Hi I am 49 year old female. And about 16 years ago after being given Ephedrine after my Blood pressure dropped while having a spinal anesthetic to have a cesarean section I went into AF for about 3 days. It self resolved just before I was sent for cardio version, . I had an ecco afterwards, which was NAD, and that was that.. I just was told to stay away from Ephedrine. I get terrible tachycardia with local anesthetic at the dentist, but seem ok if they just use the ones without the ephedrine in.
Since then I have had on occasion palpitations but nothing that I have addressed. i have over the last 10 years ran many miles and been fitter than average. Over the last few months I had started to enjoy taking a big bottle of ice into the steam room and drinking it. On a few occasions I thought maybe it kicked my heart into an irregular rhythm, but took no notice of it. Now a few weeks ago, whist enjoying my ice in the steam room, I went into AF for 3 hours after, it scared me, and i was just going to go to A&E when my heart self resolved into a normal rhythm.
I have since stopped drinking diet coke (I was addicted) and no more ice. Apart from the odd palpitation I have been fine. and I can still run and exercise and push my heart rate and it comes down fine.
I have not been to the doctors. But I have come on this forum and been reading some of the posts.
Just wondered if anyone has a similar story to me, and shall I just wait till something more long term happens, and just hope it was my fault for drinking too much diet coke and eating too much ice??
Thanks to anyone who reads this x
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dickyticker1969
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All this running may have primed you for paroxysmal AF, quite possibly associated with the vagal effect of the ice drinks, maybe even sensitivity to additives in the coke. Either way, I would suggest that it would be worth investing £200 in a good chat with an EP. No private tests though unless you have insurance.
thanks. its a bit of a downer to think that excercising can have caused it. I live in England, not sure what an EP is? Is it like someone who does ECGs?
EPs or electrophysiologists are cardiologists who specialise in investigating and treating abnormalities in the rhythm of the heart. They may prescribe medication initially and subsequently carry out procedures including electrical freezing or burning of the internal surface of the heart, as well as permanent pacemakers
Diet coke is full of artificial sweeteners and that's a sure AF trigger for me. I now avoid anything that has artificial additives of any kind and am so much better.
thanks! I was thinking it was the Caffeine that I was avoiding. If I was honest, I was drinking 1-2 ltrs in one day if I let myself!! Artificial sweeteners are in so many things! Thanks so much for the tip!
Interestingly, if I recall, coffee and caffeine have been found to be somewhat anti-arrhythmic. My cardiologist doesn't care that I drink a lot of coffe.
It sounds like you are in the earaly stages of paroxysmal AF (come and goes) but have identified many triggers. The vagus nerve which is a nueral superhighway twixt brain and lots of other organs can be triggered by cold shock so cutting that out shjsould help enormously.
Aspartame, an articicial sweetner in many soft drinks must be avoided at all times. It does really nasty things to people. Any local anaesthetci you have you must asl for one with no adrenaline as this canm be a trigger.
Life style choices have been shown to be as if not more beneficial than medical treatment so good hydration at all times and listen to your body. Exercise is good but over exercie is really bad so gentle workouts but you should be able to talk normally at the same time or at least within a few seconds of stopping.
Many people have found that a reduction in reliance on meat and processed food has helped them as well.
Should you wait for something bad? Well AF is generally considered to be a progressive condition there being an old saying "AF begets AF" but at preseent. whilst it may be worth chatting to a doctor I fear the chances of recording any events may be slim
great Advice. thanks. As I mentioned above was thinking it was the caffeine I needed to avoid not the sweetener!!. Thanks I will have to address that.
And that is why I have not been to the docs, mainly because I am not in AF at the moment, and because I need to address any potential life style changes I need to make, to work out if I can sort myself out.
