The past few months I’ve had some issues with an intermittent mild to moderate arrhythmia. I consulted cardiology but without much in the way of productive recommendations as it relates to exercise and training. Does anyone know of or have experience with a cardiologist in the Phoenix area that has an athletic background or athletic patient population?
I’d really appreciate any recommendations, since I’m quite frustrated at this point-
you need a cardiologist who specializes in electrophysiology. Google “electrophysiologist Phoenix”
Mike,
thanks for the suggestion. I actually saw an electrophysiologist who was less than helpful. I’m looking for someone who has worked with athletes or has an interest in this area.
Ok, I wanted to make sure you hadn’t seen a generally cardiology type. As for “athlete-centric” good luck, but you may not find one, even in a large metro area like that. Most folks with arrythmias aren’t athletic, and EP’s, just like any other doctor (or other professional), aren’t going to turn away patients, so each doctor’s patients’ profile will likely be similar to the population with that issue, which for arrythmias will be generally unhealthy.
Good luck to you though.
I think you just need to find a good EP who is willing to listen to you, even if their not “athlete specific”. I’ve also recently been dealing with a heart arrhythmia (SVT), that presents itself during some of my longer more intense workouts. My EP understands I’m an athlete and is honoring my request to avoid any medications that will inhibit my performance until we explore all other options. While a lot of the time arrhythmia does occurs in older individuals or people who don’t take good care of themselves, arrhythmia in athletes is not so uncommon. I’m sure there are a few EPs in your area who have dealt with them before. My doctor actually told me he currently had another patient about my age (24) who is a collegiate athlete and has a problem similar to mine. Unfortunately I’m not in the Phoenix area or I would recommend him to you. Best of luck in your search.
TCorr-
I agree, it’s just been rather frustrating to find a cardiologist who is willing to look beyond the fact that I’m not in active a-fib. The electrophysiologist just told me to “go have a good life”, which is great advice, but not when I can’t train without symptoms. I’m actually willing to travel if need be for a better diagnosis and treatment plan.
What are you doing for your SVT?
I understand the wanting to be able to train without symptoms. My SVT only acts up during exercise. This past season it cost me a lot of time in 3 of my races: an Oly, a HIM, and a marathon, not to mention all the training sessions cut short. I wore a cardiac event monitor for the marathon, and SVT kicked in right around mile 14. I finished the race in SVT (although much slower than I’d of liked) so the doc got lots of EKG tracings to review. Anyways, I said no meds, but he thinks there’s a reasonable chance he can ablate if he can induce the arrhythmia during an EP study. If so, this would hopefully be a permanent fix for my problem, so I have an EP study/ablation scheduled for mid January.
I know SVT and a-fib are two different animals, and from what I understand a-fib ablations take a lot more to recover from than SVT. My EP is at Ohio State University medical center (I’m a grad student here and my student insurance makes it outrageously cheap if I use the university hospital), but everyone says the best in the business are up the Cleveland Clinic. If you were looking to travel for treatment, I would recommend taking a look at them.