Running with (suspected) arrhythmia.

[Shmev82]

Hi guys. For around a year or so, perhaps longer, I have been experiencing episodes of an irregular heartbeat/flutters. These episodes tend to come and go quite randomly, with no obvious trigger. When I experience them, I don't have any other symptoms, such as dizziness or nausea, but it is still a concern for me. I did see my GP about it last year who sent me for an ECG and a blood test, all of which came back fine, although I'm wondering if I need further tests. I've been reading up on the possible conditions and, although I'm no doctor, it does sound like it could be an arrhythmia. Has or does anybody reading this have a similar issue with their heart rate or even been diagnosed with arrhythmia? I was just hoping to get some advice on what to do, or how concerning it is as I love running but am wondering if I may need to stop.

[DebJogsOn]

Hi - I think the responsible line here is to seek medical advice about whether or not you should run.

However I've had a couple of episodes with an irregular heartbeat - once ending up in A&E with follow up at a heart clinic.

It was ultimately chalked up to being 'one of those things' - possibly linked to thyroid, possibly stress - but everyone was happy because scans, ECG, blood tests all showed my heart looking healthy.

All through this time I kept asking if I could continue running and the answer was always a very positive yes (all those heart doctors recognising how exercise keeps your heart healthy) because the weird irregular beat episodes were never linked to exercise (in fact the worst one woke me up in bed!). So the advice was I should keep running but should stop immediately if I felt my heart was beating irregularly or had chest pains or an unusual shortness of breath.

So ask your doctor - but certainly don't assume that you'll have to stop running.

Hope you get some reassurances soon.

[Crittermad]

You need a proper diagnosis to answer the question and find the cause of the arrhythmia - my palpitations were due to an overactive thyroid but there could be a number of reasons

[ju-ju- Graduate10]

I cannot comment as I am not a clinician, and if I were I’d need a lot more information to assess this. Please see your GP for an assessment, and stay safe, take care 😊