-
Beats per minute
So going off my pulse oximeter post, I have been using mine a lot and my BPM are quite low, like between 52 and 57 while sitting, 50 during sleep and mid sixties while just walking around. Does anyone else have low BPM? The “normal” rate is between 60 to 100, but low 60s is pretty low. With heart disease maybe this is normal so not sure if it’s concerning enough to bring up with my doctor. An article online said that very fit athletes often have low BMP and its good because it means their heart is fit.I had to laugh at this, it is definitely NOT because I am fit.
😛 -
2 Replies
-
(Not a doctor) I don’t think a pulse oximeter is a very accurate measure for heart rate. I would be curious to find out what your heart rate is recorded at at your doctor’s office (maybe you have it in your last visit notes). Typically they use the blood pressure cuff to measure it and that might be more accurate since it’s closer to your heart. With all the circulation issues related to PH, your finger might not be the best place to check. You can also place two fingers on your wrist and count the beats in 30 seconds, then double it to estimate BPM yourself. If your heart rate really is that low, your doctor may be able to explain why. I would be much more worried if your heart rate were really high. Don’t worry too much about this for now – unless you’re really trying to get your heart rate up, hah!
-
Hey Libby,
I’m no doctor either but that heart rate actually doesn’t seem to be too bad for a resting rate. I think it’s more concerning if your heart rate is low and doesn’t raise appropriately with movement or if it jumps to one extreme to another and causes symptoms like light headed or dizziness. Before I got my pacemaker put in, my resting heart rate was high 30s to low 40s which was always my “normal” with congenital heart disease but I started having pauses in my heart rate which was picked up on from a holter monitor for the heart rhythm that I wore for 30 days. They put in a pacemaker the week after picking up on these abnormalities. I would say that if you’re experiencing symptoms along with a low heart rate then let your doctors know and maybe ask if a holter monitor would be something you could try out and see if they pick up on anything heart rate related that could be causing symptoms but if it’s just the number that you’re concerned about, I honestly wouldn’t be too concerned, this seems like a pretty good number!
Log in to reply.