AF and fast heartbeat

[SpritzerAce]

Hi! Hope everyone is doing good or getting better. Just would like to find out if anyone here have had an incident of being inAF with heart rate between 130 to 160 and not feel the thumping and palpitations? You just feel ‘normal’ albeit a bit lethargic? Thanks in advance for sharing your experience.

[jeanjeannie50]

No, if my heart rate goes up to 130-160 I feel dreadful.

[jedimasterlincoln]

My atrial flutter (see my recent post) presented like that on last occasion. I only really got the thumping and noticeable palpitations when I was sat/lay down. Resting HR was 100-120 which NORMALLY if it was Fast AF I'd be unable to exert without going dizzy and short of breath. But on this occasion it was only raising to 130 on exertion and I was able to function for best part of 36 hours before it reverted.

[Hidden]

I don't often go up to 160 in AF. It's usually around 135 or might get to 150. I do feel it to start with but it settles a bit and tends to turn to tachycardia with the odd wobble to it. I frequently think I am back to normal but my pocket monitor tells me otherwise. I feel a bit shaken, as if I've just been driving and had a narrow miss.

I don't get breathless, I can walk uphill, and I am able really to just carry on at a slow pace. Last time I had AF, Fitbit told me I'd walked 8 miles through the day.

[Buffafly]

I can have fast AF without noticeable palpitations but I feel a lot worse than lethargic.

[Lien-Ju]

Hey! The 2nd time I had AF attack, I felt a little bit anxious but fine the first day I could even do some push up or physcial exercice. Then 3 days later (I was in AFIB for 3 full days) I started to feel lethargic and tired.

[Slattery]

Yes, I have experienced this, the only symptom I have is my stomach feels upset.

[Aus19 in reply to Slattery]

That's very interesting you say that, Slattery. I also feel a bit queasy when I have heart rate in excess of 120 bpm for long periods (say, four hours or so).

[johnMiosh]

I developed AF due to excessive exercise. While I was healthy, it was normal for me to cycle at pace with a HR of 155 to 175 for a few hours at a time. When I developed AF, but was still undiagnosed, my HR would occasionally spike at 190. I didn't notice the heartbeat in itself, I just felt a little slow and unfit. Then one week in February, I had two days when my heart reached 250 during hill climbs, but I just felt like I had no energy.

At that point I realised there was actually something wrong with me; I made an appointment at the Doctors and stopped cycling. Shortly afterwards my AF became persistent. I never had any sense of palpitations and only recognised any arrhythmia when checking my pulse.

I am now back to normal after three years and two ablations, but have severely cut back on exercise and alcohol in a (so far successful) attempt to stay in sinus rhythm.

[Clyde12 in reply to johnMiosh]

Hi there. I see you were a cyclist and already know that AFib affects cyclists and super fit folk. I was diagnosed with AFib last year but it is my 42 yr old triathlete son I’m concerned about. He will not listen to me. He is obsessed with fitness and often gets up at 5am to do fitness training......then cycles miles to work......he will train after work as well! He is representing UK in the Netherlands in June and is doing even more training than usual. Any advice would be welcome. I wish you well. Thank you.

[kitenski in reply to Clyde12]

the evidence seems to be pointing towards middle aged endurance athletes getting more cases of A Fib, it's still early days in my view and the sample sizes have been small. Assuming your son is wearing a heart rate monitor, then he should be able to see if anything untoward happens, and then seek medical advice. Things to look out for would be heart rate higher than his RPE would suggest, or like johnMiosh I also saw HR spikes over 200 when cycling which lead me to further investigations.

[Clyde12 in reply to kitenski]

Thank you. I had to look up RPE!

[kitenski in reply to Clyde12]

Oh sorry, I meant it as Rate of Perceived Exertion. You may also want to listen to this about a triathlete. simonward.podbean.com/e/sim...

[johnMiosh in reply to Clyde12]

Hi Clyde, There may be a genetic aspect to this; my mother also had AF from a young age, although it was not properly diagnosed until a few years ago (she died last year at the age of 86 on an unrelated illness). On the other hand, she was also a racing cyclist in her youth.

I was very much like your son, cycling was my main sport and method of commuting, but I was also marathon running, swimming, playing squash and attending the gym. My average resting HR in the 1980s was around 48. I also realise now that I did not take enough rest days.

When I developed AF, I originally thought my occasional breathlessness was due to getting old and the spikes in HR during exercise were due to a faulty meter or strap. It wasn't until I went into persistent AF that I realised I had a problem. Even then my main worry was that I would not be able to continue cycling.

If you want to look at a detailed history of what happened to me you can see it at afibandcycling.wordpress.com/. It may be useful to advise your son about his possible long term future.

[Clyde12 in reply to johnMiosh]

Thank you so much.

[rosyG]

no- like jean jennie I feel bad above 135

[SpritzerAce]

Hi all, thanks for all the replies. After nearly. 17 hours I am still in AF. My FitBit will record a HR of between 70-80 but Kardia reads Possible AF with HR averaging 134bpm now. I don’t feel my heart jumping like I usually do. I just don’t feel anything except a bit tired. Is it dangerous to be in this situation? Can I just go about doing my own everyday activities - go to work, evening walks etc? What do you guys normally do when you are in AF and don’t feel it? Thanks.

[Hidden in reply to SpritzerAce]

I carry on as usual but tone activity down a bit. I suspect that I regard AF as more trivial than it is.

