Hi guys . I'm new to your forum. Thanks for having me . Are there any Afib runners out there?
I'm v new to all this heart issue having been as fit as a flea for years. Just about to start meds for alcohol-triggered Afib. (ie not when I'm running! ) and I'm dreading the impact. Any reassurance? 🤯.
Hoping I'm just on them until I can get an ablation ( again all new to me so is this maybe a wee bit ambitious?) . So many differing story's out there so looking for a bit of clarity.
TIA 🫤
healthunlocked.com/programs...
Welcome ! Above link may be helpful.
You mention in your bio you are waiting to see a consultant (doctor) ? Most important is a thorough exam and determining proper therapy/procedure going forward.
Hi mav7 . Thanks for the reply. I had 2 separate episodes over Christmas both alcohol triggered and both went to a+e where I saw 4 different doctors and one consultant. Then saw my GP this wk about meds, and it's he who has written to consultant recommending ablation (if Cons concurs of course) . Havnt drank since last episode and no AF, but Dr emphasising I take to defer risk until I see Consultant. I've taken the Fibricheck app subscription up too. Running keeps my head straight, so am going to struggle for a while.
Long term sufferer of Afib controlled with drugs. Probably 25+ years. Started running with Afib and have completed two sub 4 London Marathons. Trsut in the medics and make sure the consultant is Cardiologist not general take. Rest until cleared though and work with consultants on max HR and training zones to be safe.
Best to you !
As a former runner, I know the great mental benefits it provides.
Just heed your doctor’s advice about exercise.
Ablation works to put one back in rhythm around 75% of the time. I had it done in Nov 2024. Stayed in rhythm for a month. So here it is almost February. Dr changed my antiarrhythmic to Tikosyn this week. We'll see how that works.Wishing you the best. I'm sure you'll be able to run to your heart's content.
Thanks Blovd! All the best with your challenge too. Good news so far.
mine were alcohol and caffeine related mixed in with dehydration and a dash of stress. I went 29 years from age 35 with only 5 short episodes. In 2022 it came back and since 3 or 4 more times. I too have kept fit as a fiddle my whole life running paddling and now my knee is playing up so now indoor cycling.
I’ve made copious notes along the way. The last few times I’ve correlated no exercise for 5-7 days before an episode. Maybe a coincidence? This current time we had painters at home so never went exercising and bang back in AF. I’m on very low dose twice daily Flecanide and metoprolol for the last year and until yesterday absolutely no side effects. I’ve checked my bloods for magnesium, coq10 and vitd3 and all were low and so been supplementing for a year or so.
I will also have an ablation if I get more frequent but I’m hopeful the new MRI guided catheters being developed by Imracor will be approved in the next year or so. Their clarity defining targets will hopefully mean that 1 ablation will be enough
Interested in your supplements. I'm a vegetarian and have been taking magnesium and zinc due to low levels in my food and had started with Taurine which is ironically a stabiliser for heart rhythm. Bananas give me my potassium and I am Marmite fiend so B12 is not a problem.
Do you supplement anything heart related?
Just make sure you do full bloodwork and ask for CoQ10, magnesium and VitD3 to be included . If your levels of magnesium are too high this can cause arythmia’s. Likewise too much potassium could also create an imbalance to our electrical system.
Coq10 levels decrease in most people over 50 and it is most abundant in the heart I think I read it’s like 40% of our Coq10 is in the heart. My cardiologist says it’s not proven that it helps but I still take it. I take magnesium Taurate and glycinate. Exercising keeps me sane so hopefully you get the green light to get back into it but set yourself limits in terms of max heart rate
Many thanks OzJames. Much appreciated. Am trying to find a nutritionalist locally to tie all things together. Likewise on the sanity aspect, the walls aren't high enough to climb some days.
You ok if I ping any relevant thoughts across to you going forward?
Of course anytime…..but do remember we are all different the way we react to AF I believe there are different types. Also you may not be aware some supps are fat soluble which mean better taken with food or some peanut butter/ avocado etc…. otherwise you won’t absorb all of it in your system. A simple google search will tell you the water soluble and fat soluble ones
And in the reply, more gold! Many thanks. 👍
no instant fix answers , just learn to not over exercise and push your heart . Speed walk not run. Listen to your heart.
