So.. had a recent health scare and basically turns out I have a really low resting heart rate (around 45 on average and into the 30's at night) -53 yr old in good shape, but not ultra-marathoner shape or anything. Previous physicals hadn't really had it show up (walking in maybe elevated it enough or something). Now it's more anxiety than anything after Iowa Heart found nothing really wrong (was admitted because apparently was dehydrated and fainted while doing a middle of the night bathroom run) and it helps to hear that this is more normal than I think to have a really low resting heart rate!
As you age your heart rate tends to decline, if you practice regular cardiovascular exercise or did a lot in your younger days potentially even more so.
Fainting, dizziness, and general fatigue are the major signs to be worried about that people tend to ignore. If you find these symptoms getting worse or develop and issues with shortness of breath or chest pain see your physician immediately.
This is one of the benefits of going to your yearly physical as it sets a baseline and can help determine if this RHR is normal for you or a change.
I would say that it’s very odd that your previous physicals didn’t note this. People don’t usually just discover a low RHR out of nowhere. Did they check thyroid function, or run a tilt table or stress test? Assuming they ordered an EKG and blood panel but I don’t know the quality of the provider you went to or what you said to them/history.
While bradycardia isn’t rare when you start having symptoms like fainting that’s actually a concerning issue.