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Low Heart-rate of 49 bpm?

Messages
78
Location
Manchester, UK
Hi,

I'm having a bit of a crash today (I expect it will last a couple of days.) I just measured my heart rate and it was 49 bpm. I've measured it fairly often since becoming ill and it seems to be around 50 when I have a crash. Is this usual for people with ME? I know that would be okay if I were a highly trained athlete...But of course I've not done anything even approaching exercise for the last two years. I know bedrest might lower heart rate (I think) but I was up until 3am last night (I took my flat mate to hospital) and have only been 'bedridden' for today for this crash...
 
Messages
78
Location
Manchester, UK
I'm not sure off the bat - v good point, I should try check that. Looking back over my old data (of heart-rates i have taken (on my iphone)), which I always take at rest, it seems to vary between 50-80 at the highest, but I don't know just from looking at the numbers how i felt when i took them/if/how much I was crashing, just that I was at rest....

i do think it might be genetic in my family to have low blood pressure. i was just wondering if a low heart rate was something associated with ME?
 

panckage

Senior Member
Messages
777
Location
Vancouver, BC
I have a resting heart rate of 52bpm with ME measured at home. That being said if I remember correctly my heart rate measured at the doctors has been around 66bpm both before and during ME so I guess my low heart rate is not related to ME.

Actually my theory about my low heart rate is that it is due to my size (6'6" 200lbs). Bigger animals have lower bps. I've read that in humans heart rate is not related to size, but I doubt this!

edit: according to this 50bpm is still in the normal range http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/5-heart-rate-myths-debunked
 
Last edited:

WoolPippi

Senior Member
Messages
556
Location
Netherlands
I have a resting heart rate of 52bps with ME measured at home. That being said if I remember correctly my heart rate measured at the doctors has been around 66bps both before and during ME so I guess my low heart rate is not related to ME.

Actually my theory about my low heart rate is that it is due to my size (6'6" 200lbs). Bigger animals have lower bps. I've read that in humans heart rate is not related to size, but I doubt this!

edit: according to this 50bps is still in the normal range http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/features/5-heart-rate-myths-debunked
Before I got ill my heart rate was 43 bpm and I've been 5'4" 130 lbs (I think, 1.61 cm 60 kilos) all my life and no athlete.
After illness it picked up, I'm now at 57 bpm with still ridiculously low blood pressure but no longer crippling low BP, not since I started to take cortisol daily.

Although this is only anecdotal at least it's some info.

At 43 bpm even my own heart would think "that's too slow!" and would insert an extra loud beat every once in a while. A cardiologist explained that there are circles of independant muscles in the heart and when one at the top takes too long to produce a contraction a lower circle will do it, as a back up system.
Each circle is more rudimentary as you go down so that's why the beat from one of this back up systems boinks so loudly through your body.
I think he said there are about seven of these rings, each monitoring the one above it. The lowest is the one keeping your core alive when you're in survival crisis such as hypothermia.

Edit: I had the boink! heart beat often at night, waking me up scared. He suggested I take an espresso coffee... or run up and doen the stairs. I don't think so!
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
Has this been investigated by a doctor? Your pulse is danerously low. I was in the hospital years ago as I was on too much of a dosage of a beta blocker when my pilse plummeted from 60 bpm to 32. The next thing I knew was surrouned by the crash team. Fortunately, an IV brought back my heartbeat to normal. This happened 24 hours after being off the beta blocker but thank goodness I was in the hospital and only three hours in ICU. After that I was fine.

I wouldn't fool around with this! If your physician is aware of what's going on, apologies.

Good luck!

Barb
 
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Research 1st

Severe ME, POTS & MCAS.
Messages
768
Hi,

I'm having a bit of a crash today (I expect it will last a couple of days.) I just measured my heart rate and it was 49 bpm. I've measured it fairly often since becoming ill and it seems to be around 50 when I have a crash. Is this usual for people with ME? I know that would be okay if I were a highly trained athlete...But of course I've not done anything even approaching exercise for the last two years. I know bedrest might lower heart rate (I think) but I was up until 3am last night (I took my flat mate to hospital) and have only been 'bedridden' for today for this crash...

