Training with Atrial Fibrillation

That’s so crazy! I hope you NEVER EVER fall off your bike!

I’m on 81mg and all of a sudden I’m a 2 pack of band-aids a day gusher!!

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I take the 75mg once a day (due to family history) along with my BP meds, haven’t noticed any difference in clotting. With 325mg I’m sure I would!

I do service and repair work for a living. Cuts/scrapes are a daily occurrence. Sure, I bleed a bit more, but nothing major.
I feel your pain, though. When I do nick myself I have to make sure to get it taken care of before I bleed all over my customer’s equipment.

Still better than the coumadin my doctor originally wanted me on.

Apparently the first rule of a-fib club should be “we don’t talk about a-fib club”.
After ~11 years of controlled rhythm I found myself in a-fib this past Saturday. As I type this I’ve been out of rhythm for 5 days now. As my Dr. puts it, I’m a highly symptomatic a-fib patient. I’m exhausted, get light-headed, some tingling in face and hands, and shortness of breath.
The most likely trigger for this episode was dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. I’m normally very aware and conscious of that, so I’m just puting this out as a reminder to everyone. Be aware of your hydration!
I’m currently waiting on a trans-esophigal echo-cardiogram to check for clots before the do a cardioversion on me.

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timely post! I had an ablation early Feb, been in NSR for 2 months, off all the drugs, thinking all was good, just starting to train more, then bang! Into A Fib last week, still in and out which is a touch annoying!

Do others still train whilst their heart is beating irregularly or just rest up?

There is a guy in his late sixties training regularly on Manchester velodrome and has chronic a-fib. He just manages his efforts as to how he feels.

I don’t have the ability to train when in a-fib. I’m a “highly symptomatic” patient. If I’m not able to get in for a cardio-version I’m pretty well non functional by day three. I can only walk a short stretch at a time before starting to black out, etc.
That being said, I just had my second cardio-version in two weeks. Dr. changed my meds and I go back in next week for follow up. Exploring the idea of an ablation interests me. Those of you who have had it done has it been successful? What sort of recovery time did you experience?

New to the game…had a wonky HRM reading and, because I don’t know anything about a-fib, decided to drop in.

Question: is an a-fib event reflected only in electrical readings or can it also be felt in pulse rate?

Thanks.

It can be felt as an irregular heartbeat, some watches will see it as a higher HR, or the Apple Watch 5 ECG or Kardia can detect it and you can “see” it as the irregular beats on the ECG if that makes sense?

I can cut n paste some images of my ECGs from the above devices if that would help?

Sorry just realised I didn’t reply @heypoolboy78 .

I’ve had two ablations as the first wasn’t successful. I was back training normally within 2 months of both, although I don’t have the mental edge to push right to the limit now as it’s always nagging in the back of my mind.

I’m nearly 3 months past surgery today. Getting back on the bike wasn’t a big deal, but you are correct on the psychological side. I’ve just really started pushing things again in the last month or so. After that long build up I am seeing the best power numbers I’ve ever had. Setting all-time pr’s on rides regularly. I’m attributing that to being off the rate and rhythm meds that were depressing my heart rate.
@Captain_Doughnutman it seems a-fib is felt and affects people differently. @kitenski is right about seeing it as an irregular rate on a device. In my case, I don’t need a device. When I’m in a-fib I can feel it quite distinctly by the hammering in my chest and the fact that even a small amount of activity pushes me to nearly black-out. I just had another episode at work two days ago. Thankfully, for the first time EVER I was able to take a pill and converted back to sinus rhythm. That was the first time I haven’t had to be shocked back into rhythm.

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Thanks for the info. TBH, it was probably just my screwy HRM…but then again… :man_shrugging: Since I already have an undetermined heart condish, I’ve become hyper-aware/obsessed with my heart and when I see my HR skyrocket like it’s never done before, I kinda worry.

This was yesterday; 191 HR:

@heypoolboy78 — awesome to hear you’re back on the horse! Major victory in itself. :trophy:

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what is the bpm in that peak in the rest period? I used to get high readings when my Afib kicked in, ie over 213 bpm as an example!!

191 was max, then settles in at 187.

I removed the strap for a few seconds then put it back on, that’s when HR dropped. So probably equipment malfunction.

I took manual pulse reading and HR was ~100 during the spike, that’s why I wondering if afib is an electrical event or also physical.

It’s electrical, that causes random physical contractions of the ventricles!

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Can Afib spikes be super short? Like under 1 second but noticeable?

I’m not a Dr but yes (although not sure if there would be a “minimum” length! I had episodes where I tracked A Fib on my Kardia, then instantly tested again and it wasn’t there.

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It happened again, yesterday, right at the start of my ride (although “only” up to 165 instead of 191):

I’m going to guess it’s an equipment malfunction and not a heart issue. :crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers::crossed_fingers:

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can you borrow a HR strap off someone else which would help eliminate equipment?

Hey all, just checking in here because I wanted to get your thoughts on my situation. About 2 years ago I was cycling along after doing some sprint efforts and felt like I took a breath the wrong way and my HR spiked up to 200. I was alone and far from home so I stopped doing any efforts and pedalled home easy with my HR at 180+. I didn’t feel any different but was a little freaked out by the high HR. Went back to racing and training as normal after a day’s rest and had no issues.

The same thing happened me last August 2019, and again I did the same thing, pedalled home easy and went back to racing and training as normal after a day’s rest and had no issues.

I didn’t really take much notice of it, put it down to both episodes being after bad night’s sleep and went on as normal.

But again it happened yesterday, HR went up to 200 and any with any slight increase in effort I could feel my heart beating fast. When I stopped my resting HR went down to about 130 but any effort sent it up again. I rested up for an hour or two and then did an hour or so threshold intervals. It was only when I started reading about it last night I thought it could be atrial fibrillation, or atrial flutter.

It always seems to happen me outdoors, always seems to happen when I am in recovery (HR around 120-140).

Is this what you guys would see as a typical episode? What advice would you have for me (will be checking in with my GP too).

I am 29 male and have been cycling competitively for 4 years.