Hot and sunny day

[Profound15]

Has anyone experienced a load of palpitations after spending most of the day in the sun please. I golfed this morning and then chilled out in the back garden so all in all around 5 or 6 hours. I had loads of fluids and don’t think I was dehydrated. What was positive was that I didn’t lurch into afib. It took me a little while to cool down when I came in and I’ve been fine since. I’m just trying to figure out if it was my lunch or indeed too much sun. It would be odd as my wife and I go to Cyprus most years in the middle of summer and it hasn’t affected me before.

Thanks for your help

[Singwell]

Just a hypothesis but if you're u were mostly sitting down and it was hot your BP might have dropped and your heart needed to work harder?

[Profound15 in reply to Singwell]

Thanks singwell. I checked my BP and it was slightly higher than normal at 129/75. It’s normally 115/70ish so that got me wondering if it was a bit of heat stroke. I thought asking the community if it’s something that someone has experience of. I do suffer from vagal nerve triggers hence why it could easily have been the lunch I had. I was fine on the golf course this morning.

[Singwell in reply to Profound15]

I definitely get heat stroke more easily nowadays due to medication. It's one of the side effects listed on my BP meds.

[Janith in reply to Profound15]

Did you have any alcohol?

[Profound15 in reply to Janith]

No I’ve been teetotal for 2 years

[HiloHairy]

I live in Hawaii. Thus, I'm pretty used to being in sun and heat. Recently the gym I work out at five mornings a week burned out their air conditioning. Waiting for parts, the temperature inside went from a constant 70° f to the mid 80's. Where I usually get an afib event once every 6 weeks or so I had two events in just over a week.

[Profound15 in reply to HiloHairy]

What do you take when you get your af pls. Yesterday I think the heart was trying to go in to afib but didn’t and settled at night and the palpitations stopped. Had a good nights sleep but woke around 0700 and the fluttering started then bang in to afib. Took one flec tablet and 30 minutes later reverted back so the pip worked thankfully. I’m really symptomatic when it hits and it’s horrible. My last event was 17 weeks ago. My golfing buddy is in permanent and has no symptoms and doesn’t feel it. Is that the case for everyone in permanent afib pls

[jondeanp]

Were you walking the golf course? If so that’s a reasonable amount of exercise if you’re not used to it. Coupled with the heat I would suggest you may be depleted of electrolytes.

I take electrolyte tablets (High 5 Zero) mixed with water regularly after exercise and also on particularly hot days

[Profound15 in reply to jondeanp]

I take coconut water daily and had it when going round the course. I also take magnesium 275mg per day. I felt I was pretty well hydrated during the round as I also had a litre of water over and above the 500ml of coconut water.

[Jajarunner in reply to jondeanp]

Yep, I use zero too.

Too much water alone is not absorbed as well. You can also use squash with a pinch of salt for a DIY version.

[Hidden]

Hi, I had a bad day Sunday - on Apixaban for a PE I had back in March - was working in the garden and it was a hot day, I thought I drank regular enough but suddenly lost all energy mid afternoon and heart rate went to over 100 for the rest of the day and night, when I got up Monday it had gone back to near normal - 68 with normal being 55-65 - kept fluids up Monday and found I woke up with a cold this morning (Tuesday). So have put it down to a cold virus in my system that was waiting for an excuse to come out - and the excuse was over doing it Sunday.

[Golfer60UK]

Hello, I also played golf yesterday with no effects, apart from my scores that is,

like you had plenty of fluids so no dehydration.

I am in AF permanently and am quite tired at the end of 18 holes, but probably due to certain tablets, such as Bisoprolol. I am 75

Keep on golfing !!!

[Deacon-L]

Hi Profound15,

I have no doubt that too much sun is a trigger for AF.

I suffer from PAF and can go for a few months without getting an episode but, as I get older (age 68 in a couple of weeks), but have found that too much sun is undoubtedly a trigger for AF.

I put it down to a few things. De-hydration is the most obvious suspect, but I strongly suspect a 'combination of factors'. I keep a record of my immediate actions in the 24 hours before a being hit with an episode. I have found that is after a day in the sun and I have often awoken in the middle of the night in AF.

Factors being,

* Dehydration; but I am very aware and diligent about drinking lots of water and using sun creams. So I consider dehydration a factor but not the sole cause. Although I need to be aware of a little less tolerance to sunshine on my skin as I get older.

