Caffeine,Albuterol,slight dehydration and race pace bike ride= 2 night stay @ Hospital

Wow,
went on training ride Saturday,had my usual coffee about 2 hrs before I took off.
30 min into the ride pushing it pretty hard to stay with the guys ( I did ),all of the sudden my hear rate went pretty irratic and felt faint.Slowed down a bit pushed fluids,kept on riding,we took a 10 min break but heart rate didn’t really slow down at all.Went home and ya I ran 5 miles after.Was home for about an hr couldn’t relax,hear rate was still about 120 (resting is 48).
Went to Urgent care center,where Ekg and Rhythm strips were normal but my cardiac enzymes were somewhat elevated.They did come down later that night,but was admitted as an inpatient for observation.My Echocardiogram was normal,the cardia lite with stress test was normal…
So, now I’ll see a Cardiologist specializing in electrophysiology,to r/o poss.Arrythmia.I guess I shouldn’t take it too lighthearted,untill Friday, I was told no exercise.Hmm,since my stress test was normal and I almost broke the treadmill,wouldn’t you think I can exercise.Would you or just not do anything at all?
I’m playing with the thoughts of taking it “easy” at the gym,low intensity etc.

If you were told no exercise, what do you not understand about this?

Dave

Well,I had the stress test done which was normal…I’m struggling with the “no exercise”…What would you do?

Read the thread about the cyclist killed in Chicago. Use some common sense and listen to your Dr.

If a doc told me no exercise, I would follow the orders! Messing around with the heart is not worth the risk.
Now, did I misread your post and it was not a doc who told you not to exercise.

Dave

What else are they going to do to determine what happened? Maybe an electrophysiological study? I would follow your doctor’s advice until you know what caused your episode.

When your heart rate went suddenly erratic - was it racing or irregular? How fast at that point?

When your HR was still 120 after 1 hr - was it regular or still erratic?

What was your rhythm on arrival to the urgent care (on EKG or monitor) and what was your heart rate?

When you say your cardiac enzymes were sl. elevated - which ones and how high?

How does the albuterol come into play? How many puffs? Do you regularly take albuterol?

What is your age?

How did you do on your 5 mile run?

What has your recent training looked like? Been sick recently?

Dave

P.S. rest 100% until you know more. No exercise at all.

If you were my patient (and you’re not) I’d tell you you are out of your mind to consider exercising right now.

Wait and go through the whole workup.

(The Other) Dr. Phil

Two nights?!! Assuming you live in the USA that is a very long time, so they must have been concerned about something. When I had an abnormal heart beat I stopped exercise and by the time my appointments came around, it was always back to normal.

You didn’t expand on the role that Albuterol played in the story.

But if I were you, I’d have popped something to keep my heart rate down while I am on that stuff.

Then you should be able to make a beeline around the ER, and stuff…

Very similar thing happened to me a few months ago… 1x max effort run over 10mins = 24hrs in hospital. During the run I became faint and then bang, I was down. I had done this exact run many times before at this intensity with no problems. My heart was about to explode out of my chest the whole time, with my HR over 130 for two hours after stopping (RHR is 42.) Blood tests revealed Liver and kidney function was bad, blood glucose of 13 (very high) protein in urine, but ECG was normal.

The doc at the ER told me to not exercise until I had a conclusive answer. Since no-one could give me a conclusive answer, 10 days later I went for a run and it happened again on a mini scale.

Don’t underestimate the massive stress this episode has had on your body like I did. I’m back at 100% now but my recovery would have been alot quicker if I had listened to the Docs!

…hmm…to me is appears that your uncontrolled asthma is to blame…you should see a new doc. Albuterol is an “emergency” medicine and not for regular use, because…of what happened to you…and it’s a beta agonist which causes this…AMAZING.

…hmm…to me is appears that your uncontrolled asthma is to blame…you should see a new doc. Albuterol is an “emergency” medicine and not for regular use, because…of what happened to you…and it’s a beta agonist which causes this…AMAZING.

