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Palpitations after intense exercise
After an intense session of cross-country skiing on hilly terrain, my Apple watch logged my average heart rate at 140 BPM, with a peak of 174 BPM. Although it was strenuous, I felt fine during the session. However, an hour or two later, I experienced frequent palpitations. When I checked with my Kardia device, I got two unclassified readings in a row, then a normal sinus rhythm with supraventricular ectopy, and on the fourth try, back to normal sinus rhythm. A few hours later things settled down and the palpitations went away. At no time did I feel faint or unwell, just a little anxious. I’m thinking this 77-year-old Olympic wannabe just overdid it (as usual), and hopefully no harm done. Backstory is I had PFA in January for paroxysmal Afib, with no recurrence of Afib since, however occasional palps. I will discuss this to my cardiologist, but in the meanwhile maybe someone out there can offer some insight. Thanks.
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getting on to 80, we unconsciously want to be sure we've still "got it," proving to ourselves by pushing the envelope.
Maybe your systems is telling you to go for the bronze, not the gold?
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4 ReactionsGood comment, thanks...it's just that x-country skiing, which I really enjoy, is physically demanding even for someone half my age.
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1 ReactionYou have one of two things going on: breakthrough ectopy, possibly (not absolutely) with some
AF and another treatment in your future (PACs, if they become more and more numerous, often indicate an imminent return to AF some time ahead)............or...................you are low om hydration or electrolytes....probably both. You continued to sweat for some time after you ceased your training, which means a continuation of electrolyte and blood volume loss. If this doesn't happen during your typical rest-of-the-day, and does happen frequently soon after exercise, what does that tell you?
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1 Reaction@gloaming
I'm pretty sure the ectopic heartbeats are brought on by the strenuous exercise, and they eventually subside for reasons that can possibly be attributed to a return to normal levels of hydration and/or electrolytes. Maybe as an experiment, I will drink a lot of water enriched with magnesium and potassium immediately following my next skiing session. See if that makes a difference. Or maybe I just need to dial down the intensity to bronze level training!? Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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1 Reaction@nevets
I love X skiing too.
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1 ReactionBy saying cardiologist, I hope you mean you’re seeing an electrophysiologist who specializes in heart rhythm issues. I am your age and also experienced rapid heartbeat events at 140 BPM with exercise and occasionally out of the blue without activity. My heart is otherwise healthy as determined by every imaginable test. I have never fainted. These rhythm disturbances were deemed dangerous enough to require the placement of a defibrillator to prevent an episode which could cause SCD- sudden cardiac death. I take a calcium channel blocker to prevent NSVT- non-sustained ventricular tachycardia. The pill literally prevents a faster heart rate, which unfortunately prevents me from comfortably engaging in aerobic exercise. Fatigue and breathlessness ensue.
Hope you can get a thorough workup by the best EP you can find. If you’re in a small town with only community hospitals, please consider traveling to a major hospital for the best care. Good luck.
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3 Reactions@wcuro
Thanks for the reply. I have a cardiologist and an electrophysiologist, and I am close to a hospital with very good cardiac care resources in western MA. My heart rate drops to a normal level after intense exercise (around 75 BPM), but with disturbed rhythm (palpitations), before returning to NSR. And I haven't experienced rapid HR out of the blue. Interesting and a little scary, if you don't mind my saying, that you need to have a defibrillator. Everyone is different, as they keep saying. I will look into a calcium channel blocker as an alternative to the daily 25 mg of metoprolol I currently take. Hoping 2026 is a better year for all of us.
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1 ReactionI thought the defibrillator was overkill myself. My very seasoned and well known EP at Penn Medicine in Philadelphia related stories of sudden death in young fit people and others who were not fortunate enough to get prior warnings from a disordered heart rhythm before SCD. He convinced me. What did I have to lose having the 911 call in my chest? Seemed a prudent insurance policy.
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1 Reaction@wcuro
All things considered, if my trusted EP made the same recommendation, I probably would comply.
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2 Reactions@nevets for myself, when I was suffering very frequent PAC and PVC with some discomfort, and BP medications including beta blockers didn't help (nor did a series of doctors) I decided NOT to do strenuous exercise anymore. Since then my arrhythmia issues have subsided about 97%, possibly due to nutritional "fix", but I still don't do any aerobic exercise raising pulse rate for any extended period, just because. I'm a couple of years younger than you. Actually I'd given up my greatest aerobic exercise, moderately ambitious bicycle rides, some years earlier for a combination of traffic and other health reasons. I walk 30+ miles a week and do a bit of resistance exercise, but that's about it. I suspect other health reasons also suggest this is for me the proper path.
All the BP meds interfere with the body's adjustments to exercise, the beta blocker that helps you at rest, I just don't know what it does under stress when you already have rhythm problems.
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