I'd do the following.

1)Tell a doctor, if they aren't 'your' doctor tell them of any medications your on if they aren't aware.
2)Ask for a 24hr ECG holtor monitor.

If you can't get an appointment phone 111.
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/Emergencyandurgentcareservices/Pages/NHS-111.aspx

Point 2 is important as your pulse usually drops in your sleep!

I have POTS and before I started meds a 24hr ECG showed my pulse drops into the 50's, despite a resting pulse of 120 during the day sitting upright. On meds, I hate to think what it is now at night.

On a side note, it's not uncommon for people to get bradycardia events in ME and CFS due to autonomic dysfunction, so if that's all it is, an episode, I'd not worry at all.

Still tell a doctor though.
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
Any pulse under 60 needs to be investigated.I was told this 20 years ago so don't know if this number is still correct.

Barb
 

barbc56

Senior Member
Messages
3,657
I'd do the following.

1)Tell a doctor, if they aren't 'your' doctor tell them of any medications your on if they aren't aware.
2)Ask for a 24hr ECG holtor monitor.

If you can't get an appointment phone 111.
http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/Emergencyandurgentcareservices/Pages/NHS-111.aspx

Point 2 is important as your pulse usually drops in your sleep!

I have POTS and before I started meds a 24hr ECG showed my pulse drops into the 50's, despite a resting pulse of 120 during the day sitting upright. On meds, I hate to think what it is now at night.

On a side note, it's not uncommon for people to get bradycardia events in ME and CFS due to autonomic dysfunction, so if that's all it is, an episode, I'd not worry at all.

Still tell a doctor though.

How can you tell someone not to worry. It has nothing to do with the fact that people with ME/cfs get bradycardia but the fact that a pulse this low needs to be investigated ASAP and I wouldn't hesitate to go to ER.
 
Messages
78
Location
Manchester, UK
To be honest, because my heart rate has been (almost) this low many times before and I think it's got a bit higher now, I'm not going to do anything right now. I'm going to see my GP soon anyway, so will enquire then. Thanks for your advice everyone.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
I'm not going to do anything right now. I'm going to see my GP soon anyway, so will enquire then.
I also have a low heart rate--low 50's. Two cardios have told me that this is within normal range and not to worry about it, (both are familiar with Dysautonomia and one with ME/CFS) though of course I am not an athlete either! So there seem to be a lot of variables in what is "normal."
 

gregh286

Senior Member
Messages
976
Location
Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
To be honest, because my heart rate has been (almost) this low many times before and I think it's got a bit higher now, I'm not going to do anything right now. I'm going to see my GP soon anyway, so will enquire then. Thanks for your advice everyone.

Hi,
Many people have heart rate at 50bpm at total rest....mine included.
Doubt its a concern....unless it big deviation from crash and non crash.
Lothar Mathias used to have a resting minute beat of 28.
 

TiredSam

The wise nematode hibernates
Messages
2,677
Location
Germany
My morning resting heartrate is 44-48 and I have very low blood blood pressure. It's always been like this, and hasn't been a sign of ill-health. When I see my doctor and it's measured at around 50 bpm he's unconcerned. I used to be very sporty, but haven't done any sport for over a year now. I think it's been like this since my teens (30 years ago), when I used to black out and collapse if I stood up too quickly, which everyone including my then Dr thought was rather funny and just one of those things. If it's over 52 in the morning these days I take that as a warning that I did too much yesterday, and if I don't take it easy today there'll be a crash coming.

If I stand up quickly from rest it goes from under 50 to 100 or higher. I might have that looked at one day.
 

ryan31337

Senior Member
Messages
664
Location
South East, England
For what its worth my resting (horizontal) heartbeat is in the low 40s. I can get it down into the 30s if I try. It'll usually race upon standing but rarely causes me more than a moment of dizziness, the exception being if I get up in the middle of the night immediately upon waking and go to pee, it'll beat out of my chest whilst i'm standing still and more than a few times I've almost collapsed...

PEM usually brings on some palpitations too but again more uncomfortable than anything else.