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Controlling AFIB and hot weather
I have had AFIB for five years. It is not persistent. Heat is a major trigger for me. I can't ignore it. This is about how I manage AFIB in hot weather while continuing to do outside activity. I hope this can help someone else live a better life while managing AFIB.
When the original event happened, I was mowing a pasture all day with a tractor and bush hog. It was mid 80's and humid. The attack began later that evening and was serious enough to go to the emergency room. After several days of tests, no specific reason was found and no heart damage was observed.
I am an outside person. Working outside and sweating is enjoyable. Since AFIB, that has had to be modified. At first I attempted to find the limits for ways to work in hot temperatures. Too many episodes. Next I limited myself to a heat index of 85F in the sun and 95F in the shade or shop. That was better but still too many events. Now I pay attention to what my body tells me. When my body says it is time to quit, I quit. Looking for a better pattern to follow, I noted that when my body tells me that it is getting too hot, it pretty well follows the wet bulb 75F temperature scale. The wet bulb seems to work because the higher the humidity, the less cooling from evaporation of perspiration.
I find this allows me to work outside for several hours every day before the temperature and humidity force me to go inside where it is cool. I look forward to the fall and winter months when high daytime temperatures are below 75F.
There are various charts which give various wet bulb scales. This is what I follow. This works for me and hopefully will be helpful for someone else.
Temperature (F°) and Humidity
for approx 75° Wet Bulb.
(°F) (%Humidity)
75 99
76 95
78 87
80 80
82 72
84 65
86 59
88 52
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Thank-you for offering your experience. We who have AF soon learn that there is a wide variance in terms of what sets us off. For you, it seems to have reliable been heat, or rather heat intolerance. It may have been due to electrolyte reduction if you sweated a lot and could not replenish electrolytes successfully and sufficiently in your diet and drink. Or, as you aged, the heat itself became a significant stressor which raised cortisol levels, and usually that is accompanied by adrenaline. Adrenaline, exertion, stress....they are often what leads to cardiac arrhythmias.
I'm happy to see that you have managed to stay on top of your AF using some good old fashioned reasoning and determination. Good for you!
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5 ReactionsIs it the temperature and humidity or is it dehydration from the higher temperatures? I think it seems everyone has a different trigger of some kind and it is good to know what yours is. I still haven't figured mine out! 🙁
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1 ReactionI reside in a southern state and experienced my 1st Afib episode on February 22nd of this year. Our heat and humidity is in summer mode now. Today it is 91°F with 77% humidity at 9:30 am. My Bp is low by my standard reads and BPM are wacky today. I worked outside for 30 minutes before 8 am. This is a tell for me. Stay out of this weather to prevent an Afib event. Always a learning curve, however, I am working hard to manage this new heart ❤️ condition. Taking it a day at a time. We live in a rural area and I love this small farm life. God willing I can enjoy it for years to come. Your comments were very helpful. Thank you.
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2 ReactionsThe things that are written here are not a recommendation of any sort. This is only an account of what seems to work for me in controlling AFIB.
Concerning dehydration, I make sure to drink water, cold water if available.
Concerning the possibility of electrolyte imbalance, when I was in the hospital, tests returned in normal range.
I probably use more salt than my doctor would approve of. I take OTC magnesium and potassium supplements every morning because of long term leg cramping issues. Periodic blood work continues to show electrolytes in range.
I have two truggers. Stress and heat. I have a tendency to be a highly (hyper) focused and intense person. I have had to learn to moderate that intensity.
Whenever there was an event, I review the last several hours. I look for things that may require modification. What did I eat. What did I do. Where did I go. Who did I interact with. What were those interactions like. What demands were placed on me. What was or is my stress level. How strenious was my activity. What was the heat and humidity. What were my thoughts and attitude. When did the event start and what was I doing immediately prior. How did my body feel. Did I wait too long to go get cool.
This is what I do.
I avoid eating too large of a meal. On days when there is a mid morning or afternoon energy lag, I will get a protein based half-sandwich and glass of milk.
I take magnesium, potassium, and multi-vitamin supplements in the morning.
I take a blood pressure medication in the evening.
Soft drinks are avoided as the go-to drink. They are occasional. A six-pack may last us two months.
I avoid Gator-aid because of the high sugar content.
