We see low heart rates all the time in patients who are weight restored – and this can be very confusing, frustrating, and upsetting. This can occur for variety of reasons:
❤️ You are not eating regularly. We recommend eating every 2-3 hours. Large gaps of time between meals can slow down the metabolic rate (and decrease blood sugar, energy, hormones etc.)
🧡 You are not eating enough.
💛 There is an energy imbalance. This can be due to walking too much or exercising too much without covering for this energy expenditure. Are you taking the dog for longs walks and not eating enough to cover for that? Are you now playing sports? All of this requires more food (yes, even walking the dog 🐕🦺). The metabolism down-regulates, and the imbalance shows up in the vitals, even if the weight remains stable. It may not show up in the weight because the body will conserve energy, or “hibernate,” turning off essential functions like how the heart is functioning. This leads to slowed pulse, lower blood pressure, and eventually loss of menstruation for biological females, and lower testosterone levels for biological males (among other consequences).
💚 You may not be fully weight restored. If you lost a significant amount of weight, your body might not “quite” be where it needs to be yet to be thriving – even if your weight is now considered “normal” or “above normal.” Vital signs, hormones, and one’s relationship with food, are some of the ways we can tell whether someone’s body is functioning well. Adolescents’ weights are known as “moving targets” since adolescents are still growing. A target weight from last year, is no longer valid this year – as teens are growing and bodies are changing.
💙 Check in with an MD for an assessment of your vitals. No, it’s not okay or “normal” to have low heart rate (bradycardia is defined as < 60 bpm). An MD will assess for a “sick” heart, looking for changes in different positions (large jumps in pulse when going from laying to standing positions, and large changes in blood pressures when going from laying to standing). Some people may experience black spots or dizziness, but may people experience nothing at all and are still unstable! The only way to know is to have a medical provider do “orthostatics” to assess for whether there can be an imbalance occurring.
💜Check in with registered dietitian if you have concerns about your nutrition and energy balance.
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