[Chesterghost in reply to SpritzerAce]

The reason is Fitbit is actually rubbish at reading heart rates apart from over time resting heartbeat . Kardia is bang on

[KMRobbo in reply to SpritzerAce]

Fit bits do not keep up with afib. I believe they monitor blood flow My wifes fit bit showed less than 50% of the heart rate on my Garmin running GPS which I believe measures electrical activity.

[smn100]

Hi no I can't feel a thing. When first diagnosed my heart was running at 212 and i had no idea just thought I was a bit breathless. Was actually in heart failure. Rate is controlled with drugs now but doesn't often drop below 110. I'm in permanent AF

[LouBrig]

My bpm go to around 160-170 and I can certainly feel thumping in my chest. I can see my heart jumping around in my chest and feel awful,

[Hidden]

My heartbeat generally goes to about 120 bpm, but on the last occasion it went to about 140bpm. I feel quite normal apart for the anxiety; if I walk around I hardly notice anything. I mentioned this to the doctor and he said it was quite usual, but no less concerning than if there were no other symptoms; stroke risk is, unfortunately , the same and you should still sit down and not rush about.

[Flyer2820]

Hi SpritzerAce

When I first started with af, my heart rate was way to high and the doctor asked if I could tell. The only way I knew there was something wrong was that I felt sick, dizzy and was sweating. I had no idea that my heart was racing, and still don't. So it's not unusual as Tom Jones would say. Sorry, you are not an only one.

Regards Flyer.

[PAF62]

Welcome to my normal everyday.

Heart rate normally cycles between 100-220 (highest ever recorded was 272), in permanent AF and been this way for the best part of 35years.

Docs have been on my case for years and I’ve resisted medications but they finally convinced me to go on Bisoprolol due to my age, even though, as cardio said, I do “remarkably well”.

Never felt worse in my life. 6weeks in, tired, lethargic, stopped walking and going to the gym (was walking most days, gym workouts 3days/week) and can feel everything my heart is doing, which I never did before.

I’d rather be “sick” than medicated if it’s affecting my quality of life so negatively

[Hidden in reply to PAF62]

Hi PAF62

I’m in permanent AF, aged 70 and on a beta blocker and don’t like it. So I’m really interested in your thread. Those of us in permanent AF don’t feature so much on this forum.

Would you consider starting a new thread using your reply above (or something similar) so we can have a discussion on the important points you have raised. Sometimes replies in long threads are overlooked.

[Snnapdragon123 in reply to Hidden]

Yes please...more info for permanent afib. I am the

same. On Apixaban. Any info would be good.

[KMRobbo in reply to PAF62]

You need to get off bisoprolol. There are other beta blockers people use more sucesfully. I tried bisoprolol, the Atenolol, then as I felt terrible on both was switched to verapamil a calcium channel blocker. No problems. Unfortunately I had later to switch the dituazem another CCB but although not as bad as betablockers (for me) I did have problems. I expect you can be found something that helps without causing too many issues.

[Campanula in reply to PAF62]

I was given Bisoprolol for a heart rate of 100. Like PAF62 I felt terrible while taking it, as though a ton of bricks was on top of my head. My GP then prescribed a calcium blocker instead, which is much better. I have stopped taking statins as they caused muscle pains and debility. As far as I am concerned the fewer drugs the better.

[Bucerias in reply to PAF62]

Get off the Bisoprolol! It was the worst possible drug for me. Like you, I was so tired & lethargic, irritable, and even suicidle after being on it only for a couple of weeks. Now on a calcium beta blocker.

[Happygoluckyme]

Yes I have had heart rate up to 160 and not felt the palpitations. I usually have to be admitted to hospital for a few days to get medication changed. I am having an ablation next month.

[Supernerogirl]

Yes sometimes this does happen to me and I’m quite shocked when I take my pulse as can’t feel it and it’s so high.but yes you are very tired.

[KMRobbo]

I was totally asymptomatic in afib with resting HR of up to 190. I was only diagnosed as I first felt a slight momenary fluttery feeling for a few seconds when running at the end of a run. I then saw a hr spike on my Garmin gps with heart rate monitor. Just thought that's funny! 5 weeks later I felt the same fluttery feeling again sat at home at 21:30. Again the fluttery feeling only lasted a few seconds . I put my Garmin hr monitor on and was amazed to be doing 165bpm.

It stopped there all night. So I dialled 111 in the morning as I felt totally well apart from the heart rate. They sent an ambulance and I was diagnosed. I have been running at 243bpm and I still could not tell , except for the Garmin.

That is all in2015, my AF progressed after 20 months, required inyrusuve medication and I had an ablation January 2018. Been af free since.

Regards

[Janith]

I “thought” that l was Afib free ... l took a new supplement (one) and it triggered an attach ... my heart rate was 135 when l went to my doctor’s office ... l felt fine but l could definitely feel the thumps and etc. they wheeled me over to the hospital (Nextdoor) and started an lV ... it brought my heart rate down but l was still in Afib and remained in the hospital for four days ... the Afib didn’t want to go away. THey scheduled me for a conversion ... Monday morning ... however, in the middle of the night l suddenly converted! The nurse came into my room and said “l have good news for you ... you are in natural sinus rhythm “. I started crying and thanking our Dear Lord!! Now l am at home sipping on a cup of tea! I feel pretty not great but better!! I will wait a few more days until l return to exercising, etc. Is it normal to feel washed out after a few days in Afib? 😘

[salvage35]

I felt the same as you the first time they told me I had afib,, like what? so you think I am sick I said.

[exbcmc]

When my doc told me I had Afib, I was shocked. He said, “you don’t feel your pulse? It is 188! This would have knocked me down!” I had no clue. Dizzy upon standing, that was about it.