Re: Running after being cured of A-Fib

[Guest guest]

Way to go Steve!

I'm an afiber, 46 with a pacemaker. I'm using Acebutolol which works only

some of the time. Anyhow, I'm an avid runner (20 miles a week at present),

endurance swimmer and triathlete. This afib thing has been a bear but I'm

fighting it all the way. I ran this evening just at sunset; chilly, clear and

windy. Man, it felt good to be " moving " and alive. It was great to hear of

your success and an inspiration to me (and I'm sure others.) Keep training

and Carpe Diem.

Bruce in NC

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/2/2002 7:28:04 PM Central Standard Time,

bbaug15933@... writes:

> I'm an afiber, 46 with a pacemaker

Bruce

I'm curious about the pacemaker, did the doctors destroy your sinus node and

the pacemaker controls your heart rate or is it used to restore NSR when in

afib?

If it controls your heart rate how does your heart react to demand for more

blood during exercise?

Guy

[Guest guest]

Hey Guy,

Good question. No, I did not have a SN ablation; nor did/do I want one As a

result I am not pacemaker dependent. And no, unfortunately, the pacer does

not control the sinus rhythm. If it did, more people would probably opt for

it. In my case I have what is called Sick Sinus Syndrome. " Occasionally " my

heart will " pause " too long between beats; the potential being that it

doesn't beat again and, well you get the picture. Like many others, I have

tried several meds to keep me in NSR (which haven't worked consistently).

Before the pacer I had a very low heart rate due to many years of endurance

type sports. I have heard that AFIB and Sick Sinus are very common in people

with similar lifestyles. My heart rate won't drop below 60 now with the pacer

but there is no upper limit. I regularly exceed 180bpm while training. Hope

this helps. What's your situation. Take care. Bruce

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/4/2002 5:05:18 PM Central Standard Time,

bbaug15933@... writes:

> Hey Guy,

> Good question. No, I did not have a SN ablation; nor did/do I want one As a

>

> result I am not pacemaker dependent. And no, unfortunately, the pacer does

>

Thanks for the reply Bruce.

I am 67 years old and a fairly serious bicyclist, I have logged over 2000

miles the last 2 years and enjoy organized tours like the one up the western

shore of Mich., 388 miles. I raced for a couple of years but after a couple

of crashes decided I was getting to old to heal quickly, it also hurt. I also

play tennis twice a week.

My afib started in Mar, 2000, although in retrospect I had small episodes for

about a year earlier. I am the type that tries to ignore little physical

problems with the hope that excercise will fix it. My first return to NSR

after Mar 2000 was by cardioversion which only lasted 3 days, after that I

would go to the ER and be chemically converted with procainimide. I started

on atenalol after the cardiversion but without much sucess. I then tried

propafanone for a year but think it caused more problems than helping,I would

have episodes about every month but would convert without going to the ER.

But, after 6 mo I again had to go back to the ER for conversion. In April

this year I made my second trip to the Cleveland Clinic and they decided I

had enough heart disease that I shouldn't take the Type 1 antiarythmic

medecines and recommended sotalol, dofetilide or amiodarone. I didn't want to

spend 3 days in the hospital which is required for sotalol and dofetilide so

took my chances with amiodarone in spite of the dangerous side effects. So

far so good, I have had 4 episodes of afib since then, usually due to stress

or tiredness. Two were during this summers bike tour but always converted on

my own by increasing my heart rate.

I have high hopes that a drug with less severe side effects will come along

before the amiodarone catches up with me. Since I am very active on a not too

steady basis I am concerned that dofetilide might be hard to keep in the

proper dosage as my metabolism bounces around.

Sorry for the long answer to your " whats your situation? " question. Good luck

with your running.

Guy

[Guest guest]

what is your heart rate when you go into afib?

Regards, Ken

Re: Running after being cured of A-Fib

In a message dated 11/4/2002 5:05:18 PM Central Standard Time,

bbaug15933@... writes:

> Hey Guy,

> Good question. No, I did not have a SN ablation; nor did/do I want one As a

>

> result I am not pacemaker dependent. And no, unfortunately, the pacer does

>

Thanks for the reply Bruce.

