well, I was starting to wonder what was going on…nothing happens to me?
just have to ask…the last 3-4 days I have been feeling pretty tired and therefore used a bit more caffeine than usual…
got a few ectopic beats monday, more tuesday, more wed. and quite a bit today even during training…
so, as there are some cardio dudes here…
cut caffeine, relax and don’t worry about it?
go see a cardiologist again (for info I already did 2 years ago and last year, ECG, Holter, echocardio, stress test which just showed to PACs and got a couple of vagally mediated a-fibs , lone type and trigger is identified…everything was normal apart from the PACs)…
It’s probably nothing but it bugs the hell out of me each time that happens…
That’s when your heart beats out of synch for like 1-2 beats (one really slow, then a pause, then two fast ones or something similar), right? That happens to me sometimes (sometimes once a month, sometimes once a day). I got an echocardio and an EKG and my dad said there is nothing to worry about because it is something that is pretty common.
I can give you my dad’s email address if you want and he could answer any questions you might have. PM me if you’re interested.
I hope you don’t have to go through what I did. I had A Fib infrequently for many years but the last couple years it had come on more and more often. This past year I had it during my last 3 tris, so I couldn’t really push it. I should have stopped, actually. So I finally got catheter ablation in Dec and it seems to have done the trick so far though I haven’t put in any really hard workouts yet. Good luck with yours! Get it diagnosed so you know what you’re dealing with.
You’re fine. Unless you’re wheezing, your 94-95 saturation isn’t anything to worry about. Take a few really deep breaths, and your sat will probably jump up a couple of points. How are you calibrating your sat meter?
Caffeine, changes in workout routine, etc., all can be associated with some ectopy. You’ve been checked and cleared. The only time I’d get concerned is if you got into an atrial fibrillation rhythm, where your HR is constantly erratic for a long period of time. If that happens, take a couple of aspirin…yes, real aspirin, and go see if you need to be converted. Let me guess, Catholic, right? You know what I mean…
You know, it COULD be because of that new bike. Just to be safe, maybe you should send it to me…it could be possessed by something ectopicaly evil.
actually, I wouldn’t get an A-Fib during a race because mine are vagally mediated (slow HR, irregular…but slow) and always occur at rest (april 02, july 03)…besides they are always triggered when drinking something very cold too fast…so I just avoid this…
but these skipped beats bugs the hell out of me!
got everything diagnosed (lone a-fib, vagally mediated and premature atrial contractions)…the electrophysio said there was no reason for catherer ablation.
I guess I will relax on caffeine…avoid it for a few days altogether…
and Titan, you ain’t gettin’ me bike! (too small for ya anyway!)
How are your sleep habits? Reason I ask is for lst 35 years I have had PVC’s, palpatations, etc. Been looked at a million times, EKG’s, yesterday had another Echo, had nuclear stress test 6 weeks ago. Everytime I get the same answer: my heart is fine, slightly enlarged which is common for athletes, and the palpatations are just my heart re-starting itself. BUT, when I am tired - more so than usual - they occur more often. Like, all day, everyday until I get a good nite’s sleep. They go away when I’m running/cycling, but come back later in the day when my heart is more at rest. But if I workout when I am tired, i.e after a 3-4 hour sleep, I’m going to feel these things all day. Bugs the shit out of me, and worries me, too. Dr.'s say that athletes are more in tuned with their heartrates, so they feel PVC’s more, and that most people suffer the same things, but either are unaware or don’t care.
I was told the cardinal rule is if you have 6 PVCs per minute or less there is nothing to worry about. Any more than that go to the ER!! Don’t understand it, but I’ve been told the same thing over and over. I’m waiting for a cardiologist to review my Echo tests from the other day, and will have his comments by next Tuesday. 99% sure they are fine, but don’t you hate the feeling the missed beats give you? Does it affect your anxiety like it does mine? I take Ambien to sleep at nite, low dosage. But, I get sleep with it and don’t feel crappy in the morning.
I think mines are premature atrial contractions, not ventricular. Anyway, both PACs and PVCs seem to be common among endurance athletes.
But as you say, it really bugs the shit out of me!
For those who don’t know what it feels like…you have the impression you miss a beat, then a next one is stronger, and your stomach feels exactly like when you’re flying and the plane drops for a second or so…
really annoying…
I sometimes feels mine in training. Only in two particular situations…when I couldn’t go to the restroom and I am riding in very aero position, or when kicking (in particular dolphin kick). My Dr. has different hypotheses…
I have acid reflux disease (just because there are some stuff I really like to eat and shouldn’t…) and when my stomach’s upset I get more ectopic beats. Also, a possibility is a change in acid/base balance in your body,
something that shifts hemo/O2 dissociation, then lowers O2 sat, then ectopic beats…which is common with training or a change (lowering) in blood glucose levels…
without enough sleep, I definitely get them…
anyway, I am fairly sure the Drs i saw are good and told me the right thing, but it’s as if because it’s my heart that I can’t help thinking it’s bad…
I had one done in August 02, whilst occasionally I get funky readings on the HRM, to date I have not had a similar episode where I could feel my HR tanking along at 240+.
I am always concerned about spurious readings but to date its not been an issue.
I’m a doctor and I’ve had the same problem. I actually cut out caffeine (but I still eat chocolate) and I haven’t experienced it much anymore. I think I initally got it more because of anxiety than anything. My EKG showed PAC’s as well. My stress test was unremarkable and my echo was also normal.
From what you described, it sounds like the same thing that happened to you before possibly secondary to the increased caffiene intake. I’ll be honest, I can’t even think of anything that they would see today that would be different from two years ago. However, if it doesn’t go away with less caffeine and some relaxation, then you should probably run it by your doc. I don’t think he’ll repeat that previous battery of tests though, perhaps just another EKG.
For those who don’t know what it feels like…you have the impression you miss a beat, then a next one is stronger, and your stomach feels exactly like when you’re flying and the plane drops for a second or so…
I go through periods of getting these when I’m resting. For me I think it coincides with my cardiac fitness making rapid shifts up or down - say I mostly get them when I stop training for a while, or bump my training back up, as though they are caused by my system readjusting to the change in fitness. Therefore, nowadays when I get this when I’m training heavily I actually take it as a positive sign that the training is working!
My worst ever case of them was many years ago when I had them nonstop for about five minutes at the start of an exam. That was awful.
duncan donuts wrote: For me I think it coincides with my cardiac fitness making rapid shifts up or down - say I mostly get them when I stop training for a while, or bump my training back up, as though they are caused by my system readjusting to the change in fitness.
I’ve only heard a couple of cardiologists that would state this might be a direct relationship. Whether it is, or not, it certainly coincides with when I get them. But, when I’m really bumping up my training (which isn’t all that much compared to most of the animals on this board), I also often bump up the caffeine. Or, if my training has declined severely, often there is a bump up in caffeine, because I simply feel tired, or, I’ve been up all night long for a few nights. So, it could be simply caffeine for me. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there were a true causal relationship here.
In a previous life as critical care nurse we had occasional success getting people out of some nasty life threatening rhythums, V-tach, with a deep cough. Theoretically you stimulate the vagus nerve and get a “restart” of a noraml rhythum. It works on pvc’s as well. Hope it sorts itself out.
You know what I mean…