Has anyone experienced intense exercise and mental confusion?

Linnie,
You may be exercising more strenuously than I do but, I also have time lapses. The episodes don't always correlate to exercise. I also have been extensively tested and told all is normal. I have been put on nighttime oxygen which only raises my percent oxygen by a couple of points. I am a month from my 81st year and am told by my nurse friends that I "do not present as an 80 year old". I have been told this often enough that I am beginning to believe it. Maybe like you, who has kept healthy and active, we aren't taken seriously when we know something is wrong as we present differently from average folks our age. I hope you find an answer. If you do, I hope you share it. I find myself slipping into a funk over this because no one thinks I'm ill.

Thanks for your input. I am 72 and also don’t present as that age. I am an advocate for my own health as some of these docs I’ve encountered might feel intimidated by my continuous questions. I’m still waiting for a response from my cardiologist about the run of PVCs which looks like Vtach, according to my research. Really puts me in a funk as well!

Did you possible intend PACs vs 'AVCs'? PACs are generally innocuous unless their burden exceeds about 3%, at which the cardiologist/electrophysiologist will want more frequent monitoring to see if there is a progression. Above 8%, it generally merits an intervention, often an ablation.

It sounds to me, based on your episodic experience as you describe them, that you are in a form of presyncope, but without the typical sensation that you are about to faint (or you simply forget later when you are more conscious that you actually were sensing it...). Atrial flutter is probably not the issue here as a heart in AFl usually wants to stay in AFl. Atrial fibrillation is a distinct possibility, as is supraventricular tachycardia. PACs and PVCs don't normally cause the sensations you describe, although we're each individuals with individual reactions to bodily functions/malfunctions.

If I were you, with everything you have related in your original post, including your cardiologist's apparent indifference, I would seek advice and diagnosis further afield. I think you need a 24/7 monitoring device and you should wear it probably for a full week while doing everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) you do during a typical week with all its routines and cycles. You do not want to fall and injure yourself, certainly not hit your head on the floor....that's never good. Secondly, knowing what I know about heart arrhythmias after years of learning, I would ask a ('nuther) cardiologist if you shouldn't be on a DOAC...just in case (Direct Oral Anti-Coagulant). If it turns out to be AF, there is a generally unacceptable risk of stroke due to blood pooling and 'going stale' in the left atrial appendage (LAA), a small grotto-like space at upper left of the left atrium. If that blood stagnates and begins to clot while you are in AF, the return to NSR will possibly/often dislodge the clot and it will be pumped into the left ventricle and up the aorta to be sent to some place where it will cause a loss of blood supply and result in local tissue death. In the heart, the lungs, or in the brain.............................................

Did you possible intend PACs vs 'AVCs'? PACs are generally innocuous unless their burden exceeds about 3%, at which the cardiologist/electrophysiologist will want more frequent monitoring to see if there is a progression. Above 8%, it generally merits an intervention, often an ablation.

It sounds to me, based on your episodic experience as you describe them, that you are in a form of presyncope, but without the typical sensation that you are about to faint (or you simply forget later when you are more conscious that you actually were sensing it...). Atrial flutter is probably not the issue here as a heart in AFl usually wants to stay in AFl. Atrial fibrillation is a distinct possibility, as is supraventricular tachycardia. PACs and PVCs don't normally cause the sensations you describe, although we're each individuals with individual reactions to bodily functions/malfunctions.

If I were you, with everything you have related in your original post, including your cardiologist's apparent indifference, I would seek advice and diagnosis further afield. I think you need a 24/7 monitoring device and you should wear it probably for a full week while doing everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) you do during a typical week with all its routines and cycles. You do not want to fall and injure yourself, certainly not hit your head on the floor....that's never good. Secondly, knowing what I know about heart arrhythmias after years of learning, I would ask a ('nuther) cardiologist if you shouldn't be on a DOAC...just in case (Direct Oral Anti-Coagulant). If it turns out to be AF, there is a generally unacceptable risk of stroke due to blood pooling and 'going stale' in the left atrial appendage (LAA), a small grotto-like space at upper left of the left atrium. If that blood stagnates and begins to clot while you are in AF, the return to NSR will possibly/often dislodge the clot and it will be pumped into the left ventricle and up the aorta to be sent to some place where it will cause a loss of blood supply and result in local tissue death. In the heart, the lungs, or in the brain.............................................

Thank you for your detailed reply. The episode I described on the Peloton was a one-off. There have been many times (after heavy exercising, where my heart rate was high) I experienced a short (several minutes) feeling of confusion, where I try to remember something, and I'm unable. This feeling only last for a few minutes. I wore a holter monitor recently (intended for a week) but reacted to the gel that was used to adhere it to my skin, so I had to remove it after 3 days. The cardiologist said there was enough information, and there were "no concerning findings." When I showed her a ECG from my Apple Watch, she said, "those are AVCs". I'm on 25mg of Metoprolol in the a.m. I wish I could attach a recent reading from my watch, which according to "Dr. Google" looks like ventricular tachycardia. I don't know if the two are related, but I definitely correlate these "feelings" with my heart rate - 100%. It sounds like from you reply that you're either an MD or have done more research than them. In your laymen's opinion, do you think it would be worthwhile seeing an Electrophysiologist? My neurologist wants me to have an MRI with contrast. (He's looking for epileptiform activity.)