I am 67 years old and a fairly serious bicyclist, I have logged over 2000

miles the last 2 years and enjoy organized tours like the one up the western

shore of Mich., 388 miles. I raced for a couple of years but after a couple

of crashes decided I was getting to old to heal quickly, it also hurt. I also

play tennis twice a week.

My afib started in Mar, 2000, although in retrospect I had small episodes for

about a year earlier. I am the type that tries to ignore little physical

problems with the hope that excercise will fix it. My first return to NSR

after Mar 2000 was by cardioversion which only lasted 3 days, after that I

would go to the ER and be chemically converted with procainimide. I started

on atenalol after the cardiversion but without much sucess. I then tried

propafanone for a year but think it caused more problems than helping,I would

have episodes about every month but would convert without going to the ER.

But, after 6 mo I again had to go back to the ER for conversion. In April

this year I made my second trip to the Cleveland Clinic and they decided I

had enough heart disease that I shouldn't take the Type 1 antiarythmic

medecines and recommended sotalol, dofetilide or amiodarone. I didn't want to

spend 3 days in the hospital which is required for sotalol and dofetilide so

took my chances with amiodarone in spite of the dangerous side effects. So

far so good, I have had 4 episodes of afib since then, usually due to stress

or tiredness. Two were during this summers bike tour but always converted on

my own by increasing my heart rate.

I have high hopes that a drug with less severe side effects will come along

before the amiodarone catches up with me. Since I am very active on a not too

steady basis I am concerned that dofetilide might be hard to keep in the

proper dosage as my metabolism bounces around.

Sorry for the long answer to your " whats your situation? " question. Good luck

with your running.

Guy

[Guest guest]

--- Isabelle wrote:

> Hello Bruce: I am a newly diagnosed afibber as of July of this

year. For some time now I wanted to know more about Sick Sinus

Syndrome since I had it, and you answered some of my questions.

However, I have led a very sedentary life and that is where we

differ. My average pulse is about 54 BP90/60. My doc wants me to

consider a pacemaker but I feel I am too young (65) for it. Today

while exercising at the Cardiac Rehab Center I got my pulse up to 80

bpm but after the exercise it went as low as 29 and bounced to 60

and 44,37 etc. ( I had eaten and was fairly well

hydrate.....Starting BP was l30/78) It really frightened me. Please

share more information with me, when you can. When I converted in

the hospital, 8 hours after a cardioversion and meds in the hospital

my heart paused 5 seconds and for 2 seconds one after the

other.....what is the significance of that?.....The nurse came

running in and I converted to nsr after the second pause(I also had

a big headache. Thank you, Isabelle. This week end I had atrial

tachycardia with a l.5 hour pause, after having some slow heart rate

periods earlier in the day.....but converted twice in 24 hours.

snip.................................................................

......................................................................

........................................................... In my

case I have what is called Sick Sinus Syndrome. " Occasionally " my

> heart will " pause " too long between beats; the potential being

that it doesn't beat again and, well you get the

picture..................................................

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/5/2002 3:04:05 PM Central Standard Time,

schw9883@... writes:

> what is your heart rate when you go into afib?

> Regards, Ken

>

My resting heart rate is in the low 50's to 46 depending on my conditioning,

I do a lot of biking in the summer. During afib it varies between 85 and 60

as measured by my meart rate monitor which has some averaging to it.

Guy

[Guest guest]

Guy,

I note that you are being treated at the Cleveland Clinic. I am 57 years old

and have been a serious runner for the past 20 years. I ran over 3000 miles in

2001. I have a pacemaker that is set at 60 BPM to make sure that my pulse does

not go below 60 BPM but has no effect on the upper limit of my heart rate. I

lived with A-fib for about 4 years before I had the pacemaker implanted. I had

a period of 17 months of NSR after the pacemaker was implanted in July of 2000

and had some of my best racing since I had turned 50 during that time period.

