Is Training (Running 3 times a week 5Km) safe whilst being on a beta blocker like bisoprolol and Flecanide Acetate safe?

[tazgymuk]

The purpose of taking a beta blocker is to keeep theheart rate low. The Flecanide Acetate is to keep it low and also prevent A F and keep you in sinus rythm. But when i'm running my pulse is not going above 140 where as normally without the meds it woul be 180 due to the running. Is it safe to have the meds keeping the heart rate low whilst i'm running at the same intensity as before. Is that not dangerous and puttting more strain on the heart as preventing it beat faster due to the exercise, but the meds not allowing it to. Just felt unnatural.

[Jerry_NJ]

I agree that ablation should be considered based on your young age alone.  

I understand being taller than "normal" is also associated (along with power athletics) with an increased likelihood of developing AFib.

I am (or was) 6' 6" and ran for exercise (not power running in any sense) - so I wonder if my running contributed to developing AFib.  I also had a leaky mitral valve, with is the more likely cause.

[is_something_wrong]

I can only think loud about this issue,

It seems you have runs of atrial fibrillation caused by too much or too heavy exercise. This is not uncommon at all, in my country we hear about that on the news all the time; athletes (most of them late in their career) doing heavy aerobic exercise (most of them cross country skiing or cycling Tour de France) ending up with atrial fibrillation.

From your previous posts, you seem to be in extremely good shape especially considered that you are 40 y/o, but heavy exercise can also make some changes to the left atrium, which is described in several studies, most of them documenting a higher frequency of atrial arrhythmias (PACs, atrial tachycardia and probably atrial fibrillation) among athletes.

If you can do heavy aerobic exercise at heart rate 140, your heart works extremely well (but no one did ever question that I guess) but maybe you should consider living a more relaxed lifestyle with less heavy exercise? I would think, the atrial fibrillation is maybe a sign from your body that you should slow down?

An alternative is of course ablation, which I assume no doctor would refuse given that you are a top level athlete who want to stay in good shape?

It sounds quite unacceptable that you have to take antiarrhythmic drugs (not counting beta blockers) for the rest of your life..

[curmudgen]

It seems to me that if you can sustain the same level of exercise at a lower heart rate you should be okay.  Obviously your lower heart rate can supply enough oxygenated blood as it did at the higher rate...heart is not working as hard and is doing the same thing.  If your doctor said to maintain normal activity then he/she knows best.  Your body will tell you otherwise.