Heart Rate

[Felix The Assassin]

Fellow members of IW, I turn to thee for more advice on this subject.

I did part 1 of my retirement physical today. I failed the EKG due to bradycardia, low HR. They did not seem it to be serious.

Fact: I'm not a super athlete.
Fact: I did not run to the clinic this morning.
Fact: I do not train with Lance Armstrong.
Fact: I have only ran in one marathon my entire life. 1988, Fulda, Germany.

I can't make heads or tails on this from the net. The only one source that mentioned anything about serious condition was it can come from other illnesses or a head injury. I have had none. It does state a lot about what the nurses were saying and asking. But they all laughed at my answers, thinking I was BSing them. I have not done regulary PT (physical training) since 24 June when I departed home station.

Can anybody shed some light.

[LordKathen]

Did you check www.webmd.com ?
Good place. Or, maybe Attalus can be of service. Good luck.

[sageridder]

It seems it can be caused by a number of drugs and nutritional supplements as well a number of internal issues.I'm not trying to alarm you but from just a couple articals I read I would think they would require a lot of tests as this could even lead to a pacemaker.This is just from one artical.

An abnormally slow heart rhythm is known as bradycardia. Physiological bradycardia sometimes occurs in young adults, especially those who are highly trained athletes. More often, however, bradycardia is seen in older patients and occurs when the heart's natural pacemaker, the sinoatrial node, fails to work properly. In such cases, a physician may insert a pacemaker. Bradycardia can also result from damage caused by heart attack, cardiac surgery, or medication.
Bradycardia may occur as a side effect of certain drugs including, but not limited to, propranolol, atenolol, metoprolol, sotalol, verapamil, and diltiazem. Bradycardia may also occur in patients who suffer from an underlying medical illness not directly associated with the heart including, but not limited to, hypothyroidism, severe liver disease, hypothermia, typhoid fever or brucellosis.

Symptoms associated with bradycardia include, but are not limited to, dizziness, fainting spells, lack of energy, and weakness.

Recently, bradycardia has been associated with the chemical gamma butyrolactone, or GBL. GBL is found in a variety of products ranging from household solvents to nutritional supplements. When ingested, GBL is converted into gamma hydroxybutyrate or GHB, an extremely toxic substance. At least one person has died after taking a product containing GBL, and over fifty others have experienced nausea, violent behavior, tremors, slowed heartbeat, problems breathing, seizures, problems thinking clearly, and coma.

Here's a link to the search I used.
http://www.lukol.com:2007/search?st=...se=L&se=M&se=D

[Ronn_Bman]

You don't really have to be a super athlete. Maybe it's just because you've spent the past 20 years doing regular physical training. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Stormymystic]

hmm, how low is it? my dad has a very low heart rate, 42 bpm, and he has a heart condition, perhaps there is something they are missing? not to scare you about it, but you should see a doctor. no one here well be able to really say much about it. but bradiacardia is not something to play with.....my son also suffered from it for a long time, and it can lead to heart failure.

[Sir Kenyth]

If there are no other symptoms you are experiencing and you can do phsical training with no abnormal symptoms, I wouldn't worry too much. If you are slight in stature and have a highly conditioned cardiovascular system, your low rate may be a sign of this. At any rate, simply follow your Dr's advice. He doesn't seem to be too concerned, so I wouldn't be either. They probably just want to check more thoroughly into a vitals number that's out of the standard range, which is standard procedure.

[Felix The Assassin]

My resting BP was 49, 6 BP below the low line standard.
The nurse had me do flutter kicks for 1 minute, my BP was then 83. She started the EKG test, before it finished, it was back down to 51, test failed due to Sinus Bradycardia, with sinus arrhythmia. No further testing requested, Otherwise normal ECG.

I have searched the link from above, and do not meet any of the conditions, or symptoms.

My last recorded data is from pre-deployment to Kosovo, Mar 02. My BP then was 56 just over by 1.

I'm not alarmed, but am very much concerned, and have requested another test and poosible further testing.

I have no abnormal symptoms when doing PT, or at the gym. Along with no problems doing a 5KM ruck march with a 55lb load. I fall into "Big and Tall" catagory.

Thanks for all of the info.