Hey Guys,
I wanted to start a discussion here and hopefully get some advice from Andy since he is an EMT.
I'd say about every 2-3 weeks or so, I'll have these little short 3-5 second episodes of what to me seems like Atrial Flutter. I had Atrial Fibrillation diagnosed and had the ablation procedure to cure it back in Nov of 2005. Since, I have not had any AFib (i was very symptomatic, so I'd likely feel it if I did). But ever since I'd say 6 months after the surgery to present, I get these short little episodes where it feels like my heart gets out of whack and starts to raise my
heart rate, but just for a few seconds, then it goes away as if nothing happened.
Obviously this is very tough to catch on some type of monitor. So last night, I was laying down in bed, completely calm, ready to turn the lights off, and I felt a goofy sensation, which perked my attention, then I felt this turning over in my chest and then my heart rate started to increase (it was a regular beating pattern, just started to accelerate for nothing). I'd say it jumped to 140-150 beats or so. And, when I get this,it takes my breath away.
So, living alone, I grabbed the phone, dialed 911, and hung up after 2 rings. Well they showed up anyways, and I was checked out by an EMT. My BP was 202/98 when they first checked it, and 175/102 after about 10 minutes. After about 20 minutes, it was down to 137/90 or so, which is still high for me nowadays.
So I opted to go to the ER on my own, because I was really shaking uncontrollably (scared to death) and wanted to make sure everything was fine. Well that turned out to basically be a waste of time. They gave me some Toprol and Adavan (sp?) to calm me down. Being in much better shape nowadays, my heart rate dropped to about 55-60 at rest on the monitor, and they didn't see anything abnormal.
The doctor wanted to keep me overnight but I refused, since I know he doesn't understand my history and I do. He told me I should get a stress test done soon just in case, and I will, but I still don't think that will show anything, especially since this occurs at a completely random rate.
I wanted to ask Andy if he thinks it is some type of Atrial Flutter going on. I do not have any
heart disease that they could find, blood work checked out, etc. I do have Ventricular Hypertrophy but that's because I lift heavy.
I read online that it's common for Atrial Flutter and Atrial Fib to go hand in hand with one another, and also common for patients that had heart surgery which leaves scarring on the heart to develop Atrial Flutter. Well, I had the ablation procedure and therefore have scarring on the heart.
What is this going to do for my lifting career? At this point, I'm going to continue to lift, but I'm definitely more worried nowadays.
One thing to note is I had alot more pop than I typically do, around 7:30pm last night. This incident occured around 9:30pm or so, just about the time it takes for my body to start feeling the affects of caffeine from pop. I have sworn off pop officially as of now.
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