Hi, I am a 21-year-old female. For the last day or two I have been feeling a little faint and have been experiencing mild but noticeable heart palpitations. I am a healthy weight, my diet is good, I ensure I am drinking plenty of fluids and have no serious health issues. The only thing that may be of note is a diagnosis of bradycardia with a BPM of 56 and consequent to this a slightly lower than normal blood pressure rate. Could these be contributing to my recent feelings of faintness and awareness of my heart beating?
Hello! Welcome and thank you for asking on Chat Doctor! I understand your concern and would explain that your symptoms may be related to orthostatic hypotension. These values of heart rate are not very low, but a persistent bradycardia could also explain palpitations (escaped beats during bradycardia) and fainting. I recommend consulting with your GP for a careful physical examination, a resting ECG, a chest x-ray study and some blood lab tests (complete blood count, fasting glucose, kidney and liver function tests, blood electrolytes, etc.). A head up tilt test is necessary to rule in/out possible orthostatic hypotension. An ambulatory 24-48 hours monitoring, and a cardiac ultrasound are necessary if suspicions of a persistent bradycardia are raised. Hope to have been helpful! Best regards,