Very Low Heart Rate/Pulse only while on dialyi=sis!!??

[MP11]

I have been receiving hemodialysis in center for more than a year three times a week. In the last week, they were unable to com,plete my dialysis on three of four sessions because my heart rate dropped into the 30s. In one session last week, ni the middle of these aborted sessions, I had a normal heart rate as usual and they filled the full 3.5 hours.

Does anyone else have any experience with a sudden low heart rate during dialysis? I am exercising less lately and probably eating more sodium if that matters.

[cs65]

I'm surprised they didn't send you to the Emergency room the first time it happened. You definitely need to be checked out for any heart problem. For example, during a dialysis session I suddenly had chest pain and couldn't swallow. They did a quick blood test that showed evidence of a possible heart attack, so one of the nurses accompanied me to the E.R. around the corner of the building. I was evaluated there and they sent me by ambulance to a bigger hospital with a cardiac care unit. An echocardiogram showed that I was having Takutsubo cardiomyopathy ( a stress related condition that enlarges the right side of the heart and causes heart abnormal rates). It took 2 days before I was able to swallow aspirin and they could do a cardiac catheterization. They found I did have some partially occluded coronary arteries, but didn't need any stents. They have treated it medically with a statin drug and a daily low-dose aspirin every day since. I spent a week in the hospital then and did cardiac rehab outpatient visits to get my strength back.

[MP11 in reply to cs65]

Sounds so much like me.