Decreased Exercise Tolerance

[francie12]

Matt is in his first year of college and loving it. We haven't thought much about his heart in the last year other than around his yearly cardio appoint, which showed things to be pretty much stable--a little increase in LVdd, but not much. For those that do not know us, he has a BAV with dilated asc AO--Regurgitation is mod/severe, AO is mod dilated.

So Matt is never much interested in physical exercise, and so is not very physically fit. He has no restrictions on exercise with the exception of isometric, weights etc, but golf is the only sport he has played in recent times. A couple of days ago, in the course of these fun games the college plans, he has had to run a bit--2-3 brief sprints in a 15 min period in a capture the flag game. Matt called me worried because this (never happened before) made him gasping, light-headed, very weak and he had 15 min of fast pounding heart rate that wouldn't go down afterwards. On another occassion of brief running the same happened.

I plan to check in with the cardio on Monday, but I wanted to ask you guys if any of you have had a similar experience and have an opinion about how serious it is. Serious? Par for the course and not indicating any significant worsening of his condition? He seems to be fine as usual in walking around and normal daily activities. It seems OK to wait for Monday to check in with cardio, but I told him not to run hard until we hear back.

Hope you are all doing well, and thanks for your opinions!
Jane

 

[ALCapshaw2]

His symptoms sound like a case of "exercise induced Atrial Fibrilation".

It would be wise for him to see a Doctor (preferably a Cardiologist) about these symptoms.
I would expect an EKG and maybe a Holter Monitor (or maybe even a stress test on a treadmill).
It might be wise to have an EchoCardiogram before doing a stress test, just to make sure his valves are not becoming more severely diseased (i.e. ready to be replaced). And YES, he should not exert himself until he can get checked out.

Once he gets checked out, it might be a good idea for him to get into a light aerobic exercise program (walking, bike, eliptical machine, etc.) and a light weight muscle toning program with his Doctor's approval, just to improve his overall conditioning, assuming his valves and aneurism are still not critical.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[Philip B]

Exercise Concern

Exercise Concern

Sure, have him get checked-out if there's a concern, but there are possibilities other than serious heart ailment.

Consider the fact that you noted that he isn't in very good physical shape. All of a sudden he engages in some pretty intense physical activity like sprinting in a game like capture the flag. His body isn't used to doing any kind of intense exercise and it doesn't know how to handle it.

It's not that uncommon for people who are out of shape to feel extremely uncomfortable if they start engaging in strenous activity. As a matter of fact, this is very common and it's one of the reasons gradual entry into increases in physical activity are recommended rather than going full speed immediately.

Try running three or four 50-100 yard sprints (run as hard and as fast as you can) if you haven't been doing much strenous activity and note how you feel afterwards. I suspect you'll feel pretty crummy. Your heart will race, you'll be short of breath, and you'll probably be dizzy. BTW, your body will hurt for a few days. It will take some time for your body to recover from the shock you've just given it.

This said, there's nothing wrong with exercising caution and getting checked-out for more serious issues.

-Philip

 

[francie12]

Thanks Al and Phillip. It's nice to hear from you, hope you are doing well. I need to spend some time catching up here to see how everyone is doing.

For sure I think, and what I told Matt, is that his lack of physical conditioning is most likely all (or almost all) there is to the story. I'll feel better checking in with the cardio on Monday, but I expect he'll give Al's advice for some gentle conditioning exercise. The reason for the concern is that Matt has done these sudden bursts of activity (in PE, etc) before and has never had this reaction. Probably they won't be able to say for sure what it is unless he is monitored while the symptoms are happening. He's been told not to "push to maximal exertion" and maybe that's what he did, with predictable effects.

 

[Lynlw]

Hi, Justin played sports all thru school, except right before or after surgeries, so was in good shape. BUT IF it was hot and IF he wasn't keeping really well hydrated (it took me forever to get him to drink before he was thirsty not after) he would have problems where his heart would beat hard (IF he had his shirt off you could see it beating) and fast and he would look very pale, and light headed.especially if he was running, like playing soccer. As long as he drank he usually was ok, and this was when he was running around and getting exercise every day, so if he was out of shape, I think that might also be part of what happened to matt.
I agree with everyone to tell the doctors, its better to be safe than sorry, especially when we're talking about hearts, but hopefully it is something simple.

