28 Years Old and Freaking Out

First im sorry for the long post.

 

Hi guys, I am 28 year old male 6'0" tall and 4 months ago i weight 346lbs and i started haveing trouble breathing when i layed down. I Realized at that time i needed to make a drastic change in my health. Since then i have lost 75 lbs and am now sitting at 271 and want to loose atleast another 60 pounds. This has been done through diet. After loosing all this weight i would think i would be able to breath better while laying down but it didnt seem to help. I was in the pool with my cousin and i started to get the same breathless feeling i get when i lay down so i went inside and decided to dig though the closet and find the old blood pressure machine. Prior to weightloss i had borderline high blood pressure. I took my bloodpressure and it was amazing but my pulse was only 47. This concerned me a bit so i made a doctors apointment and got a FitBit just so i could get a better idea of what is going on. I know its not perfect but it has proved to be relativley accurate.

 

While waiting for the apointment i noticed fitbit was suggesting that my pulse was going down to 32  bpm in my sleep. It only reports 5 minute averages so it could have fluctuated higher and lower in those 5 minutes and this made me realy concerned.

A week before my doctors apointment i felt short of breath again and checked my blood pressure and this time my pulse was 39 so i went to the emergency room. Of course through all the exitement my heart rate had rose to a normal level with brief momentary drops to about 48 they said was caused by a normal sinus arythmia.  I told them i was very concerned and they agreed to keep me overnight for observation. 

During the night the nurse came to wake me up to make sure i was ok because my pulse had gotten down into the low 30's when i was asleep and she said it could be normal for me. The next day i had a Stress test and echocardiogram. Stress test was normal and echo showed very mild left ventricle hypertrophy but otherwise normal so i was discharged and was told to follow up with a cardioligist and sleep specialist to check for apnea. After seeing the cardioligist and wearing a monitor he registered my lowest instantaneos heart rate of 26 BPM but said that the rythem is stable there is no blocks and the rate is being controled by the sinus node and that i should realy get a sleep study. I told him i understood that sleep apnea can cause a slow heart rate but i have clocked 39 bpm while awake  and he kinda just ignored me. 

I got the sleep study done and while the results are still pending they told me if they noticed any apneas that they would try a Mask on me for the other half of the night. They never came in to fit a mask and i left the next morning.

This has me extremley worried as there doesnt seem to be much cause for the low HR since it seems sleep apnea is not a factor and my doctor seems very dismissive of it and seems to suggest my only problem is my anxiety and if that heart rate was insufficient for me i would pass out. I have had very rare epsisodes of near passing out throught my life where things dimmed and i got a head rush but have never fainted and they are very rare and sporadic and have not increased in frequencey as of late.

Im terrified that my Heart is going to stop in the middle of the night before they figure out what is going on. 

Thanks for Takeing the time to read this have a good day.

 

 

9 Comments

slow heart

by Tracey_E - 2017-09-24 16:29:58

a A rate in the 30's, even at night, IS NOT NORMAL. If a doctor is not taking that seriously, then get a new doctor. 

If you have apnea, then it needs to be treated asap. 

A heart rate of 60 is normal. Anything under that, esp when accompanied by fatigue and dizziness, needs to be addressed. 

Electrical problems of the heart are unrelated our weight, our lifestyle, how strong the heart is, how clear the arteries are. They generally happen at random, cause unknown.

Have they evaluated you for thyroid? That can cause your rate to dip too low. Once that is ruled out, if you still have a low rate and it's affecting your ability to function, then there aren't really any options but pacing. These things don't go away on their own, they either stay the same or get worse. There are no meds for a slow heart.

What you are describing sounds like sinus dysfuntion, where the sinus node just gets lazy. Hearrt block is when the sinus node works normally but the signal doesn't make it to the ventricles, ekg would have ruled that out. When it dips too low, the pacer will step in and make a signal that mimics what the heart should be doing on its own. When you exercise and your rate doesn't go up enough, the pacer will step in again. The rest of the time it just watches. It sounds a lot scarier than it is and many of us here have lived a lot of years with one. I got my first at 27, I'll be 51 this week, I live an active lifestyle and there's nothing I want to do that I cannot. 

Tracey

by DoesItBlend - 2017-09-24 17:30:44

Thanks for your reply. The hospital did all kinds of bloodwork and everything came back normal  includeing thyroid.

The reason the doctor doesnt want to do anything is because just standing up gets my heart rate to go to about 60-70 and under the stress test i was able to get my pulse up to 85% of max within the normal 7 minute window. Its sitting and more so laying down that are causeing the large drops.