In 2003 I started to have much more frequent episodes of A-fib, once a month,

and had to be cardioverted back to NSR 3 times. I decided it was time to do

something about the problem this Summer and was able to schedule a Pulmonary

Vein Ablation with Dr Natale of the Cleveland Clinic in September of 2003. I am

currently 7 weeks out from the PVA. I had an episode of atrial flutter and then

a-fib 3 weeks after the procedure and was cardioverted 5 days after going into

the arrythmias. Since then I have had no heart rhythm problems. Last week I

came off of Lipator and Tiazac and this week I came off of Coumadin. I am

hopeful that I will be able to start back to some serious running soon.

With you being treated in the Cleveland Clinic, I would suggest that you look

into a PVA with Dr Natale. Dr Natale did my procedure in Marin County, CA.

Good luck,

Thanks for the reply Bruce.

I am 67 years old and a fairly serious bicyclist, I have logged over 2000

miles the last 2 years and enjoy organized tours like the one up the western

shore of Mich., 388 miles. I raced for a couple of years but after a couple of

crashes decided I was getting to old to heal quickly, it also hurt. I also play

tennis twice a week.

My afib started in Mar, 2000, although in retrospect I had small episodes for

about a year earlier. I am the type that tries to ignore little physical

problems with the hope that excercise will fix it. My first return to NSR after

Mar 2000 was by cardioversion which only lasted 3 days, after that I would go to

the ER and be chemically converted with procainimide. I started on atenalol

after the cardiversion but without much sucess. I then tried propafanone for a

year but think it caused more problems than helping,I would have episodes about

every month but would convert without going to the ER.

But, after 6 mo I again had to go back to the ER for conversion. In April this

year I made my second trip to the Cleveland Clinic and they decided I had enough

heart disease that I shouldn't take the Type 1 antiarythmic

medecines and recommended sotalol, dofetilide or amiodarone. I didn't want to

spend 3 days in the hospital which is required for sotalol and dofetilide so

took my chances with amiodarone in spite of the dangerous side effects. So far

so good, I have had 4 episodes of afib since then, usually due to stress or

tiredness. Two were during this summers bike tour but always converted on my own

by increasing my heart rate.

I have high hopes that a drug with less severe side effects will come along

before the amiodarone catches up with me. Since I am very active on a not too

steady basis I am concerned that dofetilide might be hard to keep in the proper

dosage as my metabolism bounces around.

Sorry for the long answer to your " whats your situation? " question. Good luck

with your running.

Guy

[Guest guest]

Guy,

I note that you are being treated at the Cleveland Clinic. I am 57 years old

and have been a serious runner for the past 20 years. I ran over 3000 miles in

2001. I have a pacemaker that is set at 60 BPM to make sure that my pulse does

not go below 60 BPM but has no effect on the upper limit of my heart rate. I

lived with A-fib for about 4 years before I had the pacemaker implanted. I had

a period of 17 months of NSR after the pacemaker was implanted in July of 2000

and had some of my best racing since I had turned 50 during that time period.

In 2003 I started to have much more frequent episodes of A-fib, once a month,

and had to be cardioverted back to NSR 3 times. I decided it was time to do

something about the problem this Summer and was able to schedule a Pulmonary

Vein Ablation with Dr Natale of the Cleveland Clinic in September of 2003. I am

currently 7 weeks out from the PVA. I had an episode of atrial flutter and then

a-fib 3 weeks after the procedure and was cardioverted 5 days after going into

the arrythmias. Since then I have had no heart rhythm problems. Last week I

came off of Lipator and Tiazac and this week I came off of Coumadin. I am

hopeful that I will be able to start back to some serious running soon.

With you being treated in the Cleveland Clinic, I would suggest that you look

into a PVA with Dr Natale. Dr Natale did my procedure in Marin County, CA.

Good luck,

Thanks for the reply Bruce.

I am 67 years old and a fairly serious bicyclist, I have logged over 2000

miles the last 2 years and enjoy organized tours like the one up the western

shore of Mich., 388 miles. I raced for a couple of years but after a couple of

crashes decided I was getting to old to heal quickly, it also hurt. I also play

tennis twice a week.