I am more deliberate about getting good rest and not staying up excessively late. If I feel tired during the day, a 15 minute snooze helps.
My shop office is air conditioned and has an old recliner where my pup and I take an afternoon nap after lunch when temperature allows that many hours of work.
When working, I take cool down breaks, in AC, and drinking cold or ice water or apple juice.
There are people and situations I avoid as much as possible, and some absolutely.
I added air conditioning to my 1978 Jeep.
If I feel an irregular heart beat, drinking very cold ice water seems to help reduce the intensity.
I take time in the woods, enjoying the sounds and paying attention to things I see. I enjoy inspecting the rocks in the creek.
When listening to my body as to when to quit, I usually begin to feel a bit uncomfortably hot. I feel my heart beat a bit more intensely. Even though I do not feel it yet, I begin to feel that if I keep going, I will become light headed. Sometimes, I find myself pausing, and taking a deep breath to regather myself before continuing. When these happen, it is time to go spend the rest of the day in a cool place.
The mental aspect for me is dealing with the restriction while maintaining cool space activities that are productive. I am still working on this.
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4 ReactionsYou may find the Ambient Weather WS-HE01 interesting. Pocket sized. Gives temperature, humidity, heat index, and heat index danger warning signal that can be set to personal needs. I have had one for three years and it helps when I am out in the woods.
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2 ReactionsWill look into that. I am currently on Sotalol (betapace) 80 mg which I split up and take 40 mg am and 40 mg before bed. Thus far it has kept me from experiencing a full blown Afib tachycardia event. My concern is that the dosage may need to be increased if these events continue. This is certainly a ride.
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1 ReactionWow, we sound very similar in lifestyles. You have given me a lot to think about.
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1 ReactionMy one and only (at least to my knowledge) episode of Afib was in December. I live at +/-7000 foot elevation in SW Colorado so it was cold. Probably in the mid 30F. I had been repairing the entry fence to my property and was bundled up in my Carhartt outfit and was sweating like the preverbal pig. Also not hydrating since it was so cold. In roughly 2 weeks I went from the picture of reasonably good health to having Afib. I am currently building a new perimeter fence and while it isn't really hot (+/- 85F) it is pretty humid because of the afternoon T-Storm build ups. I keep myself well hydrated.
I found your comments very informative; I do think that there are "triggers" for A-fib and I have blamed some of them on the list of lifestyle changes that can be made. I gave up caffeine, avoided alcohol, limited chocolate, made certain that I didn't get over-heated or dehydrated and, like you, tried to tone down the stress and anxiety, exercised regularly and took my meds! Well, I had three episodes of A-fib in May about a week apart; one was so distressing I went to the ER where I cardioverted on my own for some unknown reason. I was hooked up to the monitor and the doctor watched as I "flat-lined" for 3.2 seconds and then went back to NSR. Fast forward: I made an appointment with an electrophysiologist to beg for an ablation, but I had a trip to France scheduled before then, so I decided I'd just have to risk it. My husband was injured while on vacation; he broke 3 ribs and had a pneumothorax. After the chest drainage tube was removed, we were forbidden to fly home for at least 2 weeks! We speak no French, we were no longer with our tour group, we had no place to stay and we lost our airfare home--no refunds! The good news is that we had travel insurance and they took very good care of us, covering medical expenses and lodging, plus tickets to home. Now the point of this story: I had to drink regular coffee (no decaf available), I drank an occasional wine, my exercise was walking everywhere in very warm weather to the grocery store, the pharmacy, the hospital and the laundramat, had sleepless nights! I had stress up the whazoo from all the worries about him, where to stay, transportation, medical bills and what was going on at home. And you know what? I never missed a beat! My A-fib was non-existent for the whole 30 days we were there in France. Now I don't know what a "trigger" for me really is?! I met with the electrophysiologist and he suggested I try an anti-arrhythmic first before I have an ablation, which I tend to agree with. He says the triggers are a crapshoot and that there is no predictable way to tell what sets someone off. I find these group chats extremely helpful and I hope my story will give someone else hope and helpful information.
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1 ReactionAll sounds very familiar to me. Afib you just have to learn to live with it. It rarely goes away completely. even with ablations and medications. Be smart as you seem to be. Watch that humility Make sure your sweating when outside . Not sweating is not a good sign Dehydration collapse even heat stroke Sweating is good Peace
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