Is my heart getting lazy?

[TracyLynn 30]

Hey all. I have not been exercising as much as I should. But it seems like my heart has gotten lazy. I was 100 lbs heavier and my heart rate was around 130bpm. Since August 2012 and with surgery, my heart rate is around 80bpm.

I feel dizzy when I stand most of the times. I have also been very tired lately and yawning alot. I know I need to see a doctor about this, but I was wondering if anyone else had this happen.

The doctor said if I did not exercise enough, my heart would become lazy. I feel like this has happened, but I feel to tired to exercise. It is like a catch 22. Did you experience this? What did you do?

[mariamitani 405]

start out with some light excersize and build up from there. The heart is a muscle and it needs to be excersized just like the rest of the muscles in our body. I have been doing better when it comes to getting dizzy when I stand. I make sure I get all fluids in and move around more. The 100 lbs would require your heart to beat more (130 bpm) to get the blood to the fat and feed it. Now that it is all gone your heart dosnt have to beat as fast or as hard to oxygenate your body(80). A normal heart rate is between 60-100 so 80 is PERFECT For the feeling weak make sure you get Protein in and vitamins! they do make a difference Great job on the weightloss can't wait till I can say I lost 100 LBS. I need to lose a total of 129 but 100 LBS sounds so awesome Congrats

[TracyLynn 30]

Thanks! I had not thought about it like that. Very helpful. Good luck to you.

[Ms skinniness 3,003]

Actually my blood pressure is low so my doc told me to eat more salt. I'm like hmmmmm? I eat a lot of salt, I'm always teased by my friends to save them some salt... LOL But now i have Water retention and the weight amounts to around 4 lbs. So cutting back on salt and increasing my water intake and hoping that helps.

[Heyher 581]

Aim for 30 minutes of activity a day. But start slow. Start with 6 five minute walks throughout the day. Then after a week try 3 10 minute walks. Then 2 15 and before you know it you are walking 30 minutes 2x a day.

Congrats on your amazing loss!!!

[lyndynojo 140]

I sometimes get dizzy when I stand also since surgery and finally figured out that its my blood pressure. it wasn't high before surgery but since it runs about 90/50. so I just take my time standing and I'm fine.

[lilbearzmom 584]

Um, well for one thing, a slower HR is a good thing. Your recent HR is normal. Your other one tachycardic- too fast. Your heart is healthier- not lazy.

-Kendra

[SMO 193]

Some blood work might be in order to see if you are suffering any deficiencies or anemia. When my Iron stores are depleted, I am exhausted and foggy headed because my blood cells cannot carry sufficient oxygen. You heart rate seems normal. If you are worried, it would be best to see the doctor.

[Webchickadee 716]

Hey all. I have not been exercising as much as I should. But it seems like my heart has gotten lazy. I was 100 lbs heavier and my heart rate was around 130bpm. Since August 2012 and with surgery, my heart rate is around 80bpm.

I feel dizzy when I stand most of the times. I have also been very tired lately and yawning alot. I know I need to see a doctor about this, but I was wondering if anyone else had this happen.

The doctor said if I did not exercise enough, my heart would become lazy. I feel like this has happened, but I feel to tired to exercise. It is like a catch 22. Did you experience this? What did you do?

As others have said, let me begin by congratulating you on your 100 lb loss! Fantastic!

Now, as to your "lazy" heart. 130 bpm prior to surgery was a MAJOR sign that you were taxing your heart to the maximum. As mentioned, generally speaking, a healthy adult has a heart rate (HR) of 60-100 bpm. A rate of 130 bpm is considered tachycardia (fast hear rate) and can be caused by a number of health issues. If you were never diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), and your rate is now down to 80 bpm, it was most likely caused by your heart trying to compensate for all the extra work it was doing to feed blood (and therefore oxygen) to all of your blood vessels.

As mariamitani mentioned, think of it as a motor trying to pump Water out to a thirsty crowd of people that just can't get enough to drink. Too much demand for one tiny little motor! The poor thing was going as fast as it could and even then it wasn't keeping up!

Good think you've lost the weight as you may have been headed to serious cardiac disease if you heart continued to work that hard!

There is also a chance that your blood vessels were somewhat blocked with lipids (fat) and cholesterol build-up and that was decreasing the diameter of the blood vessels. Think how much harder it is to blow through a thin straw than a nice wide-open thick one? That's what your heart was working against........so it had to probably pump harder and faster to overcome the resistance (and maybe a symptom of hypertension (high blood pressure) was also present?).

Now you've most likely dropped your lipid count (even inside your blood vessels) and your cholesterol level. Nice open arteries (and veins) are lowering the work for you heart. Fantastic!

But if you're tired, you may be feeling that way due to low Iron levels (and possibly low carbohydrate levels and dehydration as well). Iron is required to bind oxygen to your red blood cells (RBC). When your RBC reach the muscles, the oxygen is detached and used to convert glycogen to energy and make the muscles work properly. Low iron means low oxygen and greater fatigue, less aerobic capacity, strength and stamina.

So get your iron levels checked! Green leafy vegetables are a great source of iron, but the best source is red meat (just watch the fat levels!). Talk to your doctor or nutritionist (NUT) for more info and proper medical advice on this......

And of course, exercise is great not only for your heart, but your whole body, your lungs, your emotional health, energy levels, etc. Just make sure you're in good enough shape physically to start (slowly) and build your way up to more vigorous regular exercise.

Congratulations!

[Renicca 0]

My bp dropped and I was feeling the same only a week po. I had to go to the hospital three days in a row to get fluids.