I don't know how long this has been an issue for dad, but a low hr was detected upon recent hospitalization. He recently wore a Holter monitor and his HR went as low as 41 and as high as 90(prob. when he went for a walk).

He is now being referred to a Cardiologist. I am familiar enough with LB to know about the whole Autonomic Dysfunction that can occur. Is it safe to say that could be causing the problem or could it be meds, or both?

Anyone want to add their experiences? At this point it is just another doctor for him to see in addition to the Dermatologist, Urologist, Neuro, Psychiatrist. It is really ridiculous.

My dad has been seeing a cardiologist since he had a heart attack in 1992 and has been on Lipitor and blood pressure meds and assorted supplements since then.

The day before my dad saw the neurologist for the first time I was with him at his primary care physician complaining about his hallucinations. At one point the doctor went to take his pulse and couldn't find it. He finally turned to me and asked me to put my finger in the equipment to be sure it was working..it was. The doctor got all excited thinking that a real low pulse could be causing the hallucinations but he called the cardiologist and he said my dad should stop taking one of the blood pressure pills and it would probably increase a bit and it did.

So, I am sure someone here will know, but maybe the disease does this and that is why all of a sudden my dad needed less blood pressure meds.

Just a thought.

dad's daughter -

The low HR could be caused by autonomic dysfunction, by medication, or by some heart condition. (Or by whatever the condition was that required the hospital stay.) Meds can be given to increase the HR, as I'm sure your dad experienced in the hospital. A pacemaker may be an option.

Personally, I liked having lots of MDs and RNs (we used a urology RN rather than MD) care for my dad, each with his/her own specialty.

Robin

Again, I'm not really here...

There's emerging research from a number of groups that Lewy bodies eventually develop outside the brain, and there's a particular interest in Japan in cardiac conduction abnormalities in DLB.

If someone is taking a beta-blocker for high blood pressure, 41 might not be unexpectedly low. It would depend on activity level, time since the dose, etc. The bigger question is the rhythm quality across the entire Holter. If there's missed beats or "asystole pauses", it's probably not the beta blockade causing the problems. There's probably some conduction issue causing the problem, and there's a theoretical basis for it being part of the DLB. The *downside* is, cardiologists aren't neurologists, so you really want someone who is a specialist in conduction disorders - a cardiac electrophysiologist, or EP.

Not all electrophysiologists are members, but a good way to find a fellowship-trained EP is the locator at

http://www.hrsonline.org/PatientInfo/sp ... ocator.cfm

Consider this: if he's bradying down to the 30s/40s, he's probably having dizziness as a result. If he falls, he will likely be injured by the fall. If it happens in a bathroom upon arising from the toilet, for example, he could hit his head and have a horrific debilitating-but-not-fatal brain bleed. Consider carefully your ability to care for someone who is markedly worse than he is right now, possibly with substantial physical impairment.

This makes the idea of what will probably be one visit with a regular cardiologist, one visit with an electrophysiologist, one brief procedure under a local and a short-stay unit visit and nurse followups at two weeks, a month, two months, five months and roughly a year look substantially more appealing.

Fixing rhythm problems can really improve quality of life; when you're low, you feel worn out, short of breath, dizzy, "sick" and puny. Pacing could well provide enough of a support to maximize physical activity as long as possible.

E