What Does Low Heart Rate At Night Indicate?

Posted on Mon, 29 Aug 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 29 Aug 2016 Answered on

Wed, 14 Sep 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : Good evening, I am getting ready for bed and took the attached EKG. Currently taking Xarelto as I was recently in A-Fib. My FitBit is grabbing heart rates as low as 52 BPM during my sleep. Is this OK? Just want to double check.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Meriton Siqeca (42 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Normal heart beat during sleep

Detailed Answer:
Greetings and welcome to HCM. I understand your concern.

Yes, these are normal heart beat figures during the nighttime period of sleep. You see, during the major period of sleeping, there is a predomination of the parasympathetic (vagal) tone, which reflects the deep resting state of the brain and the organism. Heart rate may drop even to 40 beats per minute, and as long as there are no pauses or conduction blocks in the heart electrical system registered, this is considered totally normal. Therefore, I recommend you not to be worried about this finding.

I hope my answer is helpful. I am happy to help, if you have follow-up questions.

Kind regards,
Dr. Meriton

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Priyanka G Raj