AFib and running

[Cqms]

also have have been recently diagnosed with AFib. I have always kept reasonably fit and I enjoy running I am in my 50s. My AFib started in June 2019 when I was on holidays in Croatia. While sitting at the pool early in the morning after a 5 mile run and breakfast I suddenly felt my heart rate change as if I was agitated. I checked my heart rate which is normally about 45 resting and it was double that. Though I had rehydrated I put it down to dehydration and upped my liquid intake. It did not work. The next morning my heart was still racing, I decided to go for run to see if I would feel ill. I was going to go to the doctors if I did. I ran 6 miles and my heart beat was elevated more than normal however I actually felt OK. After a cool down and a shower my heart returned to normal and I was puzzled. I had a few more incidents like this one and running seemed to sort it out. Not happy I waited till I returned home to take it further. I told a friend who is a medical professional who advised me to keep a record and see my GP. I also got a loan of a Kardia EKG pad.

I did not have to wait long and was able to capture the AFib on the Kardia. I consulted my GP immediately and was referred to the hospital where I got the official diagnosis of AFib. I was prescribed a beta blocker and a blood thinner and was advised that I should not change anything in my life other than avoiding anything that triggered the AFib. The problem is that I can't find the trigger. I gave up alcohol and caffeine and my AFib continued. It comes on during the early morning about 5am when I am asleep. I have had one very unpleasant incident after running a half marathon and ended up in hospital overnight. At the moment I have had the dose of beta blocker doubled but I am still having AFib. I am awaiting an appointment with a cardiologist which is next month. I am still running though I am not planning any long distances until I have had a consultation with the cardiologist. The only thing that seems to be working for me so far is going for a run. I appreciate that for most people this would not be possible. I am wondering if there is anyone else out there that has a similar experience. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

[TinCool]

I have zero medical qualifications, but it sounds to me like you have rogue electrical impulses coming else where from your heart other than your natural pacemaker messing up your heart rhythm. Have you tried take a magnesium citrate or taurate supplement? It may calm things down for you.

[Cqms in reply to TinCool]

No I am still working on understanding my current situation. Thank you for sharing.

[Crystalpalace]

Hello sorry to hear about your situation. I used to get afib during sleeping and also when I had indigestion. both I feel are vagus nerve related. I used to sleep on my left side quite a bit.i noticed when I changed to sleeping on my right this improved a lot. however other people have found it can work the other way around. I'm on calcium channel blocker and 50mg flecainide a day and that seems to have it under control just about all the time. I go to the gym most days and exercise has never brought it on.

best of luck

[Cqms in reply to Crystalpalace]

Thanks

[Jfelder]

The more and more research I do and go through heart issues myself, the more I realize doctors don't totally have answers or solutions for any of this. They are extremely educated and take very good educated guesses based on your history, the test results and statistics/data. I have been a lifelong endurance athlete (I am 48) and I have a lot of friends whom are the same (most of them older) who some are experiencing varying issues with Afib different kinds of arrythmia's , ablations etc...I have yet to find a endurance athlete who has experienced problems of this sort that they actually found a permanent solution for (that did not include pretty much slowing down all the exercise). I know a guy who is a bike racer in his early 60's who has had 8 ablations. He is very well off financially so he finally went to the absolute authority in France : The Bordeaux Group (because of their experience/pioneering with pre operation heart imaging). I am guessing that was extremely expensive results are to be determined. I am starting to have progressing issues see my post here: healthunlocked.com/heartrhy... -Jfelder)..After the symptoms getting worse my doctor put another 5 day monitor on my chest (ZioPatch) and he essentially said the same thing, you are not imaging this- you are having multiple premature beats mainly in your upper atria...but he essentially said (its less than about 1% of the time) we dont see any kind of REAL arrythmia or your heart going outside of normal sinus rythm..So essentially in no uncertain terms go see a shrink because you are making it worse.. I am very frustrated on the lack of information on people who are very physically active. I did read the book the "Haywire Heart" by Leanard Zinn..but still cant seem to find much information on people like us. Most of the data is on people who are mostly sedentary...Wish you the best of luck. Let me know how it goes..

[Cqms]

Thanks for sharing your experience. It is very much a head wrecker. Of all the things I considered I never thought of having a heart issue due to exercise.

[john-boy-92]

If you've a history of cardio exercise, you may be getting paroxymal AF. I used to run, Orienteer, cycle and do Spin classes. My AF is exercise induced and will flip-flop between atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter. I don't take heart rate controlling medication as I have a serious reaction to it. I now exercise on a Concept 2 rowing machine at home - 25km/week - but keep a close watch on my heart rate monitor and rowing machine display, as my heart rate can suddency jump to over 180. If I can avoid prostate surgery, I'm going to gradually increase the rowing machine distance to 50km plus / week, to see if I can adapt to AF in the same way that running or cycling training would.

[Cqms in reply to john-boy-92]

Cheers, I still train away I just don't have the same energy since the AFib began. Thanks for the reply.