Thanks for your reply.

What may make the answer clearer

by MartyP - 2017-09-24 18:16:08

You may want to ask for a "Tilt Table" test.

My symptoms were very similar, HR to 30,  3 times while in the hospital, next morning my heart stopped for 31 seconds.... the cardiologist was planning on a Tilt Table test next, but that was no longer necessary.  ðŸ˜Ž  Four hours later I was in the OR  and my buddy "Sparky" arrived.

Let us know how you do over the next few weeks and months.

Marty

by DoesItBlend - 2017-09-24 18:18:14

Wow that is crazy that it stoped for that long! Did they have to start it up themselves or did it restart on its own? What initialy brought you to the emergencey room?

Tilt Table Test

by MartyP - 2017-09-24 18:23:41

You may want to read up abouy that test.  You csn find it at wwe.Heart.org.

I hope I'm assuming your doctor is a cardiologist and NOT a GP.

If you doc is not familiar with the Tilt Table Test, that very well might be a red signal that you need to find a more skilled doctor.

BUT DON'T WAIT ..... YOU NEED A CORRECT DIAGNOSIS SOONER THAN LATER.

Marty

by DoesItBlend - 2017-09-24 18:30:04

Yes it is a cardiologist. I have seen two seperate cardioligist one in the hospital and one out of the hospital the one in the hospital was concerned at first but didnt seem as concerned after the stress test and overall discharged me and asked me to follow up with him at a later date after getting checked for sleep apnea. Unfortionatly he is not in my insurance network so i ended up following up with the cardiologist that i saw 5 years previosly and he also doesnt think its a emergency situation and also suspected sleep apnea.

I have had a tilt table test 5 years ago because I was complaining of a heart rate that was to fast and dizzyness when i stood but overall the results of that were normal. They may be diffrent now for sure.

To DoesItBlend

by MartyP - 2017-09-24 18:35:16

My wife and I were out for breakfast at the local diner and I just fainted dead away.  So EMT, Police, etc.  And off to the hospital sirens blasting.

All tests were absolutely normal, nothing!!  So the cardiologist wanted  a TT test, but the heart stop happened and I am one lucky guy.

So, when they woke me up the following morning, I was admitted, as a result of the monitor going off on the unit, they woke me up and my heart restarted on its own.

They did put on an external PM or maybe a defibulater  at least I think that's what it was, it was two big pads on my chest.  They never had to use it.

Second opinion! Get one.

by Gotrhythm - 2017-09-25 16:54:33

Super-fit athletes and astronauts may feel okay when their heart rates hover in the 30's. The rest of us, not so much.

In the days leading up to a pacemaker, I must have been asked a thousand times if I had ever passed out. I always said no, even though nightly, I would almost pass out on the 22nd step of my staircase. "Almost" isn't good enough. I know now, if you want a cardiologist to take you seriously, the correct answer is "yes." If I had it to do over again, I would do whatever I could to faint, preferrably within sight of a doctor.

To be fair to doctors, diagnosing our problems isn't always easy because we look, and in fact are, completely healthy, except for one tiny glitch in our hearts, that only shows up now and then. Cardiologists are used to seeing people who are far, far sicker, and, in your case, far, far older.

But if your cardiologist can't see what's the matter, the only thing there is to do is go to another one. The one you're going to has a blind spot and nothing you say will change it.

You need a second opinion, preferably with an electophysiologist.(EP) They have seen many more patients like you than a cardiologist has. You probably also need an advocate. Someone who is on your side, able to go to your appointments with you, and speak up for you when they want to dismiss becoming short of breath at the same time your HR dips below 40 as "nerves." [rolling my eyes]

By the way, great big kudos for taking charge of your health and diet! It takes a lot of work and a lot of character.

Gotrhythm

by DoesItBlend - 2017-09-25 17:17:43

Thanks for your comment. The nurse practition did mention sending me to there in house Electrophysioligist to reassure me what what was happening was not dangerouse. However im worried his judgement might be clouded because they work in the same practice together. Im not sure if thats a rational concern or not. 

Either way your guys comments have atleast made me feel a little less insane. I think at my next apointment i will take up there offer to see there electrophysiologist and if he isnt takeing it more seriosly i will seek another opinion. Its just with insurance nowadays its going to take Months to get into a diffrent office.

You know you're wired when...

Your heart beats like a teenager in love.

Member Quotes

Do feel free to contact the manufacturer of your device. I have found them to be quite helpful when I have had questions and concerns.