Pulse Weak

Pulse, Weak

WHEN TO SEE YOUR DOCTOR

* Your weak pulse is accompanied by other more serious and distressing symptoms, including fainting, dizziness, weakness, fatigue, sweating, breathlessness or weight gain.

* Besides feeling faint, your pulse is above 100 beats per minute or below 50 beats per minute.

What Your Symptom Is Telling You

You eat right. You take care of yourself. You look good and feel good. But one day you take your pulse . . . and you don't like what you feel. Instead of thumping with the gusto you expect, your pulse is virtually nonexistent. Faint blips. Lifeless.

Now you panic. "What's happening?" you ask yourself. "The old ticker must be on its last legs. Or maybe I have some rare tropical disease! Or maybe aliens have sucked the life out of me and turned me into a zombie!! Or maybe . . . "

Or maybe you should just settle down and get a grip. Your best bet is to simply relax and forget about it. "Physicians place virtually no importance on the complaint of a weak pulse in the absence of any other symptoms," says James Willerson, M.D., professor of cardiology and chairman of internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical School at Houston. "It generally is not a sign of any disease, and usually it is just a perception in an untrained and frightened individual."

Many things may make your pulse seem weak. It may be harder to feel a pulse in a heavier person. Your pulse may be a little rapid because of nervousness. Your hands may be cold. Or you may be feeling for it in the wrong place.

What about those rare occasions when something out of the ordinary is going on? "It generally means that your blood pressure is low," says Dr. Willerson. "This is a normal occurrence in some people. Other times, it arises from a loss of blood or fluids, vomiting, dehydration, malnutrition or a medication overdose."

"Anything that diminishes the forward flow of blood, if it is severe enough, will produce a true weak pulse," says Joseph P. Ornato, M.D., professor of internal medicine and cardiology at the Medical College of Virginia Hospital of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. "But most people would complain of more obvious symptoms long before a weak pulse: sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness and/or fainting."

Weak pulses, along with these other symptoms, may be seen with severe congestive heart failure: A heart, weakened by disease, damage or infection, is unable to pump sufficient blood and oxygen to the rest of the body, causing a backup of blood and fluids in the heart and lungs. In this case, the pulse is likely to be very rapid as well as faint.

Symptom Relief

Almost always, the perception that your pulse is weak is nothing but a perception, and you don't have a thing to be concerned about. But if you are showing other symptoms or remain distressed about it, keep these tips in mind.

Have your pressure checked. Your blood pressure may be lower than the average, but whether you suffer from true low blood pressure depends on a number of factors including your age, size and weight. A physician knows best if your blood pressure is low enough to merit treatment.

Double-check your medications. Read labels for proper dosages. Too much or not enough can lower your blood pressure and can weaken your pulse. Ask your doctor if any of your medications should be changed.

Ask your doctor about salt. Sometimes people with chronically low blood pressures are advised to increase their salt consumption or are given medications to aid their salt retention. But most people with heart failure are told the exact opposite. Your doctor knows what's best for you.

Limit your liquor. Alcohol quickly dilates blood vessels, dropping blood pressure and causing your pulse to go from hearty to hardly in no time.

See also Heartbeat Irregularities; Pulse, Slow; Pulse Racing