Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group

Hi.

I'm Rita. I have had A-fib since 2016. Today I was diagnosed with A-flutter. I am looking for others who have walked this journey and will remind me to never give up.

I am grateful you are here, and that I can find a support group like this.

Grateful for you,
Rita

I told the ER doctor about my heart rate going up when exercising. He did not tell me to limit anything or make any changes. My PCP has been useless. I finally see a cardiologist in December. I am reading the book "You Are The Placebo" by Joe Dispenza as I firmly believe that our thoughts and emotions can heal the body, and I'm learning to meditate more intentionally.
After all my tests came back normal when I went to the ER, the doctor said it was okay for me to get on a plane the next day and fly to 4 day conference. As of now, absolutely no guidance or advice from doctors.

In my experience doctors don't get into suggestions of what to give up unless we present an activity as a trigger. Will you be telling the MD what activities seem to trigger problems with your heart rate?

I like the book "The Afib Cure" by John Day and another cardiologist. Some of it might apply to SVT. They do focus on giving up triggers in order to avoid meds, but of course also write about those who need meds after those efforts.

Acceptance of limitations is tough. I can walk 10 miles in a day but can barely lift a seltzer bottle. I have osteoporosis too with fractures. You are lucky to still be lifting. But a PT may be able to help you find alternatives to help bones.

Thank you for your suggestions. I do have an Apple watch and I use it to record mu HR when I walk, swim or workout. I actually love to exercise and strength training is very important for bone health as well so I don't plan on giving it up. I do walk a lot, bike ride, swim, and garden. I'm active and not about to give that up! None of the doctors I have seen so far (internal medicine and ER doctor) have suggested I give up strength training or suggested any lifestyle changes! I'm back in the gym and my HR has stayed under 120. However, just walking my dog for 30 minutes can also result in my heart rate pushing 120, so I don't think it's the weights. There's something else going on that just hasn't been diagnosed yet.

@maggie8358 can you try not working out/lifting weights? For me, lifting can be a trigger for afib and rapid heart rate. So it may not even be the exertion: it could be the physical act of lifting weight.

The suggestions above are excellent and having a longer patch monitor and also having a smartwatch or Kardia device will provide information, as will a stress test.

But I do wonder if changing your activity would help. I get a good work out with tai chi and the added benefit is lower stress!

Questions are:

What is your current protocol for dealing with possible paroxysmal or transient arrhythmias where a recent ECG showed no apparent anomaly? You'll want some kind of positive indication that he/she will want you on a monitor like a Loop Recorder that you will have for some time that will have a record over weeks, not a few days. Also, you'll want to hear that he/she will not be averse to exercise, or if he/she is, to what target zone should you try to take your heart?

Would he/she attempt a stress test, possibly a MIBI stress test with contrast and CT scan?

Is ischemia a potential culprit? If so, how would he/she recommend a definitive assessment? Angiogram, Doppler, MIBI...?

Should you be on a statin if you are not already? Why? Are your lipids in a good ratio, triglycerides in normal range?

The thing is, maggie, you are intermittently in tachycardia, and apparently mostly/only during exercise of a certain intensity or type. It could be that you will simply have to desist if you don't want interventions of any kind, whether drugs or some kind of intrusive diagnostic (MIBI and angiography).

Secondly, you really do want to nail down what KIND of tachycardia it is. If it is ventricular, it must be dealt with aggressively. If it's supraventricular (meaning originates and takes place above the ventricles), then it's only worrisome to the extent that you don't like how it feels, you don't like the not knowing, you don't like the potential for progression (yes, arrhythmias tend to progress) and what an evolution to a more intractable type of arrhythmia means for morbidity. Yours.

Lastly, how does your cardiologist feel about catheter ablation if that procedure is ever indicated? Will he/she refer you to a (really crackerjack) electrophysiologist, a specialist in electrical conductivity and disorders of the myocardium? If you are highly symptomatic, and would like this nipped as soon as possible, then you should get into line for an EP as soon as he/she can refer you to one. A good one. A very busy, highly sought one. If you know somebody in the health sciences locally, ask that person to sleuth around for a great EP, but be open to traveling at least a full days' drive if that person is not local. You want THE BEST!!