[Closed] Heart rate at night. How low is too low?

If the 24 hour tape showed sinus bradycardia (ie a 'normal' rhythm, just slower) I wouldn't be worried about a particular number. Its interesting now people are wearing fitness watches we are getting people without symptoms seeking healthcare advice as they have noted a slightly higher or lower figure than is normal for them. If your awake resting HR is in the 40s then mid 30s asleep wouldn't worry me.

Here is a good paper about sleep arrhythmia and normal variants found in healthy subjects.

Isn’t a low heart rate a sign of fitness? Personally, I wouldn’t try compare my heart rate to a bunch of strangers. I got my dad a heart rate strap for Christmas once and ever since then he thinks his heart is about to conk it every time he goes on a ride, as it is considerably higher than that general rule of thumb of age time some factor.

Wait for a cardiologist to tell you.

Mine is about 50 at sleep - if that helps. Age 42.

35ish most nights. Can drop a bit lower sometimes.

I have this weird thing where I can finish work (at home), then come and sit on the sofa and my HR drops to about 32. I think it ties in with low blood sugar too.

My cardiologist isn't concerned - it's a side effect of having a heart that used to have a big hole in it and now doesn't, and a tiny dose of beta blocker. On one of my appointments we talked about the low HR and he mentioned he's seen premiership footballers who'll be sitting around chatting with an HR of 30.

0 is to low anything above that gives you a chance 🙂

My Honor band tells me it goes as low as 38 some nights. Played a lot of football and rugby when younger and had good stamina. Luckily, I still have.

With a few minutes lying on a sofa I can get my HR down to 42, and I've never tried using a band overnight to see how low it goes. Asked a doctor and the basically said if I'm otherwise healthy it's nothing to worry about.

Apparently if it goes too low, you can be more at risk of blood clots because it doesn't get stirred about as much, even if you're fit.

I think that was possibly in the context of EPO (and any number of other PEDs). I read about it on the internet and in cyclists’ biographies. It’s not a thing in the real people medical world.

Cheers folks, and thanks superficial for chipping on as I know this is your field.

I seem to remember the epo thing was that that the blood was so thick and heart rates so slow that the team doctors had to wake up the
Cyclists during the night so they could do 20 min on the exercise bike to get heart pumping.. to ensure their blood didn't turn to jelly..

Mine in general before I got covid and lost fitness was between 32 and 37 , ive been checked out by specialist and told I skip beats in the night wheni wore the machine for 3 days and have the blood pressure of a 6 year old but there was nothing to worry about It was my bodys way of protecting itself at night, said my heart looked good and healthy, I just don't need as many beats, since covid (actually before I got symptoms it jumped to 87 for a week or so before I felt ill) its stayed higher, I got tested 20th apr last year and have only just started feeling better on longer slow runs, I did 15 miles the other day and felt OK, my current hr is in the 50s so slowly dropping, on the upside I have much less dizzy, black spells when I stand up too fast

Mine is in the low 40s sitting down and I expect in the high 30s overnight - I’m 56 and been active since my teens. I used to get a regular medical through work - the doctors were sometimes glad to be working with someone that wasn’t some overweight, stressed-out executive.

I seem to remember the epo thing was that that the blood was so thick and heart rates so slow that the team doctors had to wake up the
Cyclists during the night so they could do 20 min on the exercise bike to get heart pumping.. to ensure their blood didn’t turn to jelly..

Yeah, I’ve read about that. Miguel Indurain and Pantani et al. I’m sure their thrombosis risk was related to having an EPO-supported haematocrit of exactly 49.9% plus the prothrombotic effects of whatever else they were shovelling in. Maybe post-exercise inactivity has a role too, and waking up in the night to stretch out may not be the worst idea. Bradycardia as the cause, though? I don’t buy that mechanism at all and I’ve never been able to find any medical literature to support that idea either.

having an EPO-supported haematocrit of exactly 49.9%

Way higher than that, no one was testing it back then.