 

[Eva]

Great advice above. I will just add that I will be keeping you in my prayers.

 

[francie12]

Hi Lyn, have been thinking about you guys and hope Justin is doing well. I know what you mean about getting them to stay hydrated. "OK, Mom, yeah, sure, fine, I'll drink enough." This particular episode happened after not too much, but vigorous, running at night--it was "glow in the dark" capture the flag--so it wasn't hot, but I'll still bet he was dehydrated.

I suddenly realized yesterday that I'm not the one who should be making the cardio call. He's 18 and in college and needs to be in charge of his own health. It's a strange feeling after all these years of being the point person, and I know that I'll still be as vigilant as ever, but just start to begin letting him take over more. As long as he tells me all the details (he's good at that), I should be OK!

 

[Lynlw]

Hi Lyn, have been thinking about you guys and hope Justin is doing well. I know what you mean about getting them to stay hydrated. "OK, Mom, yeah, sure, fine, I'll drink enough." This particular episode happened after not too much, but vigorous, running at night--it was "glow in the dark" capture the flag--so it wasn't hot, but I'll still bet he was dehydrated.

I suddenly realized yesterday that I'm not the one who should be making the cardio call. He's 18 and in college and needs to be in charge of his own health. It's a strange feeling after all these years of being the point person, and I know that I'll still be as vigilant as ever, but just start to begin letting him take over more. As long as he tells me all the details (he's good at that), I should be OK!

That reminds me now that he is 18, make sure he has you listed on all his HIPPA forms or whatever he has oto do to make sure you can talk to his doctors, get info ect.
Yes it is hard. and for some reason EVERY time Justin tries to make and appt or scedual a test something is a problem and he ends up asking me to help. I was so hoping he could just call and say I need my appt, what tests do I need, but so far it has never been that easy...
It IS nice not having to be the one to fill out ALL the forms they hand you when you go for the appts

 

[francie12]

I talked to Matt today, and he said that he is feeling short of breath but thinks it is due to lack of sleep, an irregular eating schedule (skipping breakfast) and being dehydrated. He says he is going to change his ways and then call the dr if it doesn't improve. I don't get short of breath for those reasons! I'm kind of worried now... If it's not a better report soon, we need to be in touch with the dr.

 

[Michelle D]

Is he short of breath lying down? Or just after activity?

 

[ALCapshaw2]

LOTS of our members attribute Shortness of Breath and other symptoms to Getting Older, being Out of Shape, etc., UNTIL they have their Surgery and discover their symptoms went away...

Another of our Famous Sayings is: "When in Doubt, Check it Out."

'AL Capshaw'

 

[MarkU]

LOTS of our members attribute Shortness of Breath and other symptoms to Getting Older, being Out of Shape, etc., UNTIL they have their Surgery and discover their symptoms went away...

Another of our Famous Sayings is: "When in Doubt, Check it Out."

'AL Capshaw'

I resemble that remark...

When I first developed my symptoms I attributed it to jet lag, working long hours, stress, etc. It took me several months to figure out what was going on.

As Al suggests, the prudent thing to do is get to the doc to get it checked out.

Mark

 

[francie12]

It has been eight months since his last echo. I hope that things haven't worsened a lot in that amount of time. Michelle, he said he is a little short of breath much of the time, lying down and standing up. And Eva, thanks so much for your thoughts.

Matt is intrigued by the thought that he will feel better than he is used to feeling after surgery, when it eventually happens. He has never had a huge amount of energy, even before his BAV, etc, was discovered, so he may be pleasantly surprised on the other side of the mountain. Nobody is too eager for the surgery obviously, but when it's time it's going to be time. Thanks for sharing your experiences.