No ,my Asthma is NOt out of control,I have exercise induced Asthma,never had a real problem with sob except when I have a cold or major allergy issues,but was told to use it before I exercise.
I think it was a combination of the Inhaler,the coffeine,some dehydration (was traveling 2 days before ).I ran hill intervals on Torrey Pines State Park (inside ) recently,that would have caused the same issue.
The reason why I had to stay 2 nights was simply,because no appt were avail untill Monday am,for the echo and stresstest.
My max hbpm was 174 on the treadmill 14.38 min.
Anyway all I wanted to know was, if you people on Slowtwitch would go on a easy work out with everything being normal…Obviously NOT so I’ll take it to heart and wait untill after my appt on Friday.

I had a very similar experience at Vineman a couple of years ago about 15 miles into the bike. Going fine and all of sudden my HR went up to about 220, I felt faint, and extrmely fatigued - but no symptoms that would indicate a heart attack. I got off my bike and my heart rate returned to normal after about 5 minutes. I was fine for about 30 minutes and it happened again. Finally got a ride back with the support team right at about mile 30. When I got to the medical tent, the doc said I was dehydrated, gave me some Gatorade, and sent me home. My doctor at home was not happy the next day - he said the best time to diagnose something like that is when it was actually happening. Over six months I had an exercise EKG, several holter monitor tests, echo cardiagram, etc. and everything was fine. Finally, it happened once when I just happened to be at the doctors office. They took me next door to the hospital where they diagnosed me with Afib. Tried several CCB’s and finally found one that didn’t alter my heart rate too much. I take that and always carry an anti arythmic drug - finished two Vineman races since (with my cardiologist’s permission). I can’t say what is happening in your case, but I know from experience that it can be very difficult to diagnose. Good Luck.

Well, I had my appt with the cardiologist,specializing in electrophysiology,today.He couldn’t find anything wrong,from all the tests being done.So, for the next month I will have to carry a cardio beeper with my.I can record my heart with this “beeper” and then transmit via phone the recording.I am cleared to train and race.I will stay away from GU’s with caffeine and started to drink decaff.
He will have me get a bloodtest done 1 day before Cali 70.3 and then about 12 or more hrs later,to see how it would affect my heart,by checking on the cardiac enzymes.
Are there any studies that helps us to find out if there is a chance of permanent heartdamage due to excessive exercising?For someone who in general has a healthy heart?

“I’m just having a blast!”

That may be very well your last words.

I’m 55. I drink two cups of coffee in the morning and take(puff) Serevent, Pulmicort. Just before I race tri’s, marathons, or surf I’ll also take 1 puff of Albuterol. I’ve been doing this for years. I have never had a problem. My point is, sounds like you have something else going on. Be safe do as the doc said.

As daveinmammoth posted you are missing some key info.
You got some free advice from Dr Dave and Dr Phil…

Take some time off and come back stronger then ever:)

Good luck!

Change your doctor.

Honestly, if you don’t trust him enough, not to second gues his advice on an non-medical internet forum, the minimum trust for a productive doctor-patient relationship is not there.

Find a doctor you trust and do what he/she recommends.

My God,are there any positive thinking people on this side…I’m not second guessing at all.I had every test possible,had 3 cardiologist examining me,reviewing the test results the fourt one being the arrythmia specialist.The cardio beeper is the last thing they want me to do,since everything else is great.he said he would need to do some research and actually find some real hard data if prolonged extreme exercising can be damging to our hearts.There are former Ironman competitors walking around with Pacemakers now,right?
I see the glass half full,yours is half empty.

Honestly, if you don’t trust him enough, not to second gues his advice on an non-medical internet forum, the minimum trust for a productive doctor-patient relationship is not there.

I don’t think it’s about trust. I think people in general post subjects like this as a way to cope. The OP is four weeks out from a 70.3 so it helps to talk/post for some.

Anyway, I agree diagnosis by ST is not the best, but there are some knowledgeable posters:)