My afib started in Mar, 2000, although in retrospect I had small episodes for

about a year earlier. I am the type that tries to ignore little physical

problems with the hope that excercise will fix it. My first return to NSR after

Mar 2000 was by cardioversion which only lasted 3 days, after that I would go to

the ER and be chemically converted with procainimide. I started on atenalol

after the cardiversion but without much sucess. I then tried propafanone for a

year but think it caused more problems than helping,I would have episodes about

every month but would convert without going to the ER.

But, after 6 mo I again had to go back to the ER for conversion. In April this

year I made my second trip to the Cleveland Clinic and they decided I had enough

heart disease that I shouldn't take the Type 1 antiarythmic

medecines and recommended sotalol, dofetilide or amiodarone. I didn't want to

spend 3 days in the hospital which is required for sotalol and dofetilide so

took my chances with amiodarone in spite of the dangerous side effects. So far

so good, I have had 4 episodes of afib since then, usually due to stress or

tiredness. Two were during this summers bike tour but always converted on my own

by increasing my heart rate.

I have high hopes that a drug with less severe side effects will come along

before the amiodarone catches up with me. Since I am very active on a not too

steady basis I am concerned that dofetilide might be hard to keep in the proper

dosage as my metabolism bounces around.

Sorry for the long answer to your " whats your situation? " question. Good luck

with your running.

Guy

[Guest guest]

Guy,

I note that you are being treated at the Cleveland Clinic. I am 57 years old

and have been a serious runner for the past 20 years. I ran over 3000 miles in

2001. I have a pacemaker that is set at 60 BPM to make sure that my pulse does

not go below 60 BPM but has no effect on the upper limit of my heart rate. I

lived with A-fib for about 4 years before I had the pacemaker implanted. I had

a period of 17 months of NSR after the pacemaker was implanted in July of 2000

and had some of my best racing since I had turned 50 during that time period.

In 2003 I started to have much more frequent episodes of A-fib, once a month,

and had to be cardioverted back to NSR 3 times. I decided it was time to do

something about the problem this Summer and was able to schedule a Pulmonary

Vein Ablation with Dr Natale of the Cleveland Clinic in September of 2003. I am

currently 7 weeks out from the PVA. I had an episode of atrial flutter and then

a-fib 3 weeks after the procedure and was cardioverted 5 days after going into

the arrythmias. Since then I have had no heart rhythm problems. Last week I

came off of Lipator and Tiazac and this week I came off of Coumadin. I am

hopeful that I will be able to start back to some serious running soon.

With you being treated in the Cleveland Clinic, I would suggest that you look

into a PVA with Dr Natale. Dr Natale did my procedure in Marin County, CA.

Good luck,

Thanks for the reply Bruce.

I am 67 years old and a fairly serious bicyclist, I have logged over 2000

miles the last 2 years and enjoy organized tours like the one up the western

shore of Mich., 388 miles. I raced for a couple of years but after a couple of

crashes decided I was getting to old to heal quickly, it also hurt. I also play

tennis twice a week.

My afib started in Mar, 2000, although in retrospect I had small episodes for

about a year earlier. I am the type that tries to ignore little physical

problems with the hope that excercise will fix it. My first return to NSR after

Mar 2000 was by cardioversion which only lasted 3 days, after that I would go to

the ER and be chemically converted with procainimide. I started on atenalol

after the cardiversion but without much sucess. I then tried propafanone for a

year but think it caused more problems than helping,I would have episodes about

every month but would convert without going to the ER.

But, after 6 mo I again had to go back to the ER for conversion. In April this

year I made my second trip to the Cleveland Clinic and they decided I had enough

heart disease that I shouldn't take the Type 1 antiarythmic

medecines and recommended sotalol, dofetilide or amiodarone. I didn't want to

spend 3 days in the hospital which is required for sotalol and dofetilide so

took my chances with amiodarone in spite of the dangerous side effects. So far

so good, I have had 4 episodes of afib since then, usually due to stress or

tiredness. Two were during this summers bike tour but always converted on my own

by increasing my heart rate.

I have high hopes that a drug with less severe side effects will come along

before the amiodarone catches up with me. Since I am very active on a not too

steady basis I am concerned that dofetilide might be hard to keep in the proper

dosage as my metabolism bounces around.

Sorry for the long answer to your " whats your situation? " question. Good luck

with your running.

Guy