Resting heart rate query

[smudger1]

Can this be affected by the thyroid, I am hypo and my resting heart rate is 68 which seems low for my age 63?

[shaws Administrator]

Unless you had a faster heartbeat previously, this seems quite 'normal'. Usually, hypothyroid patients' heartbeat is lower than normal. Average is about between 60 and 100 bpm.

[marsaday]

Average HR is about 72 for population. As you age this tends to slow down a bit. A childs will beat much faster than 72.

[Fruitandnutcase]

I'm 68 and my resting heart rate according to my Fitbit is anywhere between 62 an 68 a it was sixty six yesterday. I have to say I prefer to see it at the lower end of the scale.

It goes up into the hundreds, hundred and twenty odd, when I exercise then comes back down quite fast, it's funny because if it goes higher on its own for whatever reason but not when I exercise I feel pretty ill.

I had a spell a year ago where it went up to eighty to ninety very fast without me doing anything to increase it and it stayed there all the time I felt really ill.

I went to my gp, had an ecg, chest X-ray, bloods taken etc that day but nothing showed up. Eventually after a couple of days it went back to its normal low sixties and I felt ok again.

[Naomi8 in reply to Fruitandnutcase]

I keep reading in the media that Fitbits are not a reliable instrument for heartrate monitoring for health reasons.I have a heart rate monitor where I hold both ends.My husband has the strap round the chest,monitor on wrist type,both approved for accurate readings.

[Fruitandnutcase in reply to Naomi8]

No I've read that too but I look at my Fitbit when I'm on various bits of apparatus in the gym that read your pulse, also when I take my blood pressure that reads my pulse too and it's always pretty accurate.

What I really like about the Fitbit is that it motivates me to move more. I'm quite happy when my pulse is low. I've had it in the 50s but generally it is in the low sixties.

[Eton in reply to Naomi8]

Naomi8

Can I ask about the heart monitors you mentioned in your post. Do you and your husband still use the same monitors and are you happy they remain a true reading of heart rate. I have a wrist monitor but am not convinced it is accurate.

Best wishes

[Naomi8 in reply to Eton]

My husband uses a Polar brand heart monitor & I borrow his when I occasionally test my resting heart rate.He now has the latest version as he having one-to-one training at a gym with a person trainer.

It uses a strap round the chest & a wrist "watch"

[Eton in reply to Naomi8]

Thanks Naomi8. I will try and find one on line as I am not sure that my wrist monitor is accurate.

Best wishes

[JanePound]

I'm also 63 and I got a Fitbit for Christmas and I'm surprised, but not at all worried, to see an occasional resting heart rate in the low 50s. All those years at the gym have paid off.

[Bob00752]

Athletic fitness can result in a lower heart rate. This is thought of as good rather than bad. See the women and men ranges at this link for example.

fitnessmotivators.com/Files...

[Joyia]

Gosh no, my resting heart rate is around 52 and I am 76, I am not sure if this means my heart is strong or weak but as long as I feel ok I am not concerned.

[bluebug in reply to Joyia]

Or you have good genes.

[Hidden]

I am 38 and mine is 63. I've always had a low heart rate and low blood pressure.

[Hidden]

normal. im the same age.

[judburke]

I think that a low resting heart rate can be a symptom of under medication. Have you tested what your body temperature is and are your feet and hands cold? I am on NDT and have recently and gradually raised my dose over 8 weeks. My temperature was always a low 36 and sometimes only late 35's. After the increase my temp now regularly is very close to 37 and I feel much warmer and have more energy. Also my resting pulse has improved from 58 to 64.

I told a previous Dr that I thought that my heart rate was too low and her reply was - Thats great you must be fit. I told her that I was 52, exhausted, didn't exercise and had no energy to be exercise and that I was hardly a 21 year old male olympic athlete (She didn't look impressed - nor did she do anything about it)

Have a look at this chart - it shows what the rates should be depending on age, sex and fitness levels. This is what I show my new Dr

topendsports.com/testing/he...

[Syd35]

I am 41 and my RHR fluctuates anywhere between 49 and 60 according to my Fitbit. Interestingly I feel more well in myself when it is in the high 50s as when it drops to the low 50s I don't feel so good. I think yours falls into the normal range.