[Kate]

Just curious, does anyone notice a drop in their pulse after standing or bending over? It seem right after I stand up my pulse quickens and then slows and then after a bit evens out. I can feel the palps when its changing and seems to get worse when I am dehydrated. Anyone else experience this? Is this from an overactive vagus nerve? Any thoughts?

[jkfrench]

Hi Kate,
I think that is just normal sympathetic nervous system vagal tone response. Mine does that too.
Dehydration will definitely make my palps worse.
I don't think it is anything to worry about. Vagal response can react by slowing the heart rate or increasing the heart rate. Stress can wreck havoc on vagal tone so don't worry. I remember after I had my baby, my heart slowed way down. Anxiety caused it to stay that way for months. (vaso vagal response). I was used to having the fast heartbeat but the slow one freaked me out.
Take care
Jodie

[Kate]

Thanks for responding Jodie! I think it's always kind of been like that. It just seems more apparent lately. Like you I get used to it being fast so it freaks me out when its slow!

[Jeff]

If you have any physical exertion at all, your body's gonna respond to the increased demand. Once morning when you wake up, just laying there, take your pulse. Then have a good, full, morning stretch, just laying there in bed. Arms, legs, etc. Then take your pulse right then. Much higher. Then the body fulfills the demand for oxygenated blood, the heart rate slows, especially if it has more than it needs because of the previous heart rate jump, and then it evens out.

That's how it's all supposed to work, Kate. Nothing to worry about. And the skips during that time, called "transitional PVCs", are also nothing to worry about.

Hope that helps.

[Carrie]

Thanks, Jeff. That explains it for me too, since I also get this.

[jayone]

I have this, but also have the opposite.

A couple years ago it was really bad that every time I stood up it would slow down to around 40bpm and I could really feel when it happens. I looking into postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Sufferers of POTS have the same symptoms.

If I don't get enough sleep, or I sleep really late (4am, 5am) when I wake up it is really fast. Sometimes for about 30 minutes.

I've taken my pulse when I wake up and its usually around 70. When I sleep it drops to around 50ish. I had a palp that woke me up last night and my pulse was slow. That was scary.

Either way, I think the vagus nerve is responsible. As I'm putting in research to approach on the vagus nerve to later approach my doctor I'll look into this.

Anything we can all relate to on some level would go towards proving the vagus nerve is the culprit. As Jeff said, it is your bodies natural response, but if our vagus nerves are sensitive, or problematic, they can cause all sorts of strange issues.