Today's Hot Topic - 29/01/18

This week's hot topic is exercise. Do you find that exercise improves or worsens your symptoms? Are you less able to partake in exercise since diagnosis? Please share your experiences! Remember that we are here to answer your questions too.

[AlaninSpain]

To cut a long story short I went from a fat, sedentary 60 year old who developed High Blood pressure 9 years ago. I was told to lose weight and exercise and I would be OK. I did just that, I lost 4 stones and started off-road cycling. 4 years ago I had an accident whilst out on the bike and ended up in hospital with a bleed on the brain, we thought that I had been knocked off by a drunk driver as it was New Years Eve. My wife banned me from cycling on my own so i joined the Gym and started 'Spinning'. I was really going for it one day a couple of years back and passed out. Now I was only allowed to walk, eventually setting up a couple of walking groups. In October 2016 at the end of my third hill walk in five days I collapsed and was taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack but in fact I had Arrhythmia, with a heart rate of 230 for 3 hours. I was admitted to hospital and 15 days later fitted with an ICD and the news that damage had been done and that I had a number of heart problems that I had had all my life an not known about. Now we know what happened, I wasn't knocked off the bike, I collapsed.

The nub of this is that when I came out of hospital I had been told No More hill walking as it was exercise that was causing the problem.

15 months on and am now organising 3 walking groups, I walk every day and live a more or less normal life. I set up a 'Walking for Wellness' group for those who were uncertain of their fitness levels and we do easier and flatter routes of about 5 - 7 km (usually ending with refreshments), on Saturdays I have the Ramblers group with whom I am able to lead about 75% of the routes and I have the Rebels on Thursdays who do that I used to be able to do, the Hill Walking. In addition to the exercise and the company my groups have raised over €11,000 for Charities over the past couple of years.

I enjoy organising all of this but get a little jealous sometimes when they are doing fantastic routes that I am no longer able to do.

All of this is in Southern Spain, in Malaga province, so we have some amazing walking routes and little problems with the weather (only in Summer when it's too hot to walk).

The question of this topic is 'Are you less able to partake in exercise since diagnosis?' and the answer that I have is NO! The trick, in my opinion, is to be sensible and adapt. A new member on a walk last week said to me how she respected what I was doing, I could have ignored the medical advice and carried on as I was, and would probably be gone by now, I could have given up and sat watching TV all day, but I have just tried to be sensible.

Don't give up, adapt!

Known to my groups as Rambling Al

[Charleneadmin in reply to AlaninSpain]

Hello,

Thank you so much for sharing your story, and what an inspirational one it is!

You are right, the key to exercising with an arrhythmia is moderation. Nobody knows your body like you, so you have to find the right level of activity for yourself.

Inactivity can be as dangerous as over exercising. It is always best to take it easy and find your comfort level.

Thank you again for your wonderful story, and for the great advice.

Best Wishes,

Charlene

Patient Services, Arrhythmia Alliance

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Great that you are walking every day, AlaninSpain

About 30 years ago, I read a recommendation to walk briskly three times a week for 20 minutes to elevate the heart rate until you are almost slightly puffed. I have tried to do that at the very least since then.

Of late, aiming to keep the cobwebs out of my heart, I've been walking for a mile and a half most days which takes me about 25 minutes. When I had my annual check up at the surgery, the nurse said that 30 minutes was recommended.

Do other forum members have a daily or weekly target?

[sheffbk]

Age 70 now, always very active and have been a masters swimmer for 30 years, which involves swimming quite hard (repeat sprints all strokes, etc) - on a few occasions I felt probable palpitations during swimming about 15 years ago (not worrying, but HR to 200+ for <60secs during the recovery swims - ie easy swimming between sprints) - hospital ecg could pick up nothing. As the years went on, I noticed resting pulse in the morning having more and more 'missed beats' and resting HR falling year by year from 55 to 40 (those missed beats) several more ecgs didn't pick up anything, but eventually I insisted on manual pulse taking by doctors (they all use machines which average HR and had just been telling me how fit I was) - they immediately could feel how irregular it is (but luckily with no other symptoms otherwise).

So - on to EP consultant, who diagnosed right atrial flutter then some left atrial fib (holter, ultrasonic scan etc) but a good ventricular pump - at first had me down for ablation , then not (due to my age?), but mentions a pacemaker in the near future in letter to GP (also says 'interesting case' - means can't really diagnose/prognose?). I take DOAC apixaban, but no other drug.

I attend an arrhythmia support group and know how lucky I am compared with most - still feel fit and no symptoms, resting HR back up to 45, slightly less irregular, still swim hard and far, - no palpitations these days - but am careful. I am glad that I didn't have ablation, can be useful for bad symptoms and if the arrhythmia is caught early. However, unlike many other invasive treatments there seems to be a reluctance to publish long term results for ablation (eg over 5 or 10 years) - I do wonder whether this once 'wonder' treatment will be less used in the future.

My feelings (may well be changed by future research) are that my long term exercise (and reasonably good diet) may be contributory to my arrhythmia (see several surveys showing higher rates amongst endurance athletes) but may also protect me from the worst effects and maybe guard against the usual AF prognosis of some level of heart failure and need for pacemaking.

we're all different

Danny