I had this issue as a swimmer in college. I was going into military flight training and had to go to the Air Force Academy for a flight physical. At first, the medics couldn't even get a pulse on me. Then they did an EKG. Then I got called in to see a doctor. He asked me, "How long have you had this heart problem?" I guess my jaw just about hit the floor. He asked a little about my history, lifestyle, etc. He then told me to come back in 2 weeks for a treadmill test. Once I got on the treadmil, started running, and got my heart rate up a little--Boom, perfect sinus rhythm. They mumbled something about "athletes heart" and gave me an up check on my physical.

Just to make sure, maybe you should ask for a treadmill test.

Glad you are OK! It's scary to think there's something wrong with your heart. i went thru something similar. I started having frequent palpitations a few weeks after finishing my marathon. this went on for about a week or 2 and they were getting worse and worse. Very frequent. I felt like I was filled with adrenalin....nervous energy....fluttering heart. I had a bunch of EKGs, a 24 hr holter, and an echo.

The EKGs were a little weird, the holter showed some PVCs, and the echo wasn't well-reported, so they sent me to UM (Miami, though) Medical to see a Cardiologist expert. She initially thought I had MVP (mitrial valve prolapse), but when I had a stress echo done, it turned out that everything was fine. Not only that, but I now hold their treadmill endurance record for taking the longest time to get up to the required % of max heart rate (they don't really see a lot of athletes there!). They were apparently quite impressed with my heart, and I was just relieved to be OK. Apparently, athletic heart syndrome isn't very common in women, but she said I'm a textbook example...

I tend to get minor palpitations (PVC's) from time to time, but it usually seems to be the week before my period. Apparently, extra progresterone can trigger palpitations.

lots of discussions recently on the high incidents of Atrial Fibrulation (sp?) in highly trained endurance athletes...it seems like a pretty serious potential problem for us endurance folks....

"...I now hold their treadmill endurance record for taking the longest time to get up to the required % of max heart rate (they don't really see a lot of athletes there!). They were apparently quite impressed with my heart..."

I got my last treadmill test done at the VA medical clinic here and got the same reaction. Average client there--age 65+, smoker, drinker (alcoholic), obese, etc.

Last year I went to the doctor for a prescription refill and they wouldn't give me it because they said I had not had a checkup in years. So I had to meet with the doctor just to get a stupid refill. They took my blood pressure and said it was high. I said "that's odd, I am a runner and have always had low BP". So they did an EKG and the machine spit out the paper with squiggly lines and the test result said "Abnormal". I was paranoid as hell that I could drop dead any second! I was referred to see a cardiologist and their EKG also detected something abnormal. Then I had an echocardiogram and they said my heart muscle is so strong that it mimics someone with heart problems because some heart problems cause parts of the heart to pump too hard and over time build up the wall of the heart. With me, it was 5 marathons in one year. They said I had "athletic heart" and they didn't find anything wrong in the echocardiogram. It's just that the average American is so fat and lazy (can I add stupid?) that when an athlete walks in the door of the doctor's office, their equipment isn't use to seeing what it sees. You are probably fine. Just see a doctor to confirm.

I went through a similar situation after IMFL last year. I wasn't aware that athletic heart syndrome was associated with chest pain. In my case it turned out to be gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) which can present with chest pain. If the problem continues, you may want to be evaluated for this.

These kinds of issues are exactly why I changed Dr's from the "grey-hair, kindly country Dr." to a Sports Medicine specialist when I had decided to move into Ironman training. My previous doctor readily admitted he had no other athletes as patients, and didn't have the education or experience I would need.

Fast forward to my new Dr. who identified AHS pretty quickly, without a lot of fuss and caught a MVP. In my case, the video of the 2-D echo clearly showed MVP.

I'm really lucky I was able to choose a Dr. who has knows his stuff when it comes to athlete's needs.

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gbassett.com

I had an EKG and the nurse told me that I was either "near death" or in incredibly good shape based on my low heart rate. It was an easy call.

"You know you are getting old when you see your father in the mirror." anon.

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Dean Wilson
http://www.anaerobiczone.com
Bicycle Protection Indoors & Out

Yes. There have been discussions on this, Atrial Fib, Sick Sinus etc. Our hearts may look incredibly healthy but I have some concern about what I've read on other threads here and elsewhere. There appears to be evidence that over time this can lead to electrical conductivity problems in some requiring pacemakers, etc.

What is your training history? Also how old are you and what is your past medical history?

Where your heart enzymes elevated?

Without having anymore details it sounds like you got an unnecessary and very dangerous procedure done.

This stuff shouldn't be taken too lightly.

I'm 47, 6'1", 180 lbs, <9% body fat. Ran 10k's in my thirties in the 35-37 min range (not too shabby for a 170 to 180 pounder). I can still hold well over 300 watts on the bike for an hour. No history of health problems. Resting HR as low as the upper thirties when well trained.

Until recently, never diagnosed with even a murmur and I still feel fantastic with no symptoms at rest or during exercise. My heart muscle is as strong as ever and my coronary arteries are like fire hoses.

However, I am facing open heart surgery sometime during the next couple of months to replace an aortic root dilated to 5.4 cm and to fix a mitral valve prolapse w/ moderate to severe regurgitation.