Well done you found a great source here to help on many aspects. Learn as much as you can. I'm sure it won't be welcome news but exercise needs to be moderated. Also, whilst on the negative, having an ablation does not necessarily mean all drugs can be stopped.
On the positive....hand on heart (no pun intended!) as much as initially I wanted rid of 'the AF beast' 11 yrs later I now accept its use in driving lifestyle improvements, spiritual growth and achievement on a national level in my volunteer role. I am confident none of this would have happened if I hadn't got AF.
Many thanks secondtry. Yes it is some resource you have here. I'm sure a big dose of realism will have to be taken eventually. I'm just keen to know if anyone has irradicated their trigger ( eg me through abstention) and have got back to pre AF fitness state. Or if that is just not happening going forward.
My experience is that abstention has not eliminated AF episodes.
I drank 12 ounces of wine every day, often much more, mostly decent reds, for around 40 years.
My AF was officially established in May 2024.
I suspected heart problems for many, many years, but never was able to persuade a GP that there was a problem, until I showed him an ECG from my new Kardia 6L monitor.
My GP said that after so many years of drinking alcohol, that even small amounts of alcohol now can trigger AF episodes. This, he said, was on account of how my heart was permanently affected by so much alcohol.
I will accept that as true.
However, the inverse -- that no alcohol results in no AF -- has for me not been the case. I now have episodes about once every 8 days, lasting an average of 10 hours each.
That said, I have seen benefits from no alcohol, such as sleeping better sometimes. Plus, my episodes of wee-hour, post-wine "heart strangeness" are far less in number. Thus, I will accept the proposition that no alcohol has reduced my AF, but no alcohol has not stopped AF.
As people here say all the time. everyone experiences AF differently. I expect many people here to testify that after stopping alcohol, they have had no episodes.
In any aerobic exercise try to monitor your heart rate. Make sure it doesn’t exceed the fat burn range, even though your max output will be higher. My own trigger for AF comes if I go above 150bpm, after which AF episodes may occur in the recovery phase after cool down. Carry on running - it’s good for you!
Be careful with any prescribed beta blockers, which will put a brake on your exertion. You may not ultimately need rate control, but it’s likely to be prescribed until you’ve had an echocardiogram to check the structure and operation of your heart.
Thanks Drone01. My 9kph beat rate is (was☹️) 135 average on a treadmill. 10kph about 160. Obviously roads are different but often saw 175 there. But 135 is way higher than my fat burn (circa 110 and that's just a fast walk). I've never been able to run in fat burn without looking like Cuba Gooding Jr doing his touchdown dance in Jerry Maguire! 🤣
I once had a Bruce Protocol test for AF. You are wired up (I suspect a five lead) to a big screen monitor that shows your heart traces in real-time. You are on a treadmill that incrementally increases speed and incline. Your data is captured at the moment you go into AF, and then your heart rate is monitored and timed until your heart rate is back to normal. I believe that my heart rate reached 220. That test revealed that my heart switched between fibrillation and flutter during exercise. My maximum heart rate test on my road bike was a fast ride, recover, sprint, recover, then an uphill sprint in high gear to failure: result 190 bpm. "Killer Kath," our brilliant Spin instructor, always finished with a flat-out sprint: I'd hit 180 to 190. On the rowing machine, I try to limit my maximum heart rate to 170 as if I don't watch it closely, it will jump to 180. Asymptomatic AF doesn't tend to warn you.
I was a runner, Orienteer, cyclist, and gym bunny (especially Spin classes) for many years whilst I had atrial fibrillation that flip-flopped with atrial flutter during exercise. I now have permanent AF, but I use a Concept2 rowing machine at home. Everyone's experience of AF is different. Provided I carefully watch my heart rate, I haven't found it a problem whilst using the rowing machine.
Now the warning bit. Back in the day when I was running, I saw an Electrophysiologist (EP) about my high heart rate and was prescribed dronedarone for heart rate control. That caused a rare condition that permanently damaged my lungs; I'm lucky to still be here. However, that did not resolve my AF. My GP recommended an anticoagulant. However, I no longer trusted medication and a cardiac specialist said that I didn't need an anticoagulant for my high heart rate, because I was very fit. So I never took an anticoagulant Eighteen months later, I had a full stroke. It didn't affect my limbs, but I am visually impaired, so my driving licence is revoked. I was featured in an infomercial for Pradaxa (anticoagulant) that was circulated to clinicians in the UK and USA, where I recommend taking an anticoagulant!
