Heart jumping crazy the following 2 days after exercise

Hi all,

Hope all is well and thanks for a great forum!

Im 32 years old male, with a pacemaker that I got in 2014 because of 3rd degree AV block. I have always been doing some badminton og lightweight lifting, nothing intense. After my 3rd degree AV block happened and I got my pacemaker i'm experincing something strange after exercise. The doctors can't help me with an answer, so I hope someone in here can help.

When I exercise I have no troubles, but then in the night and the following two days my heart "jumps" around especially when I lay down I can feel it. Besides that in the following two days when I have been sleeping I feel the next day like i _haven't_ been sleeping in the night.
The doctor have tried to record my training and the hours in the night and when I was sleeping, but couldn't see anything suspicious other than maybe a few more extra heartbeats.

Anyone that have same problems?


12 Comments

Atrial Fibrillation?

by AgentX86 - 2018-09-11 12:14:37

It sounds like AF but evidently it didn't show up on the monitor. Did you feel these palpitations when you were being monitored? You can try a Holter monitor for a week (or a month) to see if they can catch the big fish. Another alternative would be to buy a Kardia Mobile and take an EKG strip when you know you're having this issue. Show your EP the evidence.

Perhaps there is some pacing of your diaphragm, under certain circumstances? Try to isolate it the best you can but if you really think it's your heart,  get a Kardia Mobile.

Monitored

by Newt - 2018-09-11 12:31:49

Good sugestions, but I have already had a week wearing a holter monitor were I had these problems and it didn't show anything on the holter monitor and my pacemaker haven't made any entry about Atrial fibrillation. 
The problems start 4-5 hours after training and then constantly the following two days. And when I go to sleep, it feels like I sleep and not wake up, but when I wake up 8 hours later because of the alarm it feels like I haven't slept and on day 2 it feels like I have been awake for 48 hours... horrible!

The Kardia mobile is rather expensive, 100 dollars in my country, but im ready to try anything!

event monitor

by Tracey_E - 2018-09-11 13:28:10

Did the feeling happen while you had the event monitor? Because if it did and the monitor didn't show anything then it's not your heart rate. It could be hydration or blood pressure or something like that.

If you had afib it would have been recorded. 

Could you be sensitive to caffeine? That wouldn't necessarily be related to exercise but for me being paced made me feel the effects of it much more than when I was in block untreated. Before, my sinus rate would go up but I'd never feel it because the ventricles never caught up. Now,the pacer makes sure the ventricles beat when the atria does so for me this means skyrocketing when I have more than the tiniest bit of caffeine. 

Have you had a sleep study? There isn't a known reason why, but those of us with heart problems tend to have sleep apnea also. 

Pepsi max

by Newt - 2018-09-11 14:52:33

Hi TraceyE,

Yes it did happen while being monitored and they couldn't see anything on the output from the monitor. Blood pressure have always been normal, but it haven't been measured after training and my body weight is normal, maybe abit to the low side.

I do drink a moderate amount of pepsi max, around 0.75 liters a day. Will try out to only drink water after training and in the days afterwards. But wouldn't I feel something the days I don't train and drink pepsi max? I drink a ton of water each day also when I train, so I dont think its a hydration issue.
In the weekends I tend to drink abit more pepsi max, maybe 1.5 liter and I dont have problems there.

Haven't tested my sleep, maybe I should try that. But I dont have problems with being tired if I dont train. The good thing about this, is that I know how to trigger it. But I have a hard time accepting I can't train at all in the age of 32 and I don't know the reason for it.

training

by Tracey_E - 2018-09-11 16:22:40

Definitely don't accept that you can't train! There is answer out there, you just have to find it.

When you hydrate after working out, do you add electrolytes? I don't mean surgary drinks but the tablets.  I've started doing that recently on my doctor's recommendation, makes a huge difference in my energy after. I can drink water all day long after a hard workout, esp if I was out in the heat, but still be thirsty. I've been adding nuun to the water I take on my runs and I feel a lot better after. Hydration and electrolytes are the only things I can think of related to working out that would last a day or two. 

When you feel bad after, take your bp. Just because it's normally good doesn't mean it's not doing something weird. 

