Heart rate

Type 1 and LADA
1

I recently bought a Apple Watch and it checks my heart rate whenever it’s on.
I noticed mine is low especially when I am sleeping.
I spoke to a doctor friend who told me to not worry but to see a cardiologist to be sure.

So to give you a little background,
I am 55 type 1 since I was 21.
I had a ct scan at the age of 18 where they told me my heart rate was slow, but I was very active so didn’t worry

Now it runs 55 BPM at rest and averages 48 BPM while sleeping

I know there is a type of neuropathy taht can cause it, but I’m well controlled and it would be surprising.

I’m still active my put not close to taht much. I walk 3-5 miles a day not running.
I don’t know if this is diabetes related or something I was born with.
I guess I’ll see a cardiologist but it’s gonna be a while to get in.

Anyone have any insight into this heart rate issue?

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Sounds like you have a heart history. Getting it checked by a cardiologist sounds like the thing to do. Good luck! Nancy50

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I’m at type 1 only for 3 years so far.

Since high school I’ve been aware I have a very low resting heart rate. Normal for me is high 50’s but sometimes when cold or sleeping it will get into the upper 40’s.

Unrelated to the low heart rate I’ve had EKG, Cardio Ultrasound, Treadmill EKG stress test all good.

I think the important thing is as long as you don’t feel overly tired or like you might blackout its OK maybe even good to have a lower heart rate.

As I write this I see on my watch my BPM is 53 :slight_smile:

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In my late 20’s I found fitness and changed my life. For a while, I tracked my resting heart rate, first thing in the morning. Typically, it was in the 40s, sometimes as low as 38. I remember reading that the great cyclist Bernard Hinault had a resting HR of 33. Nowadays, at 61, and according to my watch, my resting is about 59, but my sleeping can go as low as 48.

As a reference, my stress test performance is excellent, but I do occasionally have atrial ectopic beats, but not during exercise. Even when my stress test is ‘funny’, they don’t find anything serious, and in fact one cardiologist told me my stress tests were more likely to show false positives than find problems. I attribute irregularities to my decades of rowing, and although only 6 years were on the water, I’ve spent much of the past 30 years working out on rowing ergometers, plus cross country ski machines and spin bikes.

You should see a cardiologist, but it sounds more like you have just discovered something you weren’t aware of, not life-threatening bradycardia or cardiac autonomic neuropathy. As far as I know, generally, a low resting HR is a good thing. I’ve often read of how a high resting HR is an indication of cardiovascular disease or impending death.

Minor mention, and not that it applies, but I had a procedure at 50 that required general anesthesia. Afterward, I laid in a room with a nurse assigned to monitor me, and at some point, the low HR got triggered. She just looked at me and asked me if I worked out. I said yes, and we ignored it.

I imagine it is in your nature, possibly hereditary, but on the other hand, you could just be antisocial or a psychopath (just kidding, since me too, and I am definitely not).

Resting Heart Rate and Psychopathy Revisited: Findings From the Add Health Survey - PubMed (nih.gov)

The Longitudinal Association between Resting Heart Rate and Psychopathic Traits from a Normative Personality Perspective | SpringerLink

Physiological Arousal and Juvenile Psychopathy: Is Low Resting Heart Rate Associated With Affective Dimensions? (nih.gov)

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Here is a write up abut it

rick

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I, too, have low HR, monitored by Apple Watch which seems to be pretty accurate. I never considered it to be a health risk though. Maybe I’m wrong! I just thought it was due to keeping fit, mentioned by @JamesIgoe. I also have low BP but I don’t know if the two are linked. I recall that you, too, have low BP. I think that if your HR was low when you were a young adult, diabetes probably is not the cause of your current low HR. You might just be blessed with a strong heart :slight_smile: :pray: Good idea to be checked by cardiologist though.

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Hi @Timothy, My heart rate is usually in the lower range, primarily due to exercise and my weight, even before I was diagnosed with diabetes. I’m familiar with being tested as a general doctor misdiagnosed something, so I was sent off to a cardiologist because I have T1D. The cardiologist did the full workup, and I mean the full workup. I was informed I was fine and the first doctor had made a wrong diagnosis. Try and be patient until you can get in to see a cardiologist.
Keep moving forward! :grinning:

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I am going to ask my cardiologist when I see her in July.

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Just checked my Apple watch and it says my resting heart rate today averages 54 with a low of 49 last night while sleeping. I get an adequate amount and frequency of exercise for my age (64) but would not characterize myself as a workout person.

I have questioned the accuracy of the Apple watch heart rate in the past but mostly at the high end. It might be worthwhile to check your pulse and make sure watch is giving you accurate rates. I second the motion to see a cardiologist to do more in depth review, especially since you are concerned about it. That is what the medical people are there for, might as well pick their brains.

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“low resting heart rate is the most robust and replicable predictor of antisocial behavior in children and adolescents.”

I’m glad the vice principal at my high school did not know that 50 years ago! . All three papers give the impression that eugenics is coming back into vogue.

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I don’t think they were suggesting that we weed out those with low-resting HR or psychopathy, but I was curious about the relationship they found, that low-resting HR “was positively related to BFI Openness and Conscientiousness.” I score very high on Openness, and moderately high on Conscientiousness, although when I was more work focused scored very high on the latter.

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