Strange Kardia readings

[Cara95]

Any thoughts? I was sitting and reading quietly when I felt a bit faint and nauseous. I took up my new Kardia monitor and got a reading for “Possible atrial fibrillation” with a pulse rate of 45. Is this even possible?

[BobD Volunteer]

Bradycardia like that will do it for some people.

[baba]

Absolutely possible.

[Hidden]

Slow AF is certainly possible. I have PAF at 65-75 bpm at times. To check, look at the ECG trace on Kardia and see if the P waves are missing (a tell-tale sign of AF). Or, better, send the ECG to your GP or cardiac nurses.

[Singwell]

Yup. I've been down to 43BPM. It's worth checking your BP too if you get low readings that make you feel like that. That HR with low BP can give you the symptoms you described though in my case I wasn't in AF.

[Cara95]

Thanks everyone. Yes, Singwell that is a good idea to check BP also. I often feel as if I am going to faint and breathless and with the new Kardia I might have found the reason. I will show the readings to my cardiologist at our next meeting.

[Charming_shark]

R u taking beta blockers? Mine is regularly in the 40’s and low 50’s so everyone is different. If you light weight and thin your heart does not have to work as hard so there’s that also

[Cara95]

Yes, Charming shark, I take 1.25mg of Bisoprolol even though my resting pulse rate without it is in the low 50s. At 1.7m I am tall but not overweight.Eventhough my pulse rate is a bit slow I usually feel fine but possibly felt unwell at 45 because it was also fibrillating?