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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44 is pretty low unless you are very physically fit. What is your heart rate during the day? Those watches can also be pretty inaccurate. .3 cm growth in a few months is also pretty large. Are you sure this is accurate? Was whoever is monitoring the growth not concerned?

If your HR is running substantially lower than usual, I'd call your PCP and see whether s/he suggests you take action. Better safe than sorry. I'm not sure anyone would be qualified more than your PCP to tell you what to monitor. But, I'm just some schlub on the Internet. 🙂

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I agree, HR sounds really low, and normally BP is the most relevant measure while controlling an aneurysm. But at the core of your question is your communication with your cardiologist or PCP, in my case I get responses very quickly through the patient portal, your specific questions are definitely the type I would ask the provider who knows all the particulars of your case. Anyone in this forum would just give you opinions based on own experiences and may miss something really important.

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@bitsygirl

44 is pretty low unless you are very physically fit. What is your heart rate during the day? Those watches can also be pretty inaccurate. .3 cm growth in a few months is also pretty large. Are you sure this is accurate? Was whoever is monitoring the growth not concerned?

If your HR is running substantially lower than usual, I'd call your PCP and see whether s/he suggests you take action. Better safe than sorry. I'm not sure anyone would be qualified more than your PCP to tell you what to monitor. But, I'm just some schlub on the Internet. 🙂

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My cardiologist was somewhat concerned with growth rate but said he would not do anything until it got between 5 and 5.5.

Yes the .3 was accurate. We discovered this by accident during an episode of extreme high BP. 180/140. Had echo in August and then second test was CT in November.

Sadly my BP has started to climb again. Today was 138/88. My normal daily heart rate is mid 50’s to 60’s. Shoveling snow a few weeks ago was 176. I am not in athlete shape. A little update. I was looking at my watch and there were two separate notifications for ten minutes each. I called my PCP and have a visit tomorrow. Decided there is enough to ask to make it important to go in.

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Are you taking Metoprolol or a similar medication? My cardiologist upped my Metoprolol to 50 mg per day due to some premature atrial and ventricular contractions, and my Apple Watch has been telling me my heart rate has been dropping into the high 40s, especially between 4:00 and 5:00am. I will ask my doctor about this at my next appointment but I’m not worrying about it at this time.

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@jefftalley

Are you taking Metoprolol or a similar medication? My cardiologist upped my Metoprolol to 50 mg per day due to some premature atrial and ventricular contractions, and my Apple Watch has been telling me my heart rate has been dropping into the high 40s, especially between 4:00 and 5:00am. I will ask my doctor about this at my next appointment but I’m not worrying about it at this time.

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I am taking metoprolol but only 25 mg. My heart rate is between 42 and 106. Resting is 53. My lows have been coming late evening between 9-11. I do have some irregular rhythms but something seems to have changed about a month ago.

I am almost sure my PCP will send me to my cardiologist but I wanted her to give me the once over to make sure nothing else has cropped up. I had a few swollen spots in my neck that I thought was an ingrown hair but there have been two other spots where I have had strange swelling and redness. I also recently lost 13 lbs in four days and then immediately after put on 20. Probably nothing.

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@wyomingmiller208

I am taking metoprolol but only 25 mg. My heart rate is between 42 and 106. Resting is 53. My lows have been coming late evening between 9-11. I do have some irregular rhythms but something seems to have changed about a month ago.

I am almost sure my PCP will send me to my cardiologist but I wanted her to give me the once over to make sure nothing else has cropped up. I had a few swollen spots in my neck that I thought was an ingrown hair but there have been two other spots where I have had strange swelling and redness. I also recently lost 13 lbs in four days and then immediately after put on 20. Probably nothing.

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Glad you are getting a professional opinion. Keep us posted. Good luck!

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@bitsygirl

Glad you are getting a professional opinion. Keep us posted. Good luck!

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My PCP cut my Metoprolol dosage in half. EKG looked normal. All is well. Thanks for the advice and being there to each of you. Cheers. David

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Glad to hear everything is OK!

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@wyomingmiller208

My cardiologist was somewhat concerned with growth rate but said he would not do anything until it got between 5 and 5.5.

Yes the .3 was accurate. We discovered this by accident during an episode of extreme high BP. 180/140. Had echo in August and then second test was CT in November.

Sadly my BP has started to climb again. Today was 138/88. My normal daily heart rate is mid 50’s to 60’s. Shoveling snow a few weeks ago was 176. I am not in athlete shape. A little update. I was looking at my watch and there were two separate notifications for ten minutes each. I called my PCP and have a visit tomorrow. Decided there is enough to ask to make it important to go in.

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Hello, I hope you're feeling better. Just wanted to let you know that shoveling snow is the type of activity that is absolutely forbidden with aortic aneurysms. Maybe you already knew this, but be careful.

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@aaa1956

Hello, I hope you're feeling better. Just wanted to let you know that shoveling snow is the type of activity that is absolutely forbidden with aortic aneurysms. Maybe you already knew this, but be careful.

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Yes lesson learned. I didn’t think it would be so bad to just do an area for my car. When I realized how high my heart rate went I decided never again. It’s so hard to sit back and do nothing sometimes.

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