Have just been diagnosed with bradycardia. Resting BPM 28-30.

[Timotea]

I noticed I was getting out of breath about 10 days ago and put this down to being unfit. Tried to up my exercise but then very breathless. My fitness monitor sent me a warning to say my resting bpm had dropped from 50-35. Went to Doc yesterday who did ECG and diagnosed #bradycardia. Am scheduled for pacemaker but since then bpm has dropped again to 28.. I am still upright and wondering at what point I conk out?

[Yumz199725]

Oh wow I'm so sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. I hope your not waiting to long for your pace maker x

[Pacemaker66]

Hello Timotea, like you I had a very low resting pulse, around 30 bpm, and was very proud of it as I thought it was a positive indication of physical fitness. ( I do a lot of running, cycling and swimming.) My first symptom was having to slow down when running or even stop. When I started feeling very light headed; could happen anywhere, in the supermarket, pottering at home, then finally a faint I decided to see the GP. Fast forward two weeks and many tests I had a dual chamber pacemaker fitted because of bradycardia. If you start to feel light headed, please ring that number. If you are really concerned contact your cardiology team or GP practice, just for peace of mind. Good luck.

PS. A year later I’m now running, cycling swimming.

[Engineer46]

Presumably you've ruled out any medication contributing to your recent low HR, but have you had thyroid blood tests to rule out the possibility of an underactive thyroid? If not, you should probably speak to your GP.

Best wishes,

Paul

[SoThisIs_Simon]

Same thing happened to me back in July... RHR went from high 40s to low 30s, and I started getting out of breath if I ran up the stairs. Other than this I was asymptomatic and carried on trying to run. ECG a few weeks later, then an urgent dual lead PPM was fitted. I think speaking to your GP again and let them know your RHR has dropped again... it may help with the urgency with which you get your PPM.

I'm now 4 months with a PPM, feel fine, and my running fitness is slowly returning.

[Timotea in reply to SoThisIs_Simon]

thanks for this. In hospital waiting for PM to be inserted. What was your recovery times from op?

[Taz70 in reply to Timotea]

Sorry I didn't realise you were in hospital having the operation done now!...Good luck👍.

[SoThisIs_Simon in reply to Timotea]

I was kept overnight, then released after the pacing team had checked me. That was a Saturday and I was back at my desk on the Monday - I work for myself. I took it easy for 6 weeks as advised, then slowly started running again.

The biggest challenge for me was the mental side of things - go easy on yourself, talk to friends, family etc, check if you have a local cardiac support group.

[Taz70]

Hi Timotea, I've had similar episodes like you with a resting hr of 28 which was worrying. Basically been having test done since 2020, diagnosed with bradycardia, leaking mitral valve, lvh, and a congenital birth defect too. Prior to this I was cycling at least 3 times a wk, busy with work and reasonable healthy. The doctor put me on 2.5mg bisoprolol to ease the workload on my heart with having left ventricular hypertrophy but this slowed my hr down more with episodes of feeling lightheaded, fatigued etc so It was stopped. I was then fitted with a implant loop recorder 12 months ago and was told I would probably need a pacemaker but I'm still waiting and having more test done. I've been in hospital twice, once blue lighted from work with a hr of 30 and then another vist to a&e back in march being tachy with high blood pressure hr 140, BP 188/123. I can have days of feeling rubbish and it can be anywhere out walking, in the shops etc I start to feel my hr slowing down and i feel very tired and lightheaded so i just have a snooze/rest for about an hour i just call it my reboot mode and then I feel ok again. Unfortunately my last cardiology appointment in November was cancelled so I'm waiting for another one to drop through the letter box soon. I'm glad to hear you're getting a pacemaker soon and like others have said it's helped them get back to their normal routine again. Good luck and keep us all updated on how things go.

[Timotea in reply to Taz70]

Thanks Taz, it’s quite a business never knowing when you are going to keel over…

[wischo in reply to Timotea]

You wont keel over! you will have a pacemaker fitted and lead a normal long life. Thank heavens for modern technologies.

[EMBoy]

I keeled over when loading some heavy shopping into the back of my car, and made a mess of the back of my head. The paramedic spotted my bradycardia and took me to the hospital where I was admitted to cardiology and an emergency pacemaker fitted the following day.

I also have an underactive thyroid and suspect that the two may be linked, so it may be worth doing what Engineer46 suggested, and get a thyroid function test.

Anyway, whatever the cause, your pacemaker will sort you out and you will have a new lease of life.

All the best!

[Timotea in reply to EMBoy]

Thank you for this. Did it take long for wound to heal and was it painful? How do you manage to avoid all the gadgets that are on the list?

[Manhattan1 in reply to EMBoy]

hi EMBoy.. discovered a couple of weeks ago i have an underactive thyroid.. no medication advised yet.. another blood test in March.. GP notified by Hospital Consultant that it could possibly progress to Hashimoto disease.. also been told could be affecting my HR that can vary from low rate of 42 to rate of 164.. 24 hr holder scheduled for next week but doctor said i might have a good day without any HR fluctuating 🤣

[EMBoy in reply to Manhattan1]

Hi Manhattan1,

Thanks for your reply. Underactive thyroid is known to cause bradycardia, but it usually goes back to normal with thyroid treatment. Hopefully, they will be able to treat you.

If you need any more information about hypothyroidism, you could join the ThyroidUK forum on HealthUnlocked. There is a group of very knowledgeable people on that forum and they can point you in the right direction.

[Timotea in reply to EMBoy]

Thanks but thyroid seems to be fine.

[EMBoy]

Hi,

The wound healed up in about 10 days - it was painful, but not unbearable. A couple of paracetamols every few hours kept it to a reasonable level.

Don't worry about all the gadgets they tell you to avoid - most modern pacemakers can withstand exposure to magnetic fields (mine is compatible with an MRI scan). I am retired now, but used to work with electron microscopes (which have large electromagnets as lenses) and I never had any problems with them. If my pacemaker is affected by magnetic fields, it switches into "safe mode" and paces at 85 bpm until the pacemaker can be reset.

[Timotea in reply to EMBoy]

Wow! Thank you so much that is super helpful

[Timotea]

Update on Pacemaker op.

Finally had pacemaker implanted on 14/12/23. By this time my resting HR had dropped to 21 over the course of 18 days. Was first made aware of it by my Garmin watch which kept alerting me to the fact that my HR had dropped. Felt a bit breathless but that was it. My cardiologist was amazed that I was still standing! Pretty straightforward op and now RHR is around 53-55bpm. Feel much better and can climb stairs without pausing for breath!

Not allowed to raise left arm for about 10 weeks but am keen to start on a gentle fitness regime. Also want to get back to running again. Would welcome suggestions for an exercise/fitness regime.