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Pulse and blood pressure questions
Two seperate questions.
1. What could it be, or is it normal... my pulse resting is 80-85 bpm. Once in a while, it will be 60s.
2. What causes blood pressure to be low? My parents have low bp, but I think its more like 100, and mine is'
usually 90-95, but today, it was 87.
I know I am asking a lot of questions, but I am so freaked out about having another faint.
1. What could it be, or is it normal... my pulse resting is 80-85 bpm. Once in a while, it will be 60s.
2. What causes blood pressure to be low? My parents have low bp, but I think its more like 100, and mine is'
usually 90-95, but today, it was 87.
I know I am asking a lot of questions, but I am so freaked out about having another faint.
Normal adult resting heart rate is 60-100 bpm.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-rate/AN01906
You can find a heart rate calculator at:
http://www.medindia.net/patients/calculators/pulse_chart.asp
To find your maximum heart rate:
The maximum heart rate is the highest your pulse rate can get. To calculate your predicted maximum heart rate, use this formula:
220 - Your Age = Predicted Maximum Heart Rate
Please note that some medicines and medical conditions might affect your maximum heart rate. If you are taking medicines or have a medical condition (such as heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes), always ask your doctor if your maximum heart rate/target heart rate will be affected. If so, your heart rate ranges for exercise should be prescribed by your doctor or an exercise specialist.
Target heart rate
You gain the most benefits and lessen the risks when you exercise in your target heart rate zone. Usually this is when your exercise heart rate (pulse) is 60 percent to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. In some cases, your health care provider might decrease your target heart rate zone to begin with 50 percent.
Do not exercise above 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. This increases both cardiovascular and orthopaedic risk and does not add any extra benefit.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-rate/AN01906
You can find a heart rate calculator at:
http://www.medindia.net/patients/calculators/pulse_chart.asp
To find your maximum heart rate:
The maximum heart rate is the highest your pulse rate can get. To calculate your predicted maximum heart rate, use this formula:
220 - Your Age = Predicted Maximum Heart Rate
Please note that some medicines and medical conditions might affect your maximum heart rate. If you are taking medicines or have a medical condition (such as heart disease, high blood pressure, or diabetes), always ask your doctor if your maximum heart rate/target heart rate will be affected. If so, your heart rate ranges for exercise should be prescribed by your doctor or an exercise specialist.
Target heart rate
You gain the most benefits and lessen the risks when you exercise in your target heart rate zone. Usually this is when your exercise heart rate (pulse) is 60 percent to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. In some cases, your health care provider might decrease your target heart rate zone to begin with 50 percent.
Do not exercise above 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. This increases both cardiovascular and orthopaedic risk and does not add any extra benefit.
What is your Pulse Pressure?
Pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic and the diastolic readings (the high and low readings) obtained in determining the blood pressure. A person with a normal blood pressure reading of 120/80 has a relatively healthy pulse pressure of 40.
A pulse pressure lower than 40 may mean you have poor heart function, while a higher pulse pressure may mean your heart's valves are leaky (valve regurgitation).
The average pulse pressure is 40; if it falls below 10, it is inadequate to maintain circulation. When the blood pressure is low, if the pulse pressure is sufficient to maintain circulation, it is considered normal.
It is only in a tiny minority of people with low blood pressure, ie, readings below 90/60 mmHg, where there is an underlying cause and treatment may be needed.
Under age 50 diastolic is more predictive. At ages 50-59 systolic is most predictive and after 60 the pulse pressure is most important. As one ages there is a gradual shift in the strength of prediction of risk from diastolic to systolic to Pulse Pressure (PP).
Heightened pulse pressure is also a risk factor for the development of atrial fibrillation.
Pulse pressure is the difference between the systolic and the diastolic readings (the high and low readings) obtained in determining the blood pressure. A person with a normal blood pressure reading of 120/80 has a relatively healthy pulse pressure of 40.
A pulse pressure lower than 40 may mean you have poor heart function, while a higher pulse pressure may mean your heart's valves are leaky (valve regurgitation).
The average pulse pressure is 40; if it falls below 10, it is inadequate to maintain circulation. When the blood pressure is low, if the pulse pressure is sufficient to maintain circulation, it is considered normal.
It is only in a tiny minority of people with low blood pressure, ie, readings below 90/60 mmHg, where there is an underlying cause and treatment may be needed.
Under age 50 diastolic is more predictive. At ages 50-59 systolic is most predictive and after 60 the pulse pressure is most important. As one ages there is a gradual shift in the strength of prediction of risk from diastolic to systolic to Pulse Pressure (PP).