*More than normal exercise; (swimming, full-day gardening, painting a fence, hill walks, standing in a river fishing all day etc)

*Alcohol (sugars); Great to enjoy a chilled white wine, some bubbly in the sun or a cool beer... ! ( Cue for a song.... ' There could be trouble ahead... ').

*Sugar; More likely to succumb to a delicious ice cream and probably combine it with some healthy fruit (more sugars!).

* Aged cheese: a great way to end a nice day.... and find AF comes knocking around 2/3am when you thought you were having a great sleep after a fulfilling day!

For once, I have avoided PAF by being very conscious of these triggers/pleasures (over relaxing!)... in these recent sunny days. I have avoided those triggers by being much more diligent after enduring a particularly long and horrible episode of AF when I was on a small remote Thai island in January. I don't want that again !

I hope there is something here that resonates with others and helps in joining up the dots of the cause being a combination.... of pleasures !

Pity some of us need the motivation of a particularly bad AF experience to keep us motivated and conscious about avoiding the triggers !

[NooNoo14]

I have permanent AF so don’t feel palpitations as such but in warm weather my heart rate rises.

[Davg7]

My trigger for my dozen year afib adventure has always been working up a significant sweat, yardwork on a humid day, any activity on a humid day, a humid day, a day on the beach, small boat sailing, shoveling snow. I continue to take a high quality mg and I drink a vit C electrolyte mix with oj and a lot of water , and upped my slight dose of metoprolol which seemed to help. I would get afib during the activity or that overnight or the next day.

Now 7 weeks post ablation and have pushed that tigger repeatedly and remain in rhythm.

[Profound15 in reply to Davg7]

That sounds great re the ablation. Where did you get it done. I guess eventually I’ll go down that route

[Davg7 in reply to Profound15]

Morristown NJ.

Please find a highly experienced EP associated with a major heart center hospital. In the US, The US News and World Report has an annual report and rankings for heart centers.

[Profound15 in reply to Davg7]

I’m in the U.K. down south where there does appear to be some really good EPs.

[Buffafly]

Heat places a tremendous burden on your heart to cool the body down.

[WhitstableWanderer]

I've knocked off 18 holes today, in 30 degree heat and on a hilly course. Played the same course last week without any concerns health wise, but struggled for the final 3 holes today, felt really tired. I did take water but sank 2 pints of non-alcohol lager rapidly upon completion so was probably on the edge of dehydration. My heart rate was certainly getting higher, from experience I'd say up to 100 bpm, but settled down once I rested. I've been in permanent AF for three years, mostly asymptomatic (just some breathlessness walking up hills).

I've recently weaned myself off Bisoprolol but assume that some remains in my metabolism for now (but the muscle aches have cleared up). So, I think that your palpitations will be mostly driven by exercising in the current high temperature. Great that it didn't trigger AF though.

[Profound15 in reply to WhitstableWanderer]

Thanks Peter. Unfortunately afib reared it’s head this morning. I contacted my cardio and he’s come back advising that the exertions, a bit of dehydration and what I had for lunch was possibly the cause. I must admit I ate a large bowl of black grapes and a sandwich/crisps not thinking that I was consuming a large amount of sugar. I was ok until lunch and of course it’ll probably last in your system for a fair bit of time. Took my PIP, only one flec this time and reverted in 30 minutes which was a massive relief.

[WhitstableWanderer in reply to Profound15]

Ah, glad that the Flec did the job. We just have to listen sometimes to what our bodies are telling us. But there are many worse conditions to be saddled with.

[Deacon-L in reply to WhitstableWanderer]

Hi Peteratsylvan,

The 2 pints of alcohol-free larger might have made the difference for you after your golf round in the sun. Not just the potential trigger of the exercise but, the sugar hit afterwards. Although there’s no significant alcohol in your 2 pints of low alcohol largers, a lot of the alcohol beers and largers have high sugars. It would be worth checking your specific larger with an internet search as there’s a lot of info on this issue of the sugar content in many alcohol-free drinks.

[WhitstableWanderer in reply to Deacon-L]

Thanks, I understand. But needed to rehydrate!

[Swimsyroke]

I play golf and sometimes if I've given my heart a lot of work i.e exercise and heat both push up the heart rate, I can 'blip' as soon as I get in or soon after when I sit down.