Most nights my average HR during sleep is 36-42. My resting rate during the day is usually in the low 40s. I spoke to a Doctor about it last year and was told not to worry about it. I also had an ECG and ultrasound of my heart taken at the same time and everything was fine. They said it was a by product of my fitness and they see it a lot with cyclists.

I'd always recommend speaking to your GP though if you are worried about anything heart related.

My resting is 42bpm and dip into the high 30’s during the night according to my garmin watch. It’s always been that way. I’m off to have an ecg done tomorrow as the Blood Transfusion service need confirmation that it’s ok for me. They won’t take plasma or platelets if your heart rate is low.

I did have one episode a week or so ago where it showed 10mins at 30bpm during sleep. No symptoms. If it wasn’t for the BTS requirement, it wouldn’t be investigated

At 61 mine is low 40s at night and when I first wake up, however the docs were more focused on did it rise to normal levels once I became active, which it does.

Its interesting now people are wearing fitness watches we are getting people without symptoms seeking healthcare advice as they have noted a slightly higher or lower figure than is normal for them

Interesting yes, and also perhaps causing unnecessary worry and use of medical appointments?I’m not referred to the OP here, but I’ve had some experience of disappearing down a hypochondria wormhole, and I’m now of the opinion that more information is not always a good thing! Seek anomalies and you’ll find them, but are they meaningful?

All the HR data from watches etc is really useful. The 220-age formula was from 1970 and based on approx 30 people (which is why it's so crap). Totay you have over 1m people recording HR 24/7 and uploading to the cloud, giving a much more detailed picture of the spread of HRs in a population.

Mine is generally around 40-43 during the night but does drop to 35 sometimes. Had an ecg and no abnormalities found.

When you are fit and have a low resting heart rate your "stroke volume" ie the amount of blood pumped per beat increases. So at 40 bpm you have the same blood flow as someone who is unfit and has a resting heart rate of 80. this means when you hit your max heart rate you have twice the blood flow of that unfit person at the same max heart rate

Your heart rate will drop at night below your resting daytime rate. Its perfectly normal. so long as your BP is not dropping its fine.

All the HR data from watches etc is really useful. Totay you have over 1m people recording HR 24/7 and uploading to the cloud, giving a much more detailed picture of the spread of HRs in a population

Not sure if this was in reply to my post, but I was questioning the benefit of more information for the individual. If all that info ‘in the cloud’ is indeed being used to improve understanding of population norms then agreed that can only be a good thing.

I’m now of the opinion that more information is not always a good thing!

This is only true if you lack the capacity to understand it.

'I wish I knew less' said no one, ever.

I’m now of the opinion that more information is not always a good thing!

This is only true if you lack the capacity to understand it.

‘I wish I knew less’ said no one, ever.

Ha! “Capacity to understand” is one thing, but actually understanding and coming to the right conclusion is another. That requires the information to be good quality - which isn’t always the case with HR data from fitness watches, and certainly isn’t the case for some of the health and medical info available online. It also requires the info to be used objectively - difficult to do when analysing yourself, and put into the right context (just because hypothyroidism is a common cause of slow HR doesn’t mean it’s a likely cause for a particular individual). This is what we pay doctors to do for us... so all the folk on this thread having noticed something “abnormal” are surely doing the right thing getting advice from their doc. However if not accompanied by symptoms I’m questioning whether there is a net benefit from the information to either the individual or the health service...

I don't do 'wearables' but I was diagnosed with essential (unexplained) hypertension when i was 17. I had a few occasions where I passed out in response to shock/pain/dehydration(?) in my 20s and 30s that led to being hooked up.

About 10 years ago i would average 29bpm overnight, with pauses as long as 2.3 seconds. My resting HR then was around 55-60.

Electrocardiologist was pretty disinterested and said it wasn't uncommon and it had no link to the hypertension. "Come back in 3 years or earlier if you start passing out inexplicably"

Been wearing a Garmin doodah since mid Jan.

I'm mid 40s. HR is low 40s overnight, resting rate usually around 50 during the day, consistently so. I don't know if that's low or not. I don't know how that compares with general population of my age either.