Hi all,
I’m about to get an ICD fitted in Jul this year. Over the past 10 years I’ve been an active outdoor swimmer sea swimming through the winter without a wet suit and taking part in two English Channel relay swims. I’m keen to know if anyone with an ICD fitted does open water swimming still and what precautions they take. I was planning another channel relay next year but am now wondering whether that might be possible. Any thoughts or help would be appreciated. Thanks.
I don’t have an ICD but my concern for you would be what if your swimming actions/excretions caused your ICD to kick in whilst in the water? So my response as a surf lifeguard trainer assessor would be let those around you know what might happen, never swim alone and don’t swim too close to others ( fear of a heavy blow from an arm or leg striking you in the wrong place). Whether you should attempt a channel relay, I would be seeking professional medical advice on this as it’s a big challenge to the body. But on general sea swimming I would say enjoy but stay safe as above
Thanks for that. Those are pretty much my thoughts at the moment. I’ll take my time and look for incremental confidence boosting steps.
It would probably be a good idea to ask your medical team that question. Some people have been given the ok to swim but not to swim alone whereas others are told no swimming at all.
I have asked the consultant and his advice was swim but not alone. I expect advice will always err on the side of caution so I’m interested to find out where the boundaries might be. I’ve been watching Christian Erickson play international football at the Euros with an ICD fitted and using that as top of the range guide to what’s possible. Clearly he has top quality medical expertise on hand when he’s training and playing but he still risks his ICD firing I’m guessing
Personally I wouldn't compare yourself with anyone else, your circumstances are completely different, I would take your consultants advice as he knows you & your medical condition.
My husband has an ICD, he's now on his 2nd one the first one having been fitted in 2012. It was fitted as a precaution as he'd had a previous cardiac arrest in 1997 & until last year his ICD was fairly redundant. Last year, totally out of the blue, his heart went completely into free fall with loss of consciousness several times, lots of hospital admissions due to on going VT's & other arrhythmias, failed cardioversion , partially successful chemical cardioversion, an emergency prolonged & invasive ablation, and his ICD shocking him the day after his ablation! A number of times it was touch & go if he would survive!! All this came from nowhere & today his health is still compromised?
His ICD has now been adjusted to treat him aggressively! So now, when his HR reaches 115 his ICD will notify the pacing clinic, if his HR reaches 128 his ICD won't try & pace him down it will automatically shock him! Bearing in mind a normal resting HR is between 60 & 100 there's not a lot of leeway there! Had you asked the question in 2022 my answer would have been completely different!
The ICD is there to protect you, , don't push it to it's limit, my husband's VT's were happening below his ICD threshold hence its now adjusted to treat him aggressively.
Ps: every single time he had his VT's & other arrythimias he was just lying in bed. At one point the hospital wouldn't even let him sit in the chair beside the bed, when they did eventually let him out of bed he was not allowed to move from the chair!
Sounds like your husband has been through the wringer, as must you have been. It’s clear just by reading a few of the posts here that everyone is different and each has had a different journey. So I shall listen to med advice and err on the side of caution. Thanks for you help.
A wise choice. My long winded last comment was really to say that the ICD, even if only fitted as a precaution, can sit for years doing very little, but one day it may kick in! In my husband's case it took 11 years, others have had their ICD kick in after a few months, others have had their ICD kick in several times. Some people are ok and not even aware they're having arrythimias or that their ICD has shocked them, others are very aware & it's incredibly painful, & some lose consciousness, I know of a few people who've received multiple shocks one after the other! Whilst it's important not to let the fear of it 'kicking in' rule your life its also important to try & live as normal a life as possible but with certain precautions.
If your on Facebook at all, I can highly recommend joining a group called ICD support-uk, It's a great, friendly group with lots of advice from people who've been there, done that, etc plus it's very well moderated
Hi I was told not to swim alone in case it fired but I only swim on holiday in Europe so the water temperature is pretty warm. I would check with my consultant to see if the cold water could affect your ICD or the drop in body temperature. I have to say how brave you are doing all that cold water swimming after a cardiac event, I am the person that takes half an hour to get into the Med 😅 char
Tbh I haven’t had a cardiac event yet, touch wood, just a diagnosis based on lots of ectopics. Otherwise I think I would just have been carrying on as before. I’d be interested to know what it feels like if the ICD fires. I’ve heard it’s like a kick in the chest but do people lose consciousness for eg? I wonder if someone was swimming in open water even with other people, how an ICD episode could be managed.
Hi my ICD did fire once but I was sleeping and I didn't really wake up, I remember thinking that I must be lying on it and it was uncomfortable so I changed position and went back to sleep only to receive a phonecall call telling me to go to the hospital as I had an appropriate shock. I don't know how if you were swimming what effect it would have. I had severe heart failure and cardiomyopathy. The consultant's won't really be able to say what effect it would have as it is probably different with everyone but I am sure they would be able to advise re cold water swimming. Char
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