Heart Condition and Swimming

Originally posted by Hink How does one get tested for slow and fast twitch? You can't get tested for slow and fast twich fibers. Usually they develop when your young but when you miss the chance to train your fast twitch fibers or the midtwicht fibers they will usually become slow twitch fibers when you get older. But it's mainly about genetics so if you happen to have some retired gold medalists on the sprint distances you could also become a fast sprinter when you get a late start although you surley won't get to break a world record ;) I wrote something more detailed here : forums.usms.org/showthread.php

Yes, I had both stress tests. One was nuclear and the other a stress echo. I've also had a heart scan. There is little or no evidence of blockage, and no indication of need for a by-pass. Apparently, the issue is simply that I go into and out of a fib from time to time. Geochuck: I'm sorry that you lost your friend. From what I understand, coronary blockages are helped greatly with exercise and diet. Stents also work to help clear the blockages. But if the blockage is significant, hard exercise is a very, very bad idea because bits and pieces of the plaque can break off and get stuck in the brain (stroke) or the heart (heart attack). Nobody wants to have an operation as its such an invasive procedure. Of course we prefer to do things "naturally," but sometimes we simply need the operation. My father died of a heart attack at age 58 (I'm 57). My father, though, ate poorly, was really overweight, never exercised, had a drinking problem and led a stressed life. My proposed path is to eat well, be in good shape, exercise regularly, be a very light drinker and not feel so stressed. The last item is probably my greatest challenge.

I guess the short answer to your question is that, in the absence of documented coronary artery disease (or more uncommon conditions like hypertrophic cardiomyopathy), the risk of death during strenuous exercise is very low. But probably not zero. However, if your a. fib. is a problem when you exercise, that should be addressed, since it will affect your performance. One final point. I assume you've had your cholesterol checked; given your family history, statin therapy may be a consideration even with a "nomal" value. An inexpensive (about $40) test is the c-reactive protein which is a marker for CAD and may predict who would benefit even more from early institution of a statin.

My atrial fib started in 1998 and has been a real problem with training and racing. When it was under control, I could swim as usual, but if it "popped out" of rhythm, I couldn't train or race. I went through numerous medications and finally had an ablation (catherization where they identify the spot or spots causing the problem and cauterized them). I was off all medicaiton for awhile but have since gone back on one medication. I am finally back at the level that I was swimming prior to all of this. The biggest problem was when I went off all medication, I had to retrain my heart to tolerate the intensity of training/racing. The medicaiton had supressed the heartbeat for so long, it was a real surprise when my heartrate could rise, but didn't fall quickly. One of the most important things is to convince your cardiologist that you train seriously and do not want to change your physical activities. As a 56 year old women when it started, it was real education process to make my doctor understand what was important to me. He is now very supportive. One of my teammates just had an ablation in February and has had no further incidences of atrial fib. Betsy Durrant

Ablation is certainly an option if drug treatment fails (or the side effects are intolerable). Antiarrhythmic drugs are at best 65% effective at suppressing a. fib. However, a. fib. ablation is relatively new, not available at all centers, and has produced mixed (but generally good) results.

Can you tell me about the ablation procedure? I've heard little about it. How experimental is it? Does success generally mean that you don't have a fib ever again? Does failure mean not making it throough the operation? How long a recovery period? Is it just for serious cases?

I had an attempt at an ablation with 2 local cardiologists. They were not able to get my heart to beat irregularly under anesthesia so they could identify the problem. It was very disappointing. I then went to a doctor at a university teaching hospital who had a great deal of experience. My a-fib was not dangerous, just interferred with my lifestyle (swimming/racing). I did not stay in a-fib, it would flip out of rhythm for a few hours, then flip back. I had no symptoms and no medication (except aspirin) for over a year after the ablation. Then I had several short incidences and one extendend one. I had to have a conversion and then they put me back on 2 medications. Several months later I was able to stop one (that suppressed my heart rate). The one medication I am still on does not seem to have any side effects for me. I feel the best I have in years and am training and racing well. My teammate went to a teaching hospital also. He is also doing well. Again, it was a lifestyle nuisance more than a danger with the a-fib. It seems the cardiologists don't think the ablation is always necessary. I think it was necessary for my well-being. I think it is only a week or two out of the water. Betsy

New to forum. This topic hits close to home. Have had excersize induced ventricular tachycardia all my life. When my heart would go haywire I would back off until went back to normal then resume whatever activity was doing. In 2004 I had a heart attack after 1 hour postal swim. Since then I have had to take disrythmia medication for the same vt's wich the docs say may be fatal. Almost went down from these vt's during nuclear stress test following heart attack. Attempted ablation failed because cause was to close to aorta and doc said didn't want to perform it. I am taking a beta blocker Natolol. Not as bad for me as atenolol but still causes lumpy feeling in water and seems to cause breathing difficulties. Have seen good electrophsyiologist recently in Birmingham and said has performed many ablations, I think he used the term aortal. In fact he said hundreds more than anyone in the country. Thinking about it but have bad memory from last experiance. Think one slip and I'm a gonner. Glad to have found topic Don Jennings

I was just talking to my brother he is 76 years old. He had a quadrule by-pass a year and a half ago. He told me he is working out and does a very light warmup and warm down, he does 30 to 40 x 50m. He prefers doing these in a 25m pool but in the summer he uses the long course pool. He says he still has a little pain where the surgery took place.

This thread hits close to home. I take meds for atrial fib, first diagnosed back in '95. Dialing in the proper dosages took weeks, I felt like a zombie. Finally had to be cardioverted and then felt like a million bucks! The cardiologist, (a former diver at Cal Berkeley whose son Caleb Rowe, just completed a great swimming career at Berkeley) said I'd feel great because my heart had been beating at very elevated counts for months ---talk about a long workout --- and now my resting pulse was in the high fifties. I was very into racing outrigger canoes at the time and got all psyched up for a big race a few months later, the adrenaline rush was too much---overode the meds and damn near killed me. Dr. Rowe said no more racing. Tried RF ablation, didn't work. A couple years later my wife, a very activer paddler, died suddenly of ventricular fib. So now I'm 60 and have been swimming with our local masters team for a little over a year, at the most twice a week, about 2500 yards per workout. My goal has been to just do the workout. But lately my times have started coming down, I'm not very fast, but the improvement has been steady and encouraging. The competitive fire never quite went out. I find myself reading the times from Masters meets, wondering what I could do with a little more training? Some of you guys are amazingly fast for your age! I see some familiar names from the old days --- maybe I could make some qualifying times? go to some meets? But to be quite honest, it's a little scary.