What is Happening

I had a successful ablation 9.5 years ago and since that time, I have had only three occasions where there was an apparent breakthrough. Each occasion was for 3-6 hours. On those occasions, my heart rate was elevated to around 80 to 90 (normal resting rate is upper 50's). The last occasion was last week on Friday while at a windsurfing clinic in pretty strong winds where I was working very hard (Windsurfing for 32 years and highly experienced/expert and in excellent physical condition). What I was doing would have normally been very taxing, but with the afib???, to say I was out of breath is an understatement. Nevertheless, I persisted with the clinic and coaching, but had to take frequent breaks to get my breath back. I was at the Outer Banks in N.C., with shallow water, so I could easily stand on the bottom at any time, Had I been in deep water, I would have stayed on shore.

Later at rest, my heart rate stayed at 80-90, somewhat irregular, but also medium to strong. When I was first diagnosed with afib 16 years ago, my HR was 180, very irregular and weak. I downed lots of liquids, including Gatorade, plus bananas and some extra magnesium later in the day, and eventually went back to normal heart rhythm , or at least a steady HR of 70, which dropped to 60 by the next morning. I take the basic three supplements, but could have been somewhat dehydrated or working in that direction for the two previous days.

So, what is really happening to me? Clearly, normal blood circulation is being compromised, so is it Afib, PAC's, PVC's or ?? I am 71 years old, if that matters. I take no prescriptions, but do take the "basic three", plus a multivitamin, D and a 83 mg aspirin.

You might consider getting some sort of hand-held device that can tell you what IR Heartbeat you are having. Experienced AF people can tell by feeling the pulse with their finger. They also make implantable devices that record everything going on, but it doesn't sound like your episodes are frequent enough that you want to do that. Are you breathing deeply during the episodes? Also you are saying that your rate is 80-90. How is that measured? If you are using your finger on a vein, your AF rate is probably higher than what your are feeling, because you don't feel all of the little fast beats, so if you are measuring 90 with your finger, you may be higher, like 110 if measured on an EKG. Next time it happens you sould go immediately into a facility that has an EKG machine. That would be the most definitive way to tell, and your Doctor would use that to treat you.

I can easily feel my carotid pulse, and it's possible that some small beats can't be counted. However when not exercising or doing any physical exertion while I am having an "episode", I really don't notice/feel anything abnormal. I have to check my pulse to see if it's still occurring. Any moderate plus physical activity will generate a noticeable oxygen debt.

Since these episodes have totaled less than 15 hours in the last 9.5 years, I don't feel compelled to seek out much in the way of a Dr. diagnosis.

Ken - definitely, dehydration can be an issue as can the stress factor... physical stress as well as a certain amount of anxiety type stress during the "challenge" might be enough to lower your intracellular magnesium levels enough to impact NSR.

Also, to be safe, if you push frequently exertional exercise while in arrhythmia, you should definitely be doing heroics with "natural" anticoagulants - especially if you also experience dehydration.

Jackie

The best way to tell is with an EKG. You could just go into your local Quick Care place or Dr.s office and get one. Then later you could follow up with a Cardiologist if you wanted to.

Ken,

You can get an AliveCor device, if you have a smartphone <[www.alivecor.com]
<[store.alivecor.com] My afib is infrequent, most recently, 2 - one hour episodes in 3 years. I use it most mornings, so if I get an episode that doesn't convert, I have a record that I haven't been out of rhythm very long to prove to the ER. You can easily see whether you have a "p" wave or not.

However, all my episodes convert with a loading dose (300 mg) of flecainide, usually in an hour or two (have used it for this purpose for 11 1/2 years - fortunately infrequently). You might want to investigate an on-demand med like flec.

Afib will decrease your heart output by about 25% as the atria are not helping to fill the ventricles. This could possibly explain the shortness of breath.

I'd suggest potassium sources without a lot of carbs as the carbs will tend to have the kidney excrete potassium.

George