests until late August.

I have felt different for the past month. Enough so that I started wearing my Apple Watch to bed to see any abnormalities in heart rate. My heart rate regularly is recorded in the forty’s during the evening and overnight. Last night it was 44 for over ten minutes between 10-11 pm. Should I watch it for awhile longer or go in? I am not sure I am mentally ready for surgery but have also had low grade angina since November due to underlying small vessel disease. I don’t want to panic and also don’t want to wait too long. What do you think I should be watching for ? Blood pressure ? Heart Rate ? Angina ?

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belo | @belo | Apr 19 8:24am
In reply to @andytheman "Why don’t you just buy a simple oximeter? It gives you your heart rate and oxygen..." + (show)
@andytheman

Why don’t you just buy a simple oximeter? It gives you your heart rate and oxygen level and fits any big finger. And it’s cheaper than a wrist cuff.
My nurse told me that wrist cuffs are inaccurate and either get a pressure cuff that registers your heart rate through a meter or have a nurse (if you have one) measure your heart pressure the old fashioned way .
You can get a finger oximeter cheap unless you want a fancy one with your heart rate monitor graph. It’s a little bit like an ekg graph .

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So sorry to hear that you’re going through this.
Btw- my wife & her have had very similar experiences with low heart rate dips and both wear Apple Watches that record the heart rhythm that their cardiologist have reviewed. It’s just an added piece of documentation that might be helpful to your cardiologist.
Wishing you well.

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kevkat73 | @kevkat73 | Apr 19 8:27am
In reply to @wyomingmiller208 "Update. Cardiologist decided to run another heart monitor to see what all is happening. My heart..." + (show)
@wyomingmiller208

Update. Cardiologist decided to run another heart monitor to see what all is happening. My heart rate is regularly sinking below 45 for more than 10 minutes at a time. I have been under 50 for 3 hours straight now too. Starting to get a little nervous about it all.

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Do You take bp medication? I was on atenolol & mine was Always low 40s lately, sometimes 38! I felt fine but they switched my bp med & now I run 58-62 bpm.

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wyomingmiller208 | @wyomingmiller208 | Apr 20 9:41am
In reply to @kevkat73 "Do You take bp medication? I was on atenolol & mine was Always low 40s lately,..." + (show)
@kevkat73

Do You take bp medication? I was on atenolol & mine was Always low 40s lately, sometimes 38! I felt fine but they switched my bp med & now I run 58-62 bpm.

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I am on Losartin. We cut that dosage about 7 months ago because my heart rate and BP were low. BP got to 110/60.

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belo | @belo | Apr 21 1:03am

Oddly enough, my bp has been well managed with diet & exercise but because my ascending aorta has an aneurysm measuring of 4.9cm at the root and 5.4cm in the aorta sinus, my cardiologist/surgical team recommend a low dose beta blocker (25mg at night) metoprolol to ensure that I maintain a safer bp - my average bp/hr is around 120/80 and my Hr avg. is 50-60 (at rest).
I think that it is important to mention that all beta blockers, especially at various doses, are going to obviously effect each of us entirely differently. In fact, early on my dosing was too high and I would have difficulty with persistent low bp/hr and dizziness. That makes it especially important to report back to your cardiologist these adverse effects- even importantly if you’re experiencing angina. Don’t wait, be proactive and immediately communicate that with your cardiologist! I hope that that helps. Btw- I was diagnosed in 2013 and my aneurysm measurements have not significantly changed with each yearly C.T. However, since the national guidelines recently changed for when surgery is recommended (greater than 5cm vs. 5.5cm), I am now strongly considering surgery at 72 years of age. I do have a great surgical team at Stanford but I am now working at getting a “virtual second opinion” from Cleveland clinic…
It’s been a long journey but the one thing that I constantly remind myself is to stay positive and that it will not do me any good to worry but what’s hard is seeing my family worrying…

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