Heightened pulse pressure is also a risk factor for the development of atrial fibrillation.
Well, thanks everyone. I have so many questions but because I am dealing with so many health issues, I dont know where to begin, at all. I am a bit overwhelmed with everything. I dont want to say where I live, but I assure you, good doctors are missing.
Yes, I know you need both systolic and diastolic but since only one has to be low to be considered low bp, thats why I didnt bother with the bottom one.
I do have a lot of pvcs, but I wasnt feeling them at the time my bp was so low.
My brain has been messed up since stopping a stimulant (prescribed) that I was on for 11 years for CFS. (balance, vision, ringinging in my ears, headaches etc..) I cant help but wonder if stopping has also affected my heart, because the pvcs have gone crazy since stopping it. Prior to going on it, my bp they said was low (110 over 60) but on the medication, my bp was 120 over 70s. My resting pulse use to be 60 pre-med, and after stopping it is 80s. I dont know. When I went to one doctor, he said low is great, and it if you let doctors mess with your bp to raise it, you are playing a dangerous game, so I am not wanting to take drugst to raise it, but I would like to know why it drops so low. Will inactivity cause it to be extra low? I have been too sick to exercise or do much of anything for the past 2.5 years. I dont know, I am trying to find the bits that go together and what doesnt. I have not seen a neurologist, because everyone I know that has serious stuff undiagnosed, have gone through a hell too, while doctors experiment on them, and in the end, they shrug their shoulders and say try an antidepressant. It seems MS is the diagnosis for everyone here and if you dont have ms, you are out of luck.
Yes, I know you need both systolic and diastolic but since only one has to be low to be considered low bp, thats why I didnt bother with the bottom one.
I do have a lot of pvcs, but I wasnt feeling them at the time my bp was so low.
My brain has been messed up since stopping a stimulant (prescribed) that I was on for 11 years for CFS. (balance, vision, ringinging in my ears, headaches etc..) I cant help but wonder if stopping has also affected my heart, because the pvcs have gone crazy since stopping it. Prior to going on it, my bp they said was low (110 over 60) but on the medication, my bp was 120 over 70s. My resting pulse use to be 60 pre-med, and after stopping it is 80s. I dont know. When I went to one doctor, he said low is great, and it if you let doctors mess with your bp to raise it, you are playing a dangerous game, so I am not wanting to take drugst to raise it, but I would like to know why it drops so low. Will inactivity cause it to be extra low? I have been too sick to exercise or do much of anything for the past 2.5 years. I dont know, I am trying to find the bits that go together and what doesnt. I have not seen a neurologist, because everyone I know that has serious stuff undiagnosed, have gone through a hell too, while doctors experiment on them, and in the end, they shrug their shoulders and say try an antidepressant. It seems MS is the diagnosis for everyone here and if you dont have ms, you are out of luck.
Hello :)
1. A "normal heart rate" simply can't be defined. We are all different, and what's normal to some people isn't normal for others. Think of it as cars with diesel or gas engines, one engine has a "normal" RPM when driving in 80 km/h on the highroad (yes, in Norway that's the speed limit, ridiculous :p) of 1800 and another 2700. But the first engine will probably stop at 4500 RPM and the other on 7000 RPM. It depends on if the heart is built for speed or "torque" (high stroke volume in heart terminology).
The numbers "60 to 100" (some say 50 to 100, 40 to 90 or even 70 to 110) is just the standard, which means 95% of us will be within those limits. It doesn't mean that the rest 5% necessarily are sick.
What an interesting indicator is, is what the difference between resting heart rate (i mean RESTING, like totally unstressed on a sunday morning, not the one we measure in the chair after dinner full of job-stress and a bit cardiac neurosis;) and the max heart rate. As an example, my mom (60 y/o) have a resting heart rate of 70, while her max heart rate is close to 200. She is in excellent shape and achieved almost 170% of target workload at stress test. My dad has a resting heart rate of 40 and max heart rate of 135. His cardiac stroke volume is 160 ml, that's really high. So he's more like the diesel engine while my mom is more like a motorbike engine. In general, females have smaller hearts than men and higher resting heart rate. Your resting heart rate (80-85 is probably with some stress) seems completely normal to me.
Which brings us over to another factor, your blood pressure. When your blood pressure is as low as yours, the heart needs to increase HR to prevent you from fainting. As you stand up, venous return to the heart sharply drops and your heart speeds up in response. But due to the Frank-Starling effect, the effect is negative, because with little blood to work with, the heart beats really weak and inefficient. This isn't a disease but a normal physical response. The body may release adrenaline to "turbocharge" the heart, and constrict blood vessels, to prevent pooling of blood in your veins, which eventually will increase the stroke volume, but this is noticed as palpitations.
