Barking Mad To Run
I have been having some heart issues - got an A-Fib in my right ventricle, but am at low risk, per my cardiologist. However, she had me wear a ZIO patch for 2 weeks to monitor my heart 24-7 to see if anything else was happening. The results showed that my hear stopped a few times for about 5 seconds - but this only happened when I was sleeping, not when I was up and active. The cardiologist is recommending a pacemaker be placed to correct this.
I asked her if this just started recently or I have had it for a while. She said no way to tell, because I've only had EKG tests and EKG will not show this result. So I said, well then, I could have had this already ongoing possibly for quite a while, and I seem to be doing fine. I did 90 races last year, am running well this year - I did a 4 mile hill run before my appointment and everything was just fine - so I really don't see the need for a pacemaker at this time.
The concern of my cardiologist is that if this starts happening when I am awake I could potentially pass out, fall and hurt myself or if, say, I was driving, potentially crash and maybe hurt someone else. Yeah, I get that; but I have not had any of that happen and I feel just fine. I wish I knew how long this has been happening. If quite a while, then I think I would be okay. If this just started, that's another story.
Anyway, would appreciate any feedback and also any experiences of those who have a pacemaker, if any are here. Thanks!
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." Theodore Roosevelt
Oh, boy. Hoping the pacemaker helps.
Damaris
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Goodness! I hope they figure it out quickly for you! Have you posted this question in the health forum? You might get some good answers over there.
Scott - I'm sorry to hear this. It's a difficult situation. The pacemaker may make it harder to do fast runs, because it keeps the heart at an even pace. OTOH, you usually don't run that fast anyway so it may not make much difference. Did you ask the doctor if you could continue to run with a pacemaker? I have a friend who continued backpacking with his, but he did slow down especially when climbing hills.
I don't know, when I ran with him in 2001, he was moving pretty fast.
Yes, I did, thanks. Need to go over there too.
Yes, doc said I would be able to run with it. And as you said, I only do about a 10 - 11 minute mile...but i do like my weekly hill workout, so I need to ask him about that. I do have a friend here in San Antonio that I found out has had a pacemaker since he was 26, which I never knew. He was very informative, so that helped. He is still pretty darn speedy too and he has run in Peru with it too - even in that thin air there, and seems to be doing well. That made me feel better mentally.