I struggle with my weight, and that is why I exercise, I am however able to chat while running or doing classes, and I really dont want to give this up. I dont think i am excessive (however I have been at times), as I dont have time, due to children and work commitments, so in a way that is a blessing, as I can not work out twice a day.. (as I likely would if I could!!) But rather 4-5 times a week. Also I have had part of my knee removed, that has lowed me down a lot, so I am limited and dont run more than 10k now and that can be a struggle sometimes and has taken me the last 4 years to build up to! (but that is another story!) !
But I am very guilty of getting dehydrated, not only from exercise, but sweating it out in the steam room!) this I can do something about. And I will take this on board, and not wait until I get a thirst and headache later on in the day!!
if your pulse rate recovers quickly after exercise
if your blood pressure is normal
if your resting heart rate is normal
If your chlorestrol levels are good
If your sugar levels are good (to check your pre diabetes risk)
If you eat a healthy diet (alcohol? coffee? whole food?)
you are probably OK.
To be more certain, as Oyster said earlier get a check with an EP. Your Blood pressure, sugar and chloresterol can be checked by your surgery (or pay £10 in the larger Tesco chemists for an instant result).
I struggle with my weight, but i have a healthy BMI at the moment, but i can so easy put on weight and that is why need to keep up the discipline of exercise, and be careful what I eat. .
all the things you list, I am fine with, I work in the NHS, and have access to blood glucose monitoring and BP etc, but dont know what my cholesterol is.
I do not really drink alcohol or coffee .
thanks, I will look into what my cholesterol is, and try to avoid dehydration and stop ingesting artificial sweeteners! Hopefully that will make my chances of AF happening reduced!
Hiya, I am a 47 year old ex runner. I stopped running in 2017 when I was found to have ventricular tachycardia brought on during exercise. It would only last a few seconds and go away but if I carried on exercising it would keep happening. I was a runner for many years and entered many 10k and half marathons and ran three to four times a week. I think my problems are linked to over exercise. I have had two ablations. After the first one, the vt came back. I had another in August and seen to be ok but I have stopped pushing myself and just do a mix of jogging alternated with walking or cycling and can do this easily without pushing my heart. I was sad to let go of running and my passion but ultimately I want to just be healthy and be able to walk and exercise into old age. My problem was picked up on the treadmill test after being referred by a cardiologist. I then saw a specialist doctor who has experience of ablation for vt. Hope this helps as a fellow woman of similar age and aspirations!
I actually had to stop long distance (i was doing full and half marathons) running about 4 years ago, I had a knee operation that made any running impossible, I was told I had to give it up! I was gutted, i have taken 4 years to build up from walking to 10 K its only in the last 6 months I would say I am getting anywhere!! So I am just jogging really, so i dont think its that as such that kicked started the AF! As I have mentioned above, I think I have caused it by other things, Ie, the ice in the steam room, the 2 ltrs of diet coke a day, and the dehydration.
Its so hard to give up running, but as you say, we need to pace ourselves now to finish up being an old person shuffling along at a stead walk, rather than broken and unable to move! x
My situation was similar. I would strongly recommend wearing a chest strap and using a smartphone running app to monitor your HR for any spikes you might not necessarily notice each time you run. That will help you understand better whether it’s happening more than you realize, and help you with knowing when you need to back off your workouts and hydrate/take care of yourself. You don’t want to push things.
excellent advice, I have never been into all this fit bit thing, but I think getting a chest strap is a great idea, then if I do go to docs I will have some evidence if it happens again! Thanks advice!
Diet coke is full of rubbish. Everything artificial. Aspartame is banned in many countries yet we allow it here.
Please spend a few minutes checking the list of contents on cans and bottles of drink and if you can, opt for organic or those without caffeine or sweeteners. I personally find that the fever tree range and a lot of those sold in garden centres work for me along with plain bottled water!
Thanks! yes from this chat I realize its not just the diet coke that I need to avoid! I was a bit of an addict with the diet coke, worse over the last few years! 3 hours of AF has done a wonderful job of me giving it up!
