Fast heart rate and altitude

[Lien-Ju]

Hello there! Today is my first time skiing since my ablation (28/11/18). I've noticed that my heart rate is way faster than the previous days. I had an EKG 3 days ago and everything was fine except a fast heart rate (because of stress I don't feel comfortable with any kind of "test").

Today my resting heart rate was between 90-106. It is 8:30 PM and I took a Bisoprolol (1,25mg) to feel comfortable again. I can't sleep with a fast heart rate.

My question is the following:

Did someone experience the same thing?

I first thought about altitude but maybe there are other reasons?

Julien

[CDreamer]

Yes, I found I really couldn’t ski at altitude of 1500m+. It was just too exhausting & so much time spent waiting for my HR to come down before the next lift that I haven’t been back skiing now for 5 years, really miss it.

[secondtry in reply to CDreamer]

Snap CD, I love Austria and the mountains, in my youth I worked two seasons in the Arlberg. However, that had to be given up 😤 as even in UK at normal altitude one of my AF contributors is not enough oxygen going in due to a narrow 'stuffed up' upper respiratory area (there is a technical term for this I believe) and I focus on breathing deeply on my daily walks and use a nasal strip at night, which is just sufficient. Have a great day and big thanks for all your quality comments here.

[Lien-Ju in reply to CDreamer]

I feel you, I am now between 1600-2100m and it is hard to keep skiing without take regular pauses.

[D_afibber]

Hi Julien. Same here. Used to love hiking high mountains. But I find that I tire easy and my heartbeat raises too fast (140-160) last time. So I keep my altitude much lower and only walk the lower hike trails now. Seems to work ok now. But higher altitudes with reduced oxygen level pressure is not for me anymore. Just the way it is now.

[Lien-Ju in reply to D_afibber]

Hi D! I will keep my altitude lower to enjoy my skiing holidays as you did. Today I went to 1600-1800, yesterday I was to 1800-2100 and I feel more comfortable today. I also took Bisoprolol 1,25mg to slow down a little bit my heart rate, it helps!

[jwsonoma]

Hi Lien-Ju

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and go skiing in the Sierras often. Days trips don't bother me too much. Skiing is between 2,100 and 3,000 m. I train aerobically all year other wise I am huffing and puffing just walking to the tram with my skis. I find sleeping at altitude does effect me. 2,100m has 25% less oxygen than sea level. To compensate your body has to get more blood cells throughout your body. It does this by pumping more and trying to reduce the fluid volume of your blood (more red cells per liter) by dehydrating. IE going to the bathroom a lot. That results in a rapid pounding heart and multiple nightly trips to pee for the first couple of days. I found I recovered in 2 days if sleeping at 2,100 m but sleeping at 2,500 m harder. Your heart is going to be working harder just doing nothing, I don't get much sleep with the multiple midnight trips and it isn't pleasant with the pounding heart so take it easy for the 1st couple of days and you will adjust. Walking hills on a daily basis (pre trip) really helps. Have fun.

[secondtry in reply to jwsonoma]

Thank you very useful to know.

[Lien-Ju in reply to jwsonoma]

Thank you very much for all those information, a lot of things I ignored. Today I feel better than yesterday (yesterday I was at 2,100m) and today more 1600-1800. I also took a small dose of Bisoprolol and I don't have palpitations. I also have a bottle of water to not being dehydrated.

[Hidden]

We went up to 10500ft recently, but had to come straight down on lift. I don't know whether it was affecting my heart but I just felt bad. We've set ourselves a limit of about 7-8000 ft for any future holidays.

[Lien-Ju in reply to Hidden]

I guess it is the best decision, yesterday I had palpitations and I was not aware of my fast heart rate. Today my heart is slower but I dont have any bad feeling, this is way better!

[Desanthony]

The oxygen level in the air goes down at night and once when skiing at very high altitudes in America many years ago now before I discovered my AF I found I had problems breathing at night and had to pay to have oxygen to use at night. During the day I was fine and could ski as normal. Have never been to those type of altitudes again other than going up Monte Bianco (Mont Blanc but the Italian side) and had to quickly come down from the two top stations as I found breathing there hard and again on the Jungfrau - loved being at the top but couldn't spend a lot of time up there. I am hoping to try skiing just easy blue runs in somewhere like Andorra again once I have had my ablation. That's if there is snow at the lower levels with global warming.

[Lien-Ju in reply to Desanthony]

I also noticed that I had some pain to catch my breath last night!

[djmnet]

It's the altitude and reduced oxygen that makes the heart work harder. Hard not to worry, but it's pretty normal even for folks without afib.