Palpitations long after exercise

[cheeser]

The details:

38 yr old male. 6'3". 175 lbs.
No medications, no "recreational" drugs (ever), never smoked, no caffeine, healthy diet, couple beers a week. No family history of heart problems (to my knowledge).

I've been exercising regularly for about 16 years - weight training and running/x-country skiing (in season)/indoor rowing.  4-5 times per week.  My resting HR is typically 45-50.  

The issue:

Heart palpitations that start 3-5 hours AFTER I finish exercising...most of the time, but not always.  If they appear they'll continue well into the next day (usually) and will gradually go away.  I'll exercise again, and the cycle seems to start all over.  Very annoying and a bit disconcerting.

Tests:

EKG (2)
Treadmill stress
24 hr Holter

All were normal, but I don't think much happened when I was wearing the Holter.

Question:

Should I be concerned?  It annoys me enough that I'm beginning to fear my workouts.  I feel great while doing them, but am afraid of what will happen later on.  

By the way, I have had "anxiety" issues and my wife thinks that it's more related to that than my heart.  Hard to say for sure, but the palpitations certainly feed my anxiety.

Thanks MUCH!

[Fran71]

Guys, do these benign arrhythmias always worsen with age or can they improve? After being at the ER with bigeminy now I'm scared to death - not scared that I will die or anything, just scared that I will feel so bad again. I only had bigeminy for a few hours...I hear some of you have it for weeks. I'm so worried these days I realize it is limiting my activity. Whenever I feel a PVC I go crazy...I've had them for years and I've always ignored them. I don't want them to rule my life!

Thanks for listening

Fran

[tictock]

yes wish i could predict when they would come on they have a mind of their own. When i don't have the bigeminy rhythm i have pvc's now and then some days more tham others don't usally bother me. 26 years ago when i just gave birth to my daughter i had VT went on for some time but it terminated by it's self doctors wasn't too bothered, they said it was the stress of the birth and for months after i was getting bigeming on and off then it weaned off and i was left with pvc's again which like you i lived with them all these years.in all i've lived with these buggars for 36 years.i haven't got a date yet but i think it maybe soon, (i hope). I am scared to have the ablation again but i've got to the point where i say kill or cure. funny enough when it gone for awhile i'm my old self again. sound like you have had your fair share of them over the years, have they ever stopped you doing anything?.well i'll give this one more try and if it don't work i'll ask the doctor to try me on some other meds. it's so nice coming on here just to see what others are dealing with.The cardiololgist that done my ablation before said that this arrythmia is not coming from the site that he ablated years  before, so straight after he done the ablation another foci took over that was already there i quess.well... we live to tell the tale.  take care upbeat.

[upbeat63]

It is frustrating that you can't predict when, or if, the bigeminy will be there, but I'm glad to hear you've gotten some relief.

Do you still have PVCs when you don't get the bigeminy? Are they very many and do you feel them? You don't get the chest pain with the periodic PVCs just the bigeminy right?

I wonder about meds for PVCs. Beta blockers may or may not work, and it could be a matter of which one, so you might have to experiment with your doctor. Toperol may have stopped a bigeminy period for me, but does nothing for the trigeminy! I must say though, that it does work to reduce the sensation of PVCs and luckily it hasn't changed (too much) my heart rate or BP which are just fine. I was worried about being a little tired from the BB, but that seems to have stopped. Anti-arrythmics scare me a little, but are an option for some people.

Have you heard of a date for your ablation yet? Maybe you already posted that. Knowing that your ablation is scheduled is like a type of medication itself isn't it?

[tictock]

couldn't post on other thread closed. Just wanted to say that i just emailed my cardiologist to let him know that bigeminy rhythm slowing up but i still want them to try and provke them and ablate if they can. I don't think they would not atempt it if they didn't think there was a chance they could do it, a chance i'm willing to take. with all the medication i have been on these passed 6 week make me wonder that when these buggars decide to come on they do, and when they decide to stop they will. in my case i don't think meds has helped much as i'm just back to my 80mg a day what i was taking for years. Just finished vacuming and guess what? (THEY ARE BACK)It's nice looking at all of your post keeps me same being i'm off work at the moment. I'm in London England so with the time difference don't know if your awake or asleep ha ha. take care you all.

[Mel22]

Check your electrolytes. I was getting PVCs hours after excercise and found out later my potassium was bottoming out. I didn't have symptoms until after I sweat and lost even more potassium.

[Fran71]

Hi Upbeat! Nice to see your post. I was thinking of you and wondering if your trigeminy had improved. I also thought of you because I had praised Inderal so much that you said you'd give it a try and I praised it too soon...Last night I was having constant bigeminy for hours; took 20 mg Inderal which usually does the trick immediately and nothing happened. Took one more 20 mg, nothing happened. So I went to the ER! It's the very first time I go to the ER for tachy and PVCs. I was monitored all night and ECG only showed tons of bigeminy, no NSVT it seems. The wierd thing is, the cardio said he saw PACs, not PVCs. Weird. I always only had PVCs in my holter taken 2 years ago. Could the doctor see wrong from the ECG? anyway, he discharged me saying the same old wonderful story, i.e. that they're really nothing to worry about. He just ordered a new holter to make sure the medeication works. He prescribed bisoprolol instead of Inderal. Has anyone ever tried bisoprolol? He said it's a new kind of Betablocker. I was very disappointed with Inderal, which I was praising as the miracle cure!
I guess it much depends on the situation, on our general health, etc. So far Inderal had been fantastic for me. Let's see how this new one works.

Upbeat, I'm very sorry to hear about your parents. Anyway you're right: the danger of dying in a road accident is much greater than dying from SCD, regardless of our family history.

Take care and happy arrhythmia free day everyone!

Fran