Thanks Tracey

by Newt - 2018-09-11 16:35:15

No I have never tried using electrolytes, i'll have to try that aswell!
Thanks Tracey your the best! Just having something to test out gives me hope. The doctors on my hospital, even though they are some of the best in Denmark, just give up after one single test - how should we ever learn to stand or walk, if we just gave up after one try. (sigh)

I'll return with results in next week. If anyone else have good ideas, please make a comment :-)

Sleep apnea is tricky

by Theknotguy - 2018-09-11 18:40:09

Sleep apnea is tricky especially for younger people.  You go out, exercise, feel good, and being physically fit hides the sleep apnea.  The signs are there but you attribute the problems to something else. 

I hid my sleep apnea for years using caffeine.  I always attributed being sleepy with not getting enough caffeine.  

Next question would be if you have any family members with sleep apnea?  Sleep apnea problems run in families so if a relative has it, you have a chance of getting it too.  Do you snore at night?  That's another sign of possible sleep apnea too.  

Even if you don't have sleep apnea it doesn't hurt to get checked out for it.  Sometimes getting checked out for something points to the real problem.  

Hope you find an answer soon.  

Sometimes it's a combination...

by BOBTHOM - 2018-09-12 00:20:14

I've been on decaf coffee for the last several years.  For me, I found that if I have regular coffee and then do any excersise or anything stressful at all I thow alot of PVC's.  Switching to decaf helped me.  I also drink cranberry/pomegranite juice instead of soda.  Sugar can cause issues as well.  Low magnesium or low vitamin D can also cause strange heartbeats.  Just some things to try.  Good luck figuring it out!

WOW! Ain't that the truth!

by AgentX86 - 2018-09-12 08:42:36

I haven't intentionally had caffeinated coffee for a dozen years. If someone slips me caffeinated coffee now I go nuts. Even with the pacemaker in complete control, I get the anxious, hyper, symptoms of Afib. At work, they have free Starbucks coffee. One of the machines has decaf coffee. Well, that's what it says, anyway. I've had to stop drinking it because I've caught them filling it with the high-test stuff twice, now.

 

Maybe a setting adjustment?

by athlete735516 - 2018-09-14 18:01:24

I sometimes experience the same thing after working out or after practice but not as severely as you have described but yeah after working out it would feel like my heart would just jump around a bit in the hours following. I think that it has more to do with the amount of current your pacemaker is sending to your heart if the monitors cannot pick anything up because then it will still read as if it is functioning normally. When I went in for a device check they turned my sensing current and my pacing current down to where it still paces my heart but with fewer amps and the problem has gone pretty much all away.

I hope this helps even if might not be exactly what you are dealing with.

Thanks all!

by Newt - 2018-09-15 09:17:07

Hi all,

Thanks all for the responses.

I have the following things I want to test based on the responses:

- Stop drinking caffein. Already stop drinking pepsi max (I dont drink coffee), so this should be fine.

- Try out electrolytes after training.

- Check with my doctor regarding the current of my pacemaker.

The thing with the current is kinda interesting, however when my heart "jumps" around I dont feel the same thing like when I get paced a few times a day. I can feel every pace and I get around 1-2 every day when im awake (when i sleep I get alot more). The doctor tells me its because im very aware of my heart and im young. Anyways, I'll ask my doctor about if we could lower the current, just to test it out.

- Sleep apnea. My dad have abit of troubles sleeping, however it first startet late and is proberly because of smoking. I dont smoke and I dont have troubles sleeping the days when I dont train. But i'll test it, if the above doesn't work out for me.

Caffein

by Newt - 2018-09-20 03:30:46

First training test yesterday went perfect, and as a big surprise the following hours, and when I was going to sleep and while I was sleeping, I had NO troubles with my heart jumping around.
I should tell that my pulse is not high when I experinced the problems, but rather hard deep palpitations, which is a better explanation to give on the behaviour of my heart while it have problems.

I didn't test out in first training electrolytes after training, because I wanted to try 1 thing each training, to find out the specific reason for my problems.

I have not been drinking cola for 1 week, so I guess even though I only drink 0.75liters, that I have some kind of allergic reaction towards caffeine? When I google allergic reaction towards caffeine it does stand that people can have heart racing/palpitations because of allergic reaction towards caffeine. I have never heard anyone have these troubles, but i'm happy that i hopefully just found the reason for my problems.

I'll do futher training next week and if I still do not have problems, I can conclude that my body don't like even the smallest amount of caffeine. 
Thanks so far for the comments!

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