Can Exercise Worsen Arrhythmia?

I am two weeks from my ablation and am on vacation. We have been hiking within my limits. Today we went on a longer hike and I have noticed considerably more atrial tachycardia/PACs. It was nice to get out and hike, but am paying for it now. Anyone else notice this correlation?

No I haven't had an issue with PAC's, actually hiking usually helps if I'm having Ectopy. I do notice that I have an elevated HR after a hike that slowly comes down over 3-4 hours or so. For example if I hike 3.5 hours, at around 100, maybe up to 110 bmp, then when I quit, my HR has still been up around 90-100 for several hours afterwards. Tonight, I am 5 hours post hike, and my HR is still in the low 80's. It would normally be in the mid to upper 70's about now. I don't know if this normal or not, but my cardiovascular system remains somewhat amped up for awhile after I quit. I did take 100mg of Caffeine at the start about 8 hours ago, maybe that contributes to this issue.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/2024 10:41AM by The Anti-Fib.

It makes me wonder if this isn't the difference between vagal afib and adrenergic afib:

[www.frontiersin.org]

I'm not sure how much attention this is getting right now, or whether or not it leads to different treatment options, but I suspect it may play a larger role in the future.

My first ever run of AF happened near the tail end of a 10 km run. So I'm gonna say yes.

I'd say yes. I'm vagal, and endurance exercise increases the risks having ectopics and AFib at rest. The more I'm tired, the higher the risk.

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MeganMN
I am two weeks from my ablation and am on vacation. We have been hiking within my limits. Today we went on a longer hike and I have noticed considerably more atrial tachycardia/PACs. It was nice to get out and hike, but am paying for it now. Anyone else notice this correlation?

Sounds like you are doing too much too soon. What was your max HR during that hike and how long did it last? High HR in longer duration can be problematic.

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MeganMN
I am two weeks from my ablation and am on vacation.

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Yuxi
Sounds like you are doing too much too soon.

Ah. I interpreted her comment as meaning: I'll be having my ablation in two weeks. It looks like you're interpreting it as: I had my ablation two weeks ago. If you're right, then I think you were probably right in your assessment ;-)

This is very good for me to know as well.
Just 2 months ago I was doing about 1.5 hrs exercise (walking up/down hill, stretching, pushups) 3-4 times a week. Then I had my first afib event of 150 bpm for a couple of days. Cardilogist brought it down with amiodarone. Since then I've been careful not to push myself physically for fear of my pulse getting up there and not coming back down again. FYI I'm taking daily 25mg metropolol + dabigatran.

Thanks for all the comments. And to clarify, yes, I am having an ablation in two weeks and have been making due with long acting Propranolol. It doesn't work at all for the arrhythmia, but helps with the rate. However, on this vacation I have been doing more than I was previously. My exercise tolerance seems extremely affected (perhaps by the two years of arrhythmia with varied rate control). I have had a tough time hiking, cannot keep up with my kids and husband, and feel very out of breath. My heart rate is quickly getting up into the 150s (sinus tach) and then I have a great deal of ectopy (PACs, bigeminy, runs of SVT) followed by hours of tachycardia. It doesn't seem to want to slow down after exercise and the Propranolol no longer helps. My fear of course, is that the ablation will help the SVT/PACs, but I may still be left with Inappropriate Sinus Tach. Again, thanks for the replies! I had been feeling okay in the last month with Propranolol as rate control, bit once I started hiking, realized that my exercise tolerance really stinks. It was disheartening. My kids had to stop a million times to wait for me and I had a really tough time doing the 3-mile hike up the canyon. This is not normal for me. I am usually very fit, but have not felt well since my arrhythmia started back up again two years ago. It has steadily gotten worse. I miss exercising.

I really hear you on the exercise tolerance. I like to lift weights, but it spikes my heart up to 150 or more. Even my warmup exercise does that some days. My EP says I can continue with it, but it’s not much fun to have that as a constant background worry. Do you know if inappropriate sinus tachycardia can be addressed with ablation, or if meds are the only option for that?
Hoping for a successful ablation for you in a couple of weeks!!

I have found that an increase in activity does cause me to more ectopic beats than normal. Typically, I just take it easy for the next few days and things return to "normal".

There are many new technologies coming out for IST including a newish hybrid ablation (sinus node sparing). Natale is one of the EPs doing it. If mine continues after my SVT ablation, I may consider it.

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MeganMN
There are many new technologies coming out for IST including a newish hybrid ablation (sinus node sparing). Natale is one of the EPs doing it. If mine continues after my SVT ablation, I may consider it.

Could you describe what is done in this new type of hybrid ablation? Thanks.

[www.heal-ist.com]

Here is the trial web sire and it describes it fairly well! I suspect I may have this continued issue after my SVT ablation. I had IST after my first ablation and each ablation has made it more persistent.

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MeganMN
[www.heal-ist.com]

Here is the trial web sire and it describes it fairly well! I suspect I may have this continued issue after my SVT ablation. I had IST after my first ablation and each ablation has made it more persistent.

That is quite a complex procedure. I guess it is too early to have data on success. I wonder how the recovery time would compare with a traditional ablation?