Question: I'm a 42 year old male, with a reasonably good diet. Back in my college days, I'd work out 4 days per week with an hour in the gym, followed by a swim and 15 minutes in the steam room.

For the past 15 years or so, I've been far more sedintry and gave up smoking 5 years ago.


I've been prescribed Certraline / Zoloft 50mg and have recently been suffering from anxiety.

According to my Apple watch, when I'm anxious my resting heart rate is ranging from 85 to 110, while my relaxed resting rate is comfortable at between 60 and 90.

I started trying to get some mild to moderate exercise recently, combined with my meditation and hypnosis practices.

What I've noticed is that I can get as high as 140 to 159 during exercise or even just brief periods of exertion such as carrying groceries up the stairs.

My concern is the intermittent drops in heart rate. Just this morning before getting out of bed, my heart dropped to 52bpm. It's been as low as 46. These drops last from a few seconds to a couple of minutes. I once observed it reporting 56bpm while I was standing up.

Would this be considered normal for someone who once spent a lot of time conditioning the body or should I have any concerns?

I've had 3 ECG's since December, A 4 lead and 2 12 lead given by paramedics, all apparently looked fine, but these were 'on the spot' checks during major panic attacks, not while the heart had dipped in bpm.

It doesn't appear as if they're going to do anything else until the Covid situation is under control, so I've not had a full bloodwork.

I don't generally feel unwell when these events occur, although I do have intermittent muscle discomfort on the surface of my chest (outer wall, just beneath the skin) not inside the chest cavity. The muscle discomfort isn't crushing or squeezing, and doesn't coincide with the heart rate drops.

Due to the current situation, the doctor isn't prepared to send me for a cardiology appointment to discuss a 24 hour watch, and for whatever reason, my anxiety always seems to lead to me freaking out over what my heart's doing. Thanks.