If it weren't for some dumb luck and modern medical technology, I would be going through life in blissful happiness until one day I became the next John Ritter as my aorta ruptured or disected.

Just because you're in shape does not make you bullet proof.

I'm 33 years old and my training has been very consistent since last year. I did IM Moo and two marathon. I took one week off after the IM then went right back at it. I think I was roto router out so quick because I have a huge family history of CAD ,high blood pressure, high chol, and MI at young ages and I also had elevated enzyme.

I had a very similar occurrence 3 years ago. I work as a PA (Physician Assistant) in the Emergency Room and I was on the job when I came back from lunch and started having chest pain. For approximately 1 week leading up to that day, I had been experiencing some chest pain, mainly after eating (commonly referred to as post-prandial chest pain/possibly ischemia). Being knowledgeable as I am, I think the worst but I keep blowing it off. I bargain with myself and rationalize with myself and tell myself things like, "36 year olds don't have heart attacks but when they do, they have the big one because their heart hasn't had time to develop collateral circulation around the blockage(s). Well, the female doc that I'm working with sees me bending over and holding my chest and asks me if I'm ok. I tell her, "Yea, I'm just having a little chest pain but I don't think it's anything to worry about." Less than 5 minutes later I get one of the nurses to do a 12 lead EKG on me and she then gets this worried look on her face. I look at the 12 lead EKG myself and it shows ST-segment elevation in the inferior leads (II, III, and AVF). Bear in mind I just had my first child less than one month ago and just moved into the house we had been building for almost a year. Life couldn't have been better and now I see my life pass in front of me. I say to myself, "Shit! I'm having a heart attack!" I'm thinking I'm never gonna see my little girl again. I'm never gonna see my wife again." "Who's gonna pay for this house we just built?" Now the nurses, doctor, and ancillary personnel are on me like flys on stink. I don't feel well, I'm getting pasty looking, and I'm looking up at the monitor and my blood pressure is dropping and my heart rate is increasing. I'm now convinced that I'm on my way out. Sublingual nitroglycerin not helping and now I feel like a noose is being applied around my neck. Next comes the IV morphine and still no relief. Now the grim reaper is standing over me with his sickle. My favorite invasive cardiologist just happens to be passing by the ER and now he's at my bedside tending to me. He decides that we ought to go to the cardiac cath. lab urgently. Within minutes I'm on the cath. lab table and now I'm really scared. I remember how freakin' cold they kept the cath lab. I was shivering so badly they had to give me Demerol and Ativan so that I'd stop shaking. Knock on wood, I wasn't having a heart attack and my coronary arteries were wide open and pristine. It just so happens to be that my signature EKG shows slight ST segment elevation which was still present 2 weeks later when I was pain free. Turns out, the week leading up to the development of my chest pain I was doing alot of heavy lifting of trees we were planting and furniture I was moving. It sure is nice having the reassurance of a negative cardiac cath as I'm out there pushing my AT on a regular basis. Downside of this negative cardiac cath is that it has been a task trying to get someone to insure me. Go figure, triathlete with clean coronary arteries can't get health insurance because he's not gonna die from an MI (heart attack) anytime soon.

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Team Endurance Nation

Wow - great story. Well written, but scary. I think I'm going to stay away from my colleagues for a while.

I will add though that I recently had a "physical" (not really, nurse comes by the house, gets blood, urine and EKG) for a large life insurance policy on me (1.5 million).

My wife gets the same physical (minus the EKG). Both 35, non-smokers, etc.

She gets the top tier rating, and I'm the second tier - Why I ask since I'm the healthiest person I know? I don't weight enough (5-10, 158) and heart rate too low 39 resting I was told.

The dumb fat Americans are now adjusting "normal" so far to the right, the acturaries are getting involved!

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Fatigue is biochemical, not biomechanical.
- Andrew Coggan, PhD

WARNING: SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC

Hey QuintanaRooster, I'm attempting a dramatic career move from the bike industry to Health Care (applying to Medical school next year), and I'm trying to get my foot in the door. Wondering how you got a job as a Physician Assistant. It sounds like a fabulous opportunity to get more experience in the medical profession.



Any advice would be much appreciated!

cheers, jane

I really think there's something wrong with a medical community that calls something a "syndrome" (something with usually a bod connotation) and then says it's "better than good."

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Some are born to move the world to live their fantasies...

https://triomultisport.com/
http://www.mjolnircycles.com/

I'm sure you would get mixed opinions from the medical community on whether AHS is truly "better than good".

Thank you... couldn't have said it better!

I had a similar situation at the VA here in Orlando. They took my ekg and while the machine was running the nurse popped up and ran out of the room. I could hear her saying "Need a doctor, stat!" So, 3 of them came running in. What caused all this consternation? My pulse rate was 37 bpm at age 60. I told them I ran "a bit". :) So, they scheduled a thallium stress test just to be sure. The doctor pulled the plug on the treadmill at 155 bpm after asking me how I felt. I told him I could run for another hour at this pace. :) My recovery rate line was almost a vertical drop and my arteries were clear as a bell. In retrospect I'm glad I went through all of it because with all my sports injuries one never knows... Nothing like a little peace of mind.

I agree that going to a sports cardio guy is the best idea. But, at the VA you takes what ya' gets. :)

-Robert

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"How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world." ~Anne Frank