# Should I be concerned about my low heart rate? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 7, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292 "2023-04-07T02:53:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/1 "2023-04-07T02:53:18Z")
A few months ago during my annual medical checkup, my provider thought that my heart rate seemed a little low. My watch records that my resting heart rate hovers in the low 50’s. She sent me to a cardiologist who put me on a heart monitor for a month. They also did an EKG and an echocardiogram. None of the tests showed any cause for alarm. Since that time, I’ve started exercising regularly. I typically ride my stationary bike for an hour and a half a day and golf 3-4 times per week but I am FAR from being an athlete. I’m male, 6’1”, 240 pounds and am on a blood pressure medicine. Since I’ve started exercising, my heart rate has gotten lower and lower. Today’s resting heart rate is 43. I took a nap after work and when I looked at my watch, I had a low heart rate alarm. It said that my heart rate got down to 38. It doesn’t tell how long it stayed there. Should I be concerned about this? Do I need a second opinion? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/2 "2023-04-07T02:57:49Z")
I am not a doctor, I am not your doctor, yada yada yada. You say you are on blood pressure medicine. Is your BP too high or too low? You suffer from Bradycardia. Here’s a nice [article](https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/arrhythmia/about-arrhythmia/bradycardia--slow-heart-rate) on it. If it were me, I would get a second opinion to see if this is an issue that needs further attention. My guess is it doesn’t, but you need to get peace of mind and a second opinion will help with that. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/3 "2023-04-07T03:01:08Z")
Too high.Your link mentions sleep apnea, which I also have but I use my CPAP religiously and it reports that my apnea is under control. 🤷‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/4 "2023-04-07T03:07:31Z")
This [article](https://khealth.com/learn/hypertension/high-blood-pressure-low-pulse/) talks about bradycardia plus high BP, so it does happen, but it’s out of my league. Hopefully a medical-type person will chime in with their experience/understanding of such things. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/5 "2023-04-07T03:17:30Z")
Thank you for the links. I appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/6 "2023-04-07T03:19:39Z")
You’re on a beta-blocker and/or a calcium-channel blocker I’m betting. Last time I was in the hospital the EKG keep pinging because my HR dropped below 50, they cut my Carvedilol, a beta-blocker. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/7 "2023-04-07T03:21:48Z")
Losartan. Wiki says it’s a angiotensin receptor blocker. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/8 "2023-04-07T03:33:59Z")
I think I asked this recently. I am on levothyroxine and amlodipine, which I think is a calcium channel. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/9 "2023-04-07T04:33:41Z")
Pediatrician not internist. But quick google finds [https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/losartan-potassium/sinus-bradycardia/](https://www.ehealthme.com/ds/losartan-potassium/sinus-bradycardia/) We had a recent thread on heart rates. > [@How fast/slow is your heart rate?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-fast-slow-is-your-heart-rate/980738/9): > > My resting heart rate is 42. Has been for decades. I am 63. Exercising I have gotten up to a heart max of 163 on a heart rate monitor during all out intervals. Probably add two for what is true heart rate max. My doctor is fine with my heart rate. FWIW my regular exercise probably is not the cause; I exercise but I’m not doing half Ironmans lately. I think it is just familial high parasympathetic tone, a conclusion supported by the fact that one son also has a resting heart rate in the low 40s… Several of us are low like you without being on meds. FWIW my sense is that it is not to worry if it is causing no symptoms, especially if an EKG is normal other than rate. Better than a fast resting heart rate. ---
**Author:** ![jjakucyk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3d9bf3/32.png) [@jjakucyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjakucyk)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/10 "2023-04-07T12:32:27Z")
I know several people who’ve had this sort of exchange: Doctor: Your heart rate is very low, like near 40 resting. Patient: Cyclist. Doctor: Oh ok carry on then. They are more of the elite athlete type, the ones who’ve been doing it since they were kids and are now in their 40s and 50s. It does seem to be a mix of fitness and genetics, but it’s still important to check on other meds too as previous posters have mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2023, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/11 "2023-04-07T20:14:16Z")
If you haven’t followed up with your doctor recently, you should, 38 is pretty low. ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/12 "2023-04-08T07:08:37Z")
> [@jjakucyk](#): > > Doctor: Your heart rate is very low, like near 40 resting. > Patient: Cyclist. > Doctor: Oh ok carry on then. I’ve also had that conversation, mine’s about 45 ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2023, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-i-be-concerned-about-my-low-heart-rate/982292/13 "2023-04-08T12:20:31Z")
Hmm…Losartan was removed from the Canadian market in 2021, (due to impurities I believe.) Colour me surprised to hear it’s still in use in the US. My husband was on it a long time, then suddenly, no more.