I was shocked to hear this "AFIB" story.........but!

[Janco]

In South Africa we Braai, over weekends. It is sort of like a barbeque, but only with more wood, flames, meat, some alcohol and outdoors.

If you know my profile and heart history it will be clear that I have been "in" the TOF(Tetralogy Of Fallot) and AFIB thing for many years, it even inspired me to write a blog.

So with this in mind, my friend talked about his heart the other night at a "braai".

He is very fit. The whole thing! Gim, Run, and Cycling. Exercises every day.

He was a bit sick with a sore throat, but nothing serious and took part in a cycling race.

Not very far into the race, his heart monitor showed his heart starting to race.

He did not feel bad but was concerned. And his heart rate did not go down. At some stage, his heart rate went to 248 beats per minute!!

Then he stopped, and slowly his heart rate went down. The medics checked him and everything was alright.

When he told the story I went into AFIB "expert" mode.

He was sick, it could be the medicine, he sometimes uses caffeine energy drinks, maybe he was too tired to do the race, he pushed himself too hard? or his magnesium levels were too low!

I was worried.

A few days later we talked again and I was very anxious. Was he going to join the worldwide AFIB club?

No. His heart rate monitor was not calibrated correctly, it apparently gave the wrong reading. Can you believe that!

In any case, I said he could just as well go to the doctor for a full checkup.

Lesson?

So don't panic too fast, but it could be a wakeup call for anybody that thinks they are 100%