Irregular heart rate low heart rate too

Hi. I have been having very irregular heart rate for while but i have had two episodes lasting about 6 weeks each where i have symptoms like heaviness in head heavy body very tired low bp and sometimes my heart drops to 41 which is very scary. I thought maybe anxiety but not convinced now. I have had ecg which shows ectopic beats but physical symptoms had passed by the time i had it done. I have a watch that does ecg and sleep obs and my heartrate is sometimes dropping to 30 during the night. I was prescribed bisoprolol and ended up with paramedics being called so not taking it. Can all this be normal with ectopic beats which are happening loads all the time. My bp is normally fine and heart rate between 56 and 75 when not in the episodes but still ectopic beats. Sorry for long post

[Exblooddonor]

My heart rate ate rest dropped to 38, so I ended up in Glenfield Hospital and had a pacemaker fitted 7 days later. I feel much better but it is nearly 4 weeks since the op and I have not been called back in to check all is well. On the BHF Web site a Utube video suggested I would be checked out within 3 weeks, I guess that there is a backlog .

[Lexi72]

Hi . I have similar issues. I would recommend that you follow up with your doctor or cardiologist and ask if it is appropriate for you to have a 24 hour holter if you have not had one yet, you complete a diary and record your symptoms which you return with the holter. My understanding is that heart rate can vary a lot so what is normal can be very different. Mine has always been high 40s but am on biospropol (resting hr now dropped to 41 ) . I have beeen told that ectopics (extra beats) are generally nothing to worry about except if you have very heavy loads when they can impact on heart function . Arythmias (irregular heart beats) can be more serious. They are not the same. I have had a recent 24 hour holter to monitor the ectopic load over a 24 hour period and will have another stress test soon to see if the ectopics still disappear during exercise (which apparently is good)Try not to worry too much but do follow up. Hope it is all sorted out soon. Best wishes

[Lizzy-loo]

I get this too.The cardiologist I saw explained that most watch ECG measurements will only record actual heart beats and not the ectopics. So it can make your heart rate look artificially lower than it actually is.

When I have isolated ectopics (ie when not in bi or trigeminy runs) my heart doesn't often skip the next beat, so my heart rate remains within my usual 65-75bpm resting rate.

When I'm in a bigeminy run in particular, my heart pretty much always skips the next beat, bringing my heart rate down to ~40bpm on the watch.

This is when I get the most symptoms and they've similar to yours, plus very short of breath.

[Huwhuw]

Hi I take Bisoprolol; 2.5mg once per day and I have a Samsung smartwatch which measures both bpm and ecg. I took the meds at night and it made my heart go down to 30bpm. My Dr told me to take it in the mornings instead. After that my night bpm went up to a minimum of 45 usually 55. Bisoprolol reduces bpm not AF so only good if a high bpm causes AF with a high bpm.Hope this helps

Dave