The Life After Stroke group in the Bristol area recently ran an excellent session on the different types of ablation. Interestingly, a few years ago I spoke to an EP who also carried out ablations; I was of the view that my age meant that an ablation was not worthwhile due to my age. He said that although he carried out ablations, he wouldn't have one.
So be careful. My running training back then was 6 to 7 minutes/mile at around 50 miles a week, dropping to 30 miles/week if I had an Orienteering competition at the weekend.
Jeaso You've had a tough one there. It sums up the paradoxs and quandaries in one . Very clear it's not a one size fits all solution by any means. Many thanks for sharing that as it in a way kills off my "well it's only alcohol so just cut that out and there you go" theory.
I started today on what appears to be the default holding pattern of Apixaban and Bisopromol until I see the consultant, so assuming they take care of the risk, I'll hop on the Dreadmill on Monday and see what's in the tank. That's for sharing that and hope things go forward positively.
(Good running times btw 👍)
I recall that about 20 years ago there was a study of Olympic standard cross country skiers, and I think around 20% had AF. Extended time at high heart rate might be a risk factor. I usually talk to second year medical students about stroke and I throw in AF. I suggest that when it comes to a PhD thesis, they might consider whether AF could be initially triggered by recreational drugs that raise your heart rate for an extended time.
Hi, welcome to the club nobody wants to be in! If you are interested I write a blog called the "HHT and afib athlete" which details (and boy, is it detailed!!) my journey with afib. hhtafibathlete.blogspot.com...
Hope it helps 🙏
Jajarunner many thanks I'll get straight onto it. A problem shared etc ....👍
Ablations. There is an excellent session With Dr Heck, chaired by Tracy Goodman. It was the best explanation of ablations that I've come across.
Dr Patrick Heck, Consultant Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist, specialist in ablation at the Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Full version UK of video without patient story
vimeo.com/1029648111/a6ddc4...
Patient story
vimeo.com/1029959889/322782...
That's brilliant, so kind to dig them out for me. Thank you!
I am a runner. I read The Haywire Heart by Christopher Case and The Afib Cure by John Day & others (there isn’t a cure btw). They give you a pretty comprehensive understanding of why it’s not a great idea to continue to do long sessions at high HR and what you can do about it. I continued to run but at low HR mostly under 120, following the Maff method. I wasn’t on any medication apart from apixaban. Gave up alcohol. My triggers were initially exertion in the cold, but eventually random. I am 8 weeks post ablation and doing couch to 5k and have started lifting in the gym. I am resolved to go no longer than 10k and keep HR under 160 when I get back to fitness. Hopefully that will stave off a return, but who knows really. They say you have to wait 3-6 months to see if ablation has really worked. Good luck!
Sixtyslidogirl many thanks for the reading recommendations and for your experiences. The readings sound like it will be time well spent. 👍
I think I'm going to have to accept this as a new way of living as opposed to something to cure, but I'll keep to Clint Eastwoods mantra of "wake up everyday and don't let the old man in"😊
not a runner but netball, pickle ball and badminton. Exercise was my main trigger but thankfully no where near as bad. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and since using the CPAP my AF has calmed down
I think it would have broken me to find exercise as the trigger. The fact it was alcohol brings me another health benefit in giving it up!
Well I thought I'd reply to my own post, firstly to say "Thanks" for such a great and informed response. 👍Thank you guys!Secondly, a wee update. First dreadmill run on the meds and using Fibricheck.
5k @9kph. So it's close to my norm.
HR & Av HR both down on my norm (guess that's the BB's working), but definitely up on perceived effort.
Fibricheck scan - All normal (as it has been all weekend).
All in all v pleasing, but I will take it all with a sizeable pinch of salt until I get a proper ECG under load.
Thanks again.
Confused
Hi, I'm a 37yo cyclist & runner with AFib looking for others with similar
Happy New Year - Afib and Covid 2023
New member
Hi all