A systolic blood pressure of 87 is too low. PVCs may reduce the blood pressure, but this is just speculations from me. If something should be investigated by your doctor it's the blood pressure, not the heart rate, though I suspect they are somehow linked, see above.
1. A "normal heart rate" simply can't be defined. We are all different, and what's normal to some people isn't normal for others. Think of it as cars with diesel or gas engines, one engine has a "normal" RPM when driving in 80 km/h on the highroad (yes, in Norway that's the speed limit, ridiculous :p) of 1800 and another 2700. But the first engine will probably stop at 4500 RPM and the other on 7000 RPM. It depends on if the heart is built for speed or "torque" (high stroke volume in heart terminology).
The numbers "60 to 100" (some say 50 to 100, 40 to 90 or even 70 to 110) is just the standard, which means 95% of us will be within those limits. It doesn't mean that the rest 5% necessarily are sick.
What an interesting indicator is, is what the difference between resting heart rate (i mean RESTING, like totally unstressed on a sunday morning, not the one we measure in the chair after dinner full of job-stress and a bit cardiac neurosis;) and the max heart rate. As an example, my mom (60 y/o) have a resting heart rate of 70, while her max heart rate is close to 200. She is in excellent shape and achieved almost 170% of target workload at stress test. My dad has a resting heart rate of 40 and max heart rate of 135. His cardiac stroke volume is 160 ml, that's really high. So he's more like the diesel engine while my mom is more like a motorbike engine. In general, females have smaller hearts than men and higher resting heart rate. Your resting heart rate (80-85 is probably with some stress) seems completely normal to me.
Which brings us over to another factor, your blood pressure. When your blood pressure is as low as yours, the heart needs to increase HR to prevent you from fainting. As you stand up, venous return to the heart sharply drops and your heart speeds up in response. But due to the Frank-Starling effect, the effect is negative, because with little blood to work with, the heart beats really weak and inefficient. This isn't a disease but a normal physical response. The body may release adrenaline to "turbocharge" the heart, and constrict blood vessels, to prevent pooling of blood in your veins, which eventually will increase the stroke volume, but this is noticed as palpitations.
A systolic blood pressure of 87 is too low. PVCs may reduce the blood pressure, but this is just speculations from me. If something should be investigated by your doctor it's the blood pressure, not the heart rate, though I suspect they are somehow linked, see above.
COMMUNITY LEADER
The old saying goes "you can't be too skinny", and I think another is "your blood pressure can't be too low"... that said, if you faint, it may be your blood pressure is too low.
I've had readings in the range of 80-something over 60-something when I was on a high dose of beta blocker trying to knock down my HR which was being driven too high by my AFib. With pressure that low I got dizzy when I stood up, but usually recovered and could walk around.
I know you have been examined by doctor(s), did they express any concern about your BP. Did you say it is causing fainting? That can be dangerous just from the fall or other collision a faint can cause.
I've had readings in the range of 80-something over 60-something when I was on a high dose of beta blocker trying to knock down my HR which was being driven too high by my AFib. With pressure that low I got dizzy when I stood up, but usually recovered and could walk around.
I know you have been examined by doctor(s), did they express any concern about your BP. Did you say it is causing fainting? That can be dangerous just from the fall or other collision a faint can cause.
You are asking serious questions that cannot be simply answered. That is, we can give you piecemeal answers, but unless you understand--really understand--the basics of heart function and hemodynamics, you ain't going to get it, really. You also need to understand what's going on in the heart when a PVC or a PAC occurs.
Is there any chance you could take classes in human anatomy and physiology at your local community college? I'm not joking. You seem to be youngish, and you are almost certainly essentially healthy enough--though among the 'worried well'--to take classes like these. You really have to understand what the parameters are for a 'normal' pulse rate in individuals of various ages and physical conditions. Certainly, you must know that there are two dimensions in standard BP recordings: the systolic and the diastolic--and what they actually represent. Reporting a BP of '100' or '95' is too little information to work with.
Is there any chance you could take classes in human anatomy and physiology at your local community college? I'm not joking. You seem to be youngish, and you are almost certainly essentially healthy enough--though among the 'worried well'--to take classes like these. You really have to understand what the parameters are for a 'normal' pulse rate in individuals of various ages and physical conditions. Certainly, you must know that there are two dimensions in standard BP recordings: the systolic and the diastolic--and what they actually represent. Reporting a BP of '100' or '95' is too little information to work with.
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