AF after exercise

[Uttled00]

Does anyone else have episodes of AF following rigorus exercise? I had been doing ok recently but went for a run a bit longer than normal yesterday ( oh and in the heat) and then 3 hours later boom the AF kicks in and I have been in and out of AF for the past 24 hours or so despite popping a few Flecanaides.

[nigelfarruca]

Sounds familiar!

[Dave1961]

My very first AF episode was bought on by attending a residential bootcamp and on the 6th day I went way harder than I ever had - to the point of almost throwing up - but was loving it. That afternoon I went into AF - measured at 240 bpm but ambo told me it was probably higher.

Since then if I do intense exercise in the morning I am not surprised if I go into AF later in the day. Doesn't happen often but when it does I kind of shrug my shoulders, sigh and assume thats my day over .

[Kvntoday]

Hi ,

One of the problems might be that you became very dehydrated and this can start A/Fib , I use to have the same problems when I was training hard on the bike .

I did get a silver medal once in the 25 mile tramps but "At a Price" , ended up with A/fib for about 12 hours.

Take it easy ?

[dommydops]

I have paroxysmal AF and it's only ever come on in response to exercise, as far as I know: most typically, in the wake of running, but once after cycling. The most recent bout came on in the course of running a very short distance, which was a new one - boom, there it was!

[dommydops in reply to dommydops]

PS although that wasn't exercise as such! Just ran about 10metres while watching my child run a race. I've quit running as exercise now...

[BobD Volunteer]

Learn. don't people.ever. Re arrange into a well know phrase or saying.

[Hidden]

Definite trigger point during or more usually relaxing afterwards.

[derrylynne]

Careful people. I have permanent AF but someone just down road also with AF died by pushing the exercise too much. Not a good thing to exercise into AF...

[Jason1971]

I'm with kvntoday It could be dehydration. In the winter months since my ablation I've had no issues with exercise and AF. The weather has started to improve (Hooray) and I had a short run of AF on Saturday after a tough sparring session (This was too after about 3 hours). I was in a rush afterwards and didn't really take on enough fluids or replenish any lost vitamins, minerals, salts, etc. Unlike yourself my Flecainide kicked in very quickly, but I believe that is down to my ablation. I slightly disagree with Bob's comments about people never learn. If we avoided the things we enjoy doing, life would be a drag and if it wasn't exercise then it would be something else, however as Bob has stated numerous times moderation is the key.

I've had to learn to adjust my exercise regimes to my AF and barring the odd blip I'm getting along OK with it.

I hope you return to NSR soon

[CDreamer in reply to Jason1971]

Agree that we need to do the things that give us pleasure BUT pushing yourself and if we are competitive we do, can be detrimental. I also know of someone 26 year old ex marine who pushed through the pain barrier whilst in AF and died so please heed the warnings and moderate exercise, monitor HR whilst exercising, know your limits and keep hydrated!

I fully endorse Bob's warning and know too many people who ignore their body's warning signs and just carry on. That is what is dangerous, not exercising per se.

[Jason1971 in reply to CDreamer]

I completely agree where you're coming from CDreamer regarding BEING IN AF. However, uttled00 said exercise caused AF to trigger afterwards, NOT exercising whilst in AF. I know people who have had successful ablations and are competing and training again, as they were before their ablation. I certainly wouldn't condone "Knocking your pan out" whilst in AF, but as my EP told me people who have successful treatment can return to the quality of life they had prior.

[dommydops in reply to Jason1971]

That's quite right: exercising hard while in AF is perhaps unwise, but there may be no correlation between the effort levels involved in exercising on particular occasions and the occurrences of AF subsequent to the exercise. It's a very complicated condition, and the etiology of the thing doesn't seem to be very clearly understood.

[Hidden]

Pushing hard and PAF don't mix. If you've had a stress test or you use an HRM during exercise, you'll know at what BPM you can exercise without PAF kicking off and couple that with a gradual increase in exercise time and you should be OK. Other people have mentioned dehydration, but there's also the possibility that your electrolyte levels were diminished.

My body seems to have deprogrammed itself from going into exercise induced PAF as long as I use 150 BPM as a maximum.

[Newty49]

Check out afibrunner.com and also Google Dr John M. Both talk about endurance exercise and PAF.

[Hidden in reply to Newty49]

That's a really positive link.

[Newty49 in reply to Hidden]

Glad you found it useful - hopefully it gives you some encouragement that there is still life after AF?! You just have to make some slight alterations to your ambitions.

[GolfMyrtleBeach]

Afib is so ironically different for everyone. One of my sure fire remedies to return in NSR is to jump on my Recumbent Trike and go. Between miles 2 and 4, I am back in normal rhythm.

[paulh1]

Moderation is the key. I've finally got back to a routine I can live with after almost a year trying to find out why I couldn't even ride my bike without issues. Turns out it was the carvedilol. Adjusted the meds and I'm feeling much better but I know it was always the exercise that drove me into Afib. So I had to adjust my work out routine. Cut back on the length of my swim. Reduced the miles I put on my bike. The most important thing is that I'm still doing it. I wear a HRM when I bike. When I reach the red line level I stop. Doesn't matter if I'm sprinting or on a hill I just stop and catch my breath. Seems to work. Oh, I have PAF. Bob is right. Learn and adapt.