Fitness: My erratic heart rate?? Am I going to die? :(

[Jay]

Bit of a health question here.

Firstly to get an idea. I train regulary. 4-5 times a week. 1 - 2 hours a night. I consider myself to be reasonably fit.

I do smoke about 10 a day. Which may actually be the source of the problem. Well im quite convinced actually. But would like some oppinions of any people who know alot about health and the human body.

The problem is this..
I can train hard for 2 hours, and feel fine.
But during the working day. Sometimes when I walk up 2 flights of stairs I find my heart rate jumps to an extreemly fast rate and I find my self out of breath and feeling really weak and light headed.

I figure this must be due to smoking. But find it strange that such a small effort of walking up some stairs can have such an effect on me, considering how I cope with an intense training session.

Something else ive noticed..

I used to only smoke during the working day. Now ive started to smoke a bit during the evening. Often before training. And since then ive noticed I yawn alot during training.
I remember something about Yawning being a sign of lack of oxygen??
Could this be the fresh layers of tar on my lungs preventing oxygen getting into my body/blood as it would if I hadnt smoked that evening?

Im trying to learn abit more about whats actually happening. Im sure I know why.
And am trying to give up the smoking, but its so damn addictive.

Thanks for any help.

Also if anyone knows any good tips for giving up smoking?
Are those Nicotine patches any good?
Ive heard Hypnotists are well worth a try??

Thanks

Jay

[Asger]

Well, I don't know what causes it or how to help it.
But I also have some incidences where my heart beats extremely fast, and where I find it more difficult to breathe than normal.

As far as I know, there is no pattern for these incidences. It can happen when I sit still, when I work or work out.

The only thing my doctor could think of was if I was drinking coffee or smoking.
But I don't smoke and try to avoid drinking coffee.

It has been a long while since my last incidence now, and I can think of nothing which could have an affect.
So it's quite a mistery to me. I even got my heart examined at hospital once, and they said it was all perfect.



As for stopping smoking, I can't talk by that exact experience, but I believe that there is really no easy way out of such a thing. You've got to do it the hard way.. so I doubt nicotine patches will help you very far down the road.

Be patient and good luck!

[shaolinstylee]

My friends recommend the gum.... can just pop it when you have the craving, and ween yourself off of it....

[Maestro]

recently

just recently for mothers day i bought my mom those commit lozengers so shed stop smoking..

and so far shes said alot of good things about them..she says they taste awful..like a really bad after taste or something of that nature that really makes you not want to smoke..

so..anyway they are supposedly good, dunno what youd call my exp with it second hand? heheheheh

anyway..they are good..you get like 70 somethin lozengers for like 50 bucks..i was surprised at the price aswell, but i doubt if you do the math..youll see its cheaper to use the lozengers then smoke

you can begin right away..my mom hasnt smoked since i gave them to her on mothers day..dunno when that was a couple weeks ago and she seems ok..still using them i think

so..good luck with that

[sunbird]

Seriously maestro, why do you use a girly avatar? Its really bugging me.

[doc]

Yes, you're going to die. But probably not for a very long time. If you stop smoking...

Ok, lots of issues here.

I do smoke about 10 a day. Which may actually be the source of the problem. Well im quite convinced actually

Well, it's possible. But the last thing I or anyone else should be doing is making a diagnosis over the internet. Let's talk about what causes tachycardia.

Fast heart rates are normal physiologic responses to various stimuli, such as exercise, fright, running, anything that causes the neurologic system to stimulate the adrenals to secrete epinephrine. It's the hormone epinephrine that is released into the bloodstream, along with an increase in neurologic sympathetic activity, that causes tachycardia. Since the hormone's release is titrate to need, generally, your heart beats faster when there's a reason for it to do so, generally, to carry more blood and oxygen to the muscles that need the increased supply. However, there are pathophysiologic states that can cause the heart to beat faster, at inappropriate times.

In young apparently healthy individuals, one tends to think of exogenous causes, such as drug ingestion, both illicit and legal. Yes, cigarette smoking (all smoking and tobacco products, even chewing it) is