Very low heart rate when sleeping heart stops 5.2 secs. What to do?

When I started to have regular bouts of afib, I was given a 30 day heart monitor to wear. I had an afib episode that lasted about 5 hours and at the end I passed out. I was also having pauses lasting a few seconds. I had pacemaker surgery after that. Between the pacemaker and an ablation at Mayos in December, I am finally feeling like myself again.

Hi, Loretta. First thing I thought about when reading your post was a pacemaker... to ensure your ticker keeps doing its job. My mom improved SO much after she got hers.

Please keep us posted after you consult with your MD. Thanks!

All the best.

/LarryG

Like so many of us, Loretta (what a GREAT name!), our aging hearts change, and usually not in a great way. They're big muscles that work our entire lives, waking or sleeping, day and night. They slowly become disordered. Sometimes it's a valve that goes wonky and won't sit right, sags, or just won't shut properly. Or, a blood vessel becomes strangled slowly and finally causes the muscle portion it feeds to die. Or, the electrical distribution system finds a new pathway and gets busy on it...and we develop an arrythmia.

The pauses are due to an electrical disorder, odten something to do with enzymatic action, or with electrolytes. Those, two, go weird as we age and don't eat so well, or we can't absorb the nutrients like we used to when we could eat hotdogs and a soda (remember those days?). The most likely cause of long pauses is a blocked premature atrial contraction (PAC), which almost every heart has now and then. If they increase in number to the point where the 'burden' on the heart exceeds about 5% of all beats, that is the point where you consult an electrophysiologist.

Please don't be afraid. These are surprisingly common, even if their number climbs, and even if their duration increases, over time. A good EP will have you monitored and assessed, and will eventually talk to you about remedial measures. As was mentioned by both previous commenters, a pacemaker might be the result.

Thanks to Dey/ Larry/ Gloaming for all your comments. So encouraging !
Will keep all updated on progress. Seeing actually 2 EP soon . The only other issues I’m facing is Dizziness a/ a loopy imbalance and severe stenosis of the spine . Ugh asked a neurologist and a neurosurgeon if this dizziness could be stemming from the stenosis or from the heart. The neurologist said “yes” because the signal from the stenosis is not reaching the brain - The neurosurgeon said Absolutely not possible. And there was no comment if it was the heart causing dizziness. Did rule out that it wasn’t Vertigo because the room is not spinning - just dizziness . Well adding that to the pot .
Thank you all so much for your input and if you have other recommendations I’m open ears!! All the best loretta

I had this happen for 9 seconds 3 times. I was ‘’gifted’’ a pacemaker the next morning! Best 🎁 I ever got…well, besides grands and greatgrands!

Get a monitor that is actually monitored by the hospital heart technicians. They will contact someone in your house or you if possible when your heart does this. I was in hospital with a monitor, the technician would come into my room and administer oxygen for a period of time. I was not in there for my heart but they saw something on the monitor and hooked me up. I was in there because I got e-coli through our water system because the lines broke and normally they call and say boil the water but we got no call. I brushed my teeth and later my kidney, bladder swelled up so bad the pain sent me to the hospital. They do have a service where they attach a monitor and watch it locally. I know many people it has worked for. Good luck...God bless.