Decaf may contain a little caffeine, but for DH who has difficulty with a pre-beat heartbeat with caffeine from tea or coffee has absolutely no symptoms with decaf coffee or tea.Not to beat this issue to death...But, both decaf and some tea contain some small but measurable amount of caffeine. This list is very illuminating:
Caffeine content for coffee, tea, soda and more - Mayo Clinic
I would go ahead and cut out ALL caffeine if it was me (YMMV and that is OK too! Just trying to be helpful.). There's a lot of money in the sales of caffeinated beverages and foods, and call me a cynic but I think that sometimes the allowable total daily caffeine levels may be a little high. Some people do have an extreme reaction to small amounts of caffeine and reducing your caffeine intake to zero for, say, six months would fully eliminate caffeine as the potential culprit. This would not be hard for you to do, now that you are consuming so little of it.
Oh!!! Good idea. I'll bet that was it. I was still half asleep, and probably didn't attach the cuff properly or something. Thanks.
As long as it doesn't mean I'm a goner, I'm OK with it.
Oh!!! Good idea. I'll bet that was it. I was still half asleep, and probably didn't attach the cuff properly or something. Thanks.
As long as it doesn't mean I'm a goner, I'm OK with it.
57 isn't that bad, I think athletes or long distance runners regularly get lower readings. The one you want to watch out for is 0.
I think I'd find religion pronto. 
Yeah, but I admit it, my general physical condition is just about as far opposite as you can get from being a marathoner.
Plus, I have exercised even less than usual this week due to my crummy vision (cataracts); I'm getting scared of tripping due to not seeing stuff. I'll be glad to have that fixed this coming week.
A diastolic of 0 would definitely give me pause.
57 isn't that bad, I think athletes or long distance runners regularly get lower readings. The one you want to watch out for is 0.
Audreyh1, that's scary! I'm glad you noticed it. I don't think I'd recognize that symbol so I should probably look it up in the manual.
I had a scare this morning when I took my BP with my Omron monitor this morning, too. In the past I seldom took my BP without a reason, but I have been recording it once a week for a month or two. Anyway, this morning, instead of diastolic being around 75-80, as it usually is, it was 57.
Kind of unnerving, since I have never had a diastolic that low before in my life AFAIK. The only possible causes I could think of, were that
(1) I was having a harder time that usual in fully awakening and also
(2) I had just taken my beta blocker seconds before measuring.
Anyway, after I lingered over two cups of coffee for an hour, it was back to 76 and I was much more wide awake. Weird. I hope this is not a sign from the supernatural that my time has come (joke! just a joke!)
At my physical back in 2006, my GP noticed my heart rate was 40. I’m in pretty good though not fantastic shape, I lift weights and do some form of cardio for at least 30 minutes 2-3 times per week. I’ve noticed that my pulse gets that low when I’ve been sitting at my desk for a while in a mellow state, so I wasn’t surprised. Also, I’d been fasting for bloodwork, and had only a partial dose of coffee that morning, so naturally my metabolism would be down a notch. And, I like to do a slow exhale when they’re checking my pulse, just to make sure it’s nice and low. Well maybe that overdid it because she said I had bradycardia, and sent me to a cardiologist.
The cardiologist thought my HR was ok, but noticed I have carotid sinus hypersensitivity, which is where when you compress the artery in the side of your neck you tend to pass out. I’ve noticed that before, for example when resting my neck against my hand, but thought it was normal. Of course you’d feel faint when you squeezed off the blood flow to your brain, right? That was the only time I noticed it, and I’ve spent a lot of time in wetsuits that squeeze my neck a little, and never had any trouble there, so I didn’t think much of it.
Anyways, the cardiologist said I needed to get a pacemaker within the next month or so, but sent me to another cardiologist for a second opinion. The second guy put me through the tilt-table test, which gave inconclusive results. He said he didn’t think I needed a pacemaker, and instead recommended that I drink more coffee and eat more salt. I went with that prescription, and wish he’d written it down so my health insurance would support my coffee habit.
At my recent physical, I mentioned I’d been having some palpitations, which I’m pretty sure is normal for a woman heading into menopause, and my HR was rather low again (44), so my doctor is sending me to a cardiologist again. I’m not happy about it because the last coffee-and-salt recommendation cost me hundreds of bucks in deductible and co-pays.
Also, I’m hoping to ER in a couple years. My post ER budget has $983/month for health insurance premiums plus, hopefully to err on the side of caution, maximum deductible.
Can anyone tell me if a diagnosis of bradycardia raises health insurance premiums much? How about having a pacemaker?