I had nasty headaches for a few days! BUt i feel better, I knew it was bad for me, but it was SOOO NICE!!
I am fine with water!
But before reading all this fab advice, I would have drank other low calorie option with the dreaded sweetener!
Hi agree with the person who suggested having a futbit or similar. I now have a garmin that measures your hr from your wrist so you don't need to wear a chest strap. They r meant to be pretty accurate. I wish I had one before when my troubles began as I would have been able to link my symptoms to a spike in hr. Vt is not always symptomatic as I found on the treadmill. I had two and a half minutes of hr over 200 but felt OK! With regard to exercise and your symptoms, endurance exercise can make small changes within the heart that can make you more susceptible to arrhythmias. Some people are lucky and get away with the it but others don't. The haywire heart book is good as talks about thisbut some of the examples within it are quite extreme. Worth a read though! Good luck xx
thanks ... endurance exercise is my thing! I started long distance running in my early 20s.. but my joints actually wont let me do that anymore, however I would if I could!! I will look up that book, and find a bit of tech I can wear all the time
thanks x
Hi dickyticker.
Are you under anyone's care for your blood pressure-at least?
I also picked up several triggers which other posts have already addressed but as you have had blood pressure problems in the past the red flag that jumps out at me is how much you use the steam room. They are heavenly, I know, especially after swimming in a cool pool. But after my first lone AF episode-years ago now- I was told to stay out of saunas and steam rooms. They can really mess with your blood pressure. I would clear this activity with your doctor.
I would suggest sharing all the medical and lifestyle history you presented here with a cardiologist and see what they have to say about lifestyle modications.
I would also strongly suggest not waiting until "something serious happens" before being under the care of someone who knows your history and may have ideas to help you prevent problems.
The time to get a workup is not when an emergency arises. Please take care of yourself and find a doctor who knows your situation and you can call if problems arise.
I am not under anyone's care. I work for the NHS at my local hospital, and to be honest, I Know that if I tip up at my local hospital in an emergency, it would be a bit of a lottery as to what sort of care I would receive (after a long wait!) hence why I never went when I had a bout of AF for three hours.
However, when I say something serious, I guess I mean AF that does not resolve. I dont know how the people on here cope if you are stuck in AF long term! it must be exhausting!
I do not have a blood pressure problem, if anything when I am fit, my heart rate and BP can be low, i often feel dizzy if I stand up quick, which is I assume my BP dropping further when I stand. So thats not really a problem as I am aware of, I think you have misread the thread, the past history was AF after a c section for several days. However, you are right a trip to the GP/doctor and a request to see a cardiologist wont do any harm. I think i will get some sort of heart rate monitoring device, and collect some evidence before I go. (and give up all sweeteners! )
It's good to know you are in a health carenenvironment and that you are on top of things.
I understand about delay tactics. I practice them myself at times.I was a nurse for 40 years and believe I know when it's time to get on top of a medical situation. But I'm good at putting things off when it suits me.
I'm starting my 9th year with permanent a-fib and have a pacemaker, an ablation,and a Watchman device so I no longer have to take anticoagulants.
I'm very stable and feel great. My current problem is VERY bad knees and next week am seeing a specialist orthopedic surgeon. My routine ortho doesn't want to do my knees-says I need a specialist. I REALLY don't want to put myself through two knee surgeries and all the attendant rehab.
I was an operating room nurse and my ultimate worry is that the results will not be successful. This should probably be a piece of cake for me. But I am very much leaning toward saying no.. My fear is that I will get results that cause further problems and end up in a nursing home. Tome this is a terrible living situation and I won't agree.
oh dear Irina. Sounds like your heart complications are the least of your worries. I am here worrying if I can keep running, and you are further down the road holding onto your Independence! I hope you find a solution that enables you to keep mobile and pain free for as long as possible xx
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I am confused
Spa visits 
What does AF feel like, and when should you go to a hospital?
Post cardioversion question 
