My heart rate is in the 50's, is this normal for me?

[florencelove]

I'm 27 but I'm not very healthy, I really do need to lose a lot of weight. Usually my heart rate is in the high 60s low to mid 70s. I've been having some skipped beats in the past couple days, but this usually happens before and during my peroid. For a little over a week I've been eating healthy and drinking enough water, I'm trying to lose weight. But today, I took my blood pressure and it was at 112/63... not bad... but then I noticed that my heart rate was in the 50s. I've monitered my heart rate for the rest of the day and it's been between 62 and 56. I'm not sure why my heart rate has dropped. I had this weird burning sensation for an hour or so that went into my chest and left shoulder for a bit... but that was probably anxiety, I basically just went for a walk and felt better. I know it's dumb to freak out about a seemingly healthy heart beat but I'm not a very health person, nor do I really work out at all. Should I be worried? Is anything i'm saying sound alarming? Could really eating healthy and actually drinking water cause my heart to lower that much in such a short time? Would love some feed back :).

[pvctom]

walking is good for the heart, circulation, so I have been told. maybe check with your doctor and see what kind of regimen he/she thinks is right for you. frankly, mentally, a 30 minute brisk walk makes me feel better. It does not eliminate my PVCs but on some days it makes them better.

[florencelove]

Does walking really help with skipped beats? I'm afraid of making it worse, they scare the crap out of me :). I guess if I'm making my heart stronger and actually working the most important muscle in my body, that it should help...

[florencelove]

Thank you for your response. I've been trying to lose weight, and I've lost about 10 pounds so far (yay for small victories!) But, I'm feeling very discouraged with my skipped beats. I used to get them from time to time, and now they seem to be happening more and more. I know I'm under so much stress, my dad just died and I've been with my mom helping her move back home... and none of this started happening until after my dad passed last month. I used to get bad pvcs where my heart would race for hours a few years ago, but I took some anxiety medication (which is where I gained most of my weight) and then my heart stopped doing little funky things for a while. It might be anxiety induced? I'm not sure if that actually happens. I'm going to take your advice and start walking more. I walk a little bit, but I should really do more. Yesterday I was down stairs in my mothers basement washing her basement floors and that took a lot out of me. I have heat induced asthma and it gets really bad when it's humid, so my heart started to race, I got a bit dizzy, I could feel my heart in my throat. I sat down and right away my heart rate was in the 120s, but it took about 45 mins for it to go all the way back down. That was discouraging also. When I get these systems almost always I get this weird buzzing in my throat, GERD possibly? It feels like it's constantly vibrating... I'm not sure what that is.

I went to a cardiologist a few years ago, they didn't really take me too seriously, they said I'm too young basically and I'm fine. I took a stress test and they said it looked ok, but I need to work on my endurance, my heart really gets up there fast. They said I probably just have pvcs and they said they are more than likely benign. I also took a test to see if I had  postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and after 45 mins I did start to faint on the table and my blood pressure dropped and my heart started to race. Basically what that means is if I'm standing for too long my blood isn't circulating correctly I think, and my blood pressure drops? Even though I started to faint they still ruled that out and said I might have that ever so slightly.

[pvctom]

Like Jerry mentioned, you might want to do a daily walk to help with the skipped beats as well as trying to lose a little weight. It will make you feel much better, mentally and physically. And you might want to get checked out by your Cardiologist, for your own peace of mind. best to you.

[Jerry_NJ]

If you do not have any symptoms like dizziness or head ache then the lower HR seems to be okay for you.  You mention taking steps to improve you health, could this be related...have you lost weight.

I assume you took you HR when at a full physical rest, which you suggest is you normal state.  Try adding some walking, yes a mile or two a day, that may help and it will surely raise you HR, if only while walking.