Up until Dec. 2017, when I was 68, I was almost exceptionally fit and had a resting heart rate in the low 50's and a high energy rate in the mid to high 180's.
I had a stent fitted in April 2019 following which I have endured 3 rapid ambulance visits to A&E because of heart pain, low blood oxygen levels and irregular heart rate, following which with no diagnosis other than observation on each occasion I have been discharged. The they thought my 38mm long stent might have collapsed, but an angiogram showed that it hadn't and it looked like all was well.
Since when, I have been given no help or guidance as to what exercise I can undertake!!
So I now find myself in the situation where even a gentle walk with my dogs sees me suffering from an aching to painful chest and a shortness of breath..... but conversely I can sit on my exercise bike and spin the cranks at very high rates of rotation with no pain whatsoever (all be it at a very low torque setting) and can do so for quite long periods of time, yet never does my heart rate go higher than the very low 80's??????
Does any or can any kind sole out there feel able to offer me even the remotest of olive branches of help an assistance?
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Buzzy-Beans
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I cannot comment on the cause of your chest pain but initially after my stents in July, I would experience what I would describe as a spasm or rebound type chest discomfort when I started walking or increased the pace. My LAD stent is 28mm. It was quite severe the first 4 weeks, so much so I had a repeat stress test. On the treadmill. My resting heart rate is 45-50 and I was quite apprehensive the pain would occur but once my HR was over 80 I felt great and had no problems even at 150. The discomfort has decreased each month and now 7 months out I have the odd wobbly day. Coronary vasospasm is not uncommon after stents. There are a several on the board very knowledgeable in this area that may advise you more.
Hi Buzzy-Beans. Sorry to hear about your ongoing pain. It’s really depressing when you thought it was sorted. Does the chest pain go when you use your GTN spray?
Couple of things spring to mind. When you’re out walking - I assume that you’re in the UK and it’s cold outside. You could try dressing really warmly and putting a scarf round your mouth to warm the air up as you breath. Cold air makes your heart work harder. Your exercise bike will be inside I guess so the air will already be warmer and maybe you warm up too (and that’s something you could do before taking the dogs out). I’d go back to the doc as this does sound like angina. Might not be straight forward to diagnose though. Suggest you search out posts by Milk Fairy (who might also respond to your e mail) who has great insight into different types of angina.
(On my phone - rarely use PC for this forum) it’s possible to directly message other members of the forum by going to the message tab and then creating a new message. The magnifying glass icon enables you to search messages for specific content.
Thanks Steve, yes I live in the UK not far from you by the sound of it, in south lincs overlooking the birthplace of the UK's most famous scientist. Yes my bike is in what I call "the shed" so although it isn't heated, it is warmer than the cold outside air. I will try as you so kindly suggest and try covering my mouth when out walking my beloved (rescued) four legged friends.
Because I live at the but end of Lincolnshire our GP practice send patients here, there and everywhere for treatment! In my case my initial treatment was at Newark which isn't very far to travel, but then they sent me off to Mansfield for the stent to be fitted. I thought that any repeated travel to Mansfield was OTT, so I asked to be transferred to P.boro little knowing that the NHS is anything but National where it took nearly 4 months for my files to be transferred there!!
Then at P.boro they wanted me to go for a treadmill test and I had that at Huntingdon of all places, but after only 2 or so mins., without any explanation they stopped the test and said it was too dangerous for me to go any further (I felt fine). Then because the enormous P.boro hospital don't do ANY angiography work there I was sent to Papworth for tests to see if the stent had collapsed which it hadn't. ZERO communication and ZERO advice from either Papworth or P.boro about anything so I am not at all happy!!
What a palaver. Do ask your GP about cardio rehab. There might be a local gym that has an expert. Or they might send you all over the place again 😂. It’s a good place for advice and support - particularly around exercise.
A lot of issues that we all deal with relate to the drugs that we are taking. Often the dosages and which drugs need reviewing. They all have side effects. A year on after stenting I am in the gym and fit. However since I am on drugs to calm my heart I can’t get my heart rate above 120. Chat to your GP or cardiologist about it.
Thanks for that, yes I would chat to my cardiologist at P.boro if I could do, but she is on such a high pedistal and with such a protective secretary that it is nigh on impossible to get hold of her!! Sadly I feel almost as though as I am not having or likely to have heart attacks then I don't sit in a convenient cubby hole.
But needless to say, I sat by my phone all day long, but needless to say no phone call was received!!............................ AHH, a quick update on this. I don't own a mobile phone (hate them) but my wife has one for emergency use only and that number is logged with all my NHS contacts along with instructions never to phne the number as the phone is never on. When I spoke to the secretary, as usual I gave her concise instructions NOT to phone the mobile number, but guess what, on checking that phone later on last night, yes I had received a call but to the wrong darned number!!
At 64 I also had a low resting HR similar to you (50) and used to get up to 180bpm at the gym no problem.....then I had a heart attack (at the gym), I was super fit and had no family history of heart disease, big surprise!
Looking back 180bpm was a bit stupid at 64, max hr should be 220 less your age so I shouldn't have been going over 156 max! I know it's an empirical scale but worth taking note of.
Anyway, since then I have suffered arrhythmias probably due to scar tissue from the HA. I got tachycardia attacks when walking (180bpm) and afib which is now under control with flecainide.
The tachy attacks were fixed by a tiny 1.25 mg daily dose of bisoprolol which also dropped my resting hr to 45 and my BP by 20 points!
The docs did not initially want to put me on bisoprolol as beta blockers are not recommended if you have a low hr.
When I finally got my confidence back enough to push the envelop exercise wise (approx 18 months) I found it impossble to get my hr much above 120 try as I might, sweat pouring off me!....that's the bisoprolol because when I had to stop it for a special heart scan, my hr was easily going above 140 at the gym...didn't push it as after 7 years I've become much more cautious with exercise, I realise I am no longer invincible.
You said you had no advice on exercise, did you go to or were you offered heart rehab classes? These are normally recommended for all ha survivors, and there's lots of exercise advice available there, I found them very helpful.
I was also put in touch with a cardio trained specialist at my local gym for the first few months, it's very confidence building.
With regards to any heart rehab classes, unfortunately I had grabbed the bull by the horns and decided that I wanted to have any and all care for me transferred from Mansfield, Notts. which is 90 mins. drive away to P.boro which is only 25 mins. away.... I for one didn't know anything about post opp rehab procedures.
Also at the time I didn't know that our NHS isn't National, but county based and it took almost 4 months for my records and scans etc. to be transferred and no one at P.boro asked any questions despite me eventually having 3 cat. 1 ambulance rides to the hospital that achieved absolutely nothing as on each occasion I was discharged without any tests being carried out to find out why I am experiencing what I am!!
My GP is furious about the way I have been treated in such an offhandish way by this very large hospital, but as she runs her own very small country practice in a different county, I doubt very much if she will find the time to start the paper chase of the red tape strewn complaints procedures.
As P.boro don't carry out any angiography procedures themselves (despite the enormous size of the hospital), the consultant handling my case there made me an appointment at Papworth for a procedure to check if the original stent had collapsed and this procedure took place on the 20th Jan 2020 but I had no post procedure care at Papworth, indeed I was discharged and now I am waiting for only my second ever appointment with the consultant back at P.boro on the 24th March, however only today I have started to rattle some cages down there and am hoping to receive a phone call tomorrow.
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