Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group

Hi. I have been diagnosed with Atrial Flutter on Sept. 10th. My pulse was 146. I went to ER and was kept in observation for 48 hours. I will see the cardiologist's PA for a follow up on the 28th. I am taking Eliquis 5 mgs. 2x a day and Metoprolol 50 mg. at night.

THere wasa nother book I read about a guy named scoggins ex NAvy who would do these ultra marathon events - 150 mi run etc -Can't Hurt Me. HE was also floored by Afib at a fairly young age. I'm in a group of cyclists whpo have been riding together for years We're not racers just out to enjoy nature while riding bikes. 3 of 4 of us have Afib. I was ablated 9 yrs ago and was Afib free for about 3 yrs before i began to experience short manageable bouts plus lots of ectopic beats : these seem to get worse when I cycled. Anyway the spells got longer this year necessitating several trips to ER for electroconversion. I'm now 4 weeks past a Covergent procedure and looking forward to an Afib free future. Ill be back onthe bike soon

@chickenfarmer - Thank you. One of the first things I did was read The Haywire Heart, recommended to me by a friend of a friend who was scheduled for an ablation. He, also, in his 70's, had been a long-term endurance athlete and Afib and another arrhythmia and said my life-long history of serious endurance training plus atrial flutter and Afib seemed to be in the category of long-term endurance athletes. The physiologist at the January 2024 stress test who took my background info on exercise, diet, ... said the presence of arrhythmias in serious (year-after-year, high-volume training miles) in long-term endurance athletes was discovered roughly 15 years prior and that kicked off a large research effort into this finding leading to many relevant published papers.
Since the cardio version removed the a-flutter and Afib, I've not pursued an ablation, but had been considering it. I had meant to include The Haywire Heart in my post, but forgot. It is definitely a valuable read in my view; authors being cardiac electrophysiologist with cardiac arrhythmia, world-class cyclist with cardiac arrhythmia and the scientist who discovered these arrhythmias in long-term endurance athletes, by chance. Plus, many case studies described. Thanks for mentioning this book, reminding me of it!

@favoritepitchcheck out The Haywire Heart it reports in detail the heart rhythm issues for ultra endurance athletes Tour de France riders are 5x more likely to develop Sfib

https://academic.oup.com/eurheartj/article/45/5/346/7473265
You may already have found this or similar articles, so your suspicion that the leads might have caused deterioration in the function of the leaflets seems spot on. It might not be true in your case, but your suspicion or concern is not misplaced. Surprised the heck outta me that the two were linked. I'm learning all the time, as are you. Unfortunately, I have no experience or learning about this, so I hope someone chimes in pretty quickly.

I was diagnosed with ARVC in June 2020. An ICD defibrillator was implanted. I started Flecainide a few years ago which helped as I had had 2 episodes of tachy which were treated by an ICD discharge.
I had an ablation (inside and outside of heart) in May 2026 which had complications. 2 punctures to my R ventricle and followed by several weeks of terrible Afib possibly due to the inflammation post ablation.

I am recently told that I have a severely leaky tri cuspid valve which is currently being evaluated. Possibly due to ICD leads?

I’m a 64 yo female with care here at Mayo Rochester.

I value this support, which I have not sought until now.

@gloaming Thank you so much they did tell me yesterday to cut it to 12.5 a day and then eventually wean off because my heart rate is staying in the 50s and 60s I appreciate it!

@hikemtpark2 This does help thank you so much. I did get to see the cardiologist yesterday and she said that I could go down to just 12.5 metoprol tartrate a day and then hopefully wean off. I do have the pocket pill if I were to go into AF. But even without the metoprol my heart rate has been staying in the 50s and 60s, Exactly what I've been praying for.

@kathigg my protocol was Metropol ER 25 mg 1X day and 100 mg of flecainide 2X day every day for intermittent a fib. I get several episodes a year and sometimes they go on 24 hours and I really need the Metropole when I'm having an episode to get my heart rate down to about 110 from 160. When I was taking Metropol daily, I was using Metropol extended release and my blood pressure was dipping way too low like 90/45 and I was advised to just take the Metropol as needed when I get an AF episode. My protocol now is I am still on flecainide twice a day, and I take a Metropol TARTRATE 25 mg, the fast acting Metropol, and brings my heart rate down a lot sooner than the extended release did. I don't know if it's helpful, but metoprolol extended release on a daily basis dropped my blood pressure way too low so I take it only when I get AF now, and the tartrate version is extremely helpful lowering heart rate during an AF episode.

I'm Jerry (@favoritepitch), 76 next month, early 2024 I ended up in the hospital 3 times for heart-related. No previous heart conditions though advised to start a low-dose statin at least a decade ago; didn't start but made some dietary changes; exercise was already way above average. Been feeling strange sensations in clavicle areas bilaterally, but attributed it to changes in exercise regiment. Jan 2024 at a wellness visit with PCP, after hearing of my reported (clavicle-area sensations and lightheadedness a couple days prior), hooked me to an EKG, reported that my usually around 50bpm HR was at 117 while sitting and displayed atril flutter; he rushed me to the nearest, best heart hospital. Treated for a-flutter in ER via medications, transferred to a unit and next day medication-induced stress test; cardiologist later reported scans looked "pretty good, no significant blockages." Prior to stress test, the physiologist specializing in cardiology took diet and exercise history. He said my history of serious endurance training (at least 50 years; soccer (college), mile runner and x-country in 9-12th grades, and high-volume cardio training for road-racing at 10Km to marathons, indicated research from the previous 15 years indicated I fall squarely in the category of long-term, endurance athletes who end up with cardiac arrhythmia(s) - in my case both a-flutter & then a-Fib. Discharged with various meds to continue. Four weeks later rushed to hospital with an MI; angioplasty and stent (thank you doc!). Four weeks after the MI my cardiologist was with me for a scheduled electro-cardioversion at "heart" hospital where I'd been rushed two months earlier. Cardioversion removed a-flutter and a-fib; 5 minutes from being discharged from hospital that same day, I was overcome with a feeling of something bad is happening to me. Shouted for help that I was "going down" and immediately flat-lined, was brought back, flat-lined again, brought back and rushed to emergency surgery for temporary pacemaker (thank you doc! - my cardiologist, for a second time within 8 weeks). Cardiac electro-physiologist (EP) came to me and said there were options, but her diagnosis was I had sick sinus syndrome (severe underlying conduction problem) that had been masked by my a-flutter and the cardioversion's removal of the a-flutter and a-fib enabled the SSS to "take over" causing the flatlining to happen (about two hours post-cardioversion). The EP strongly recommended I not leave the hospital without a permanent pacemaker. Got the pacemaker around 8-9pm that day. Between the pacemaker and the meds (especially metoprolol), my exercise has been cut back immensely though - not exceeding 70-75% max HR since then - March 2024. But thankful to be alive and able to exercise even at this level. I want to learn as much as I can about SSS: how is it diagnosed with certainty? what are the metrics, methods, and tests underpinning the diagnostics? I understand it is not curable. Will exercise actually accelerate further deterioration of the sino-atrial node and therefore SSS? And other related questions to SSS including could electro-cardioversion have caused damage to my sino-atrial node or other parts of my heart causing the "severe underlying conduction problem?" Grateful to be a part of this community at Mayo, to learn and share. 9/15/2026