Have just gone through 10 hours of fast afib, and now my heart rate is 37bmp and I feel worse than when I was in afib!
This has happened before to me and I wondered if anyone else suffers with this?
I don’t take any medication apart from anti coag,and I’m so glad that I take this.
I am in the same sort of position as you are, HR goes too high in AF and too low/pauses after. At the moment I can take a lowish dose of diltiazem but have been told that if things get worse I would need a pacemaker. Luckily my HR doesn’t go as low as yours. I would report that slow rate immediately ❤️🩹
Hi JudiHalf, I think if you haven't experienced this low rate before, as Buffafly suggests, it would be worth contacting your GP (or EP if you have one) as soon as possible. I have only had bradycardia once before and I remember feeling pretty lowsy because of it.
I hope you get some answers but please don't leave it too long. Perhaps you could come back and let us know what happens. All the best, Kate.
Could be tachy-brady or sick sinus syndrome, but in any event you need to see an ep right away. A GP or even cardiologist may not be expert enough to deal with it.
Jim
At such a low heart rate it could mean that you are no longer in a Sinus Rythm. Does your Kardia show a P wave at all?
Hi yes there is a tiny p wave.
So it is a Sinus Rythm and not an "Escape Rythm".
What is an escape rhythm?
An escape rhythm is your heart's emergency pulse when your normal Sinus Pulse is obstructed or stops working.
It originates in the AV node area and pulses the ventricles. It shows as no P wave on the ECG. Also known as the Junctional Rhythm.
Following a cardio version to stop AF my heart rate dropped into Bradycardia and you are quite right, it’s an awful feeling. I was duly fitted with a Pacemaker back in 2018 which was an instant fix, my heart rate never goes below 60bpm now.
I was thinking that perhaps I need a pacemaker, I used my Kardia this morning and it was a perfect 64 nsr! But I worry that one day my heart rate will go even lower than 37.
My pulse used to alternate from very high to so low that it paused for 8 to 10 seconds and l would blackout. I have had a pacemaker implanted which stops the pausing. It doesn't stop the high rate. Strangely though it doesn't go as high as it used to. I agree , the low rate is a horrible feeling and incapacitates you.
How has your g.p. never heard of brady- tachy syndrome. It is fairly common.
I don’t have alternating high low pulse, when my afib is over I have low pulse for 4/5 hours then it goes back to normal.
How long does your afib last?
It varies, this time it was 10 hours, usually 4/5 hours, but has been just a couple of hours.
I have days like that too. I walk every day, and I had to stop and hang on to something and bend down, because I felt like I would faint. Doc cut my atenolol from 50 mg to 25, and said I needed a heart monitor. Don’t feel faint now so much, but still waiting for the heart monitor. That was 3 months ago.
I was prescribed bisoprolol 2.5mg to use as a pip when fist diagnosed, on the 2 occasions I used it as a pip I passed out completely and ended up on the floor!
I’ve had a heart monitor a couple of times and my heart has always behaved! I am pleased with the Kardia I bought as you can record as things are happening and then send copies to relevant doctors.
I have been prescribed 2.5mg as PIP but haven’t had to use it ….yet! What have you been prescribed as an alternative. When I was first diagnosed with AF I was put on to bisopropol 1.25 and had to stop it cos I felt like I was walking in mud. Presumably my heart rate went really low. (My resting rate nowadays is 47 or thereabouts).
I have not been given an alternative, because my heart rate goes so low I can’t take anything so have to just wait until my heart decides to revert! As your resting heart rate is quite low , 2.5mg might be a bit much for you, so please be careful. I was lucky not to hurt myself when I collapsed.
I always thought bradycardia was a persistent low rate. I remember that the cardiologist I see wasn't perturbed when my rate was low for periods - not as low as yours, it's true. I would think you are fine, myself, and that really awful feeling of "impending doom", although extremely unpleasant, is less physical and more psychological (if that makes sense).
Steve
Bradycardia can and does come and go, I have it due to heart block pauses and it would happen either many times a day or not for weeks, I now have a pacemaker set at 60 so thankfully it can’t happen again although if my rate drops suddenly I go very squiffy.
Bradycardia is defined as a heart rate less than 60bmp which mine is most of the time, usually in the 50s, but I feel fine, when it gets to be in the 30s the effect it has on your body is very physical, even trying to think clearly is difficult, moving around almost impossible and all I can do is sit and wait for it to pass, the first sign things are improving is that my head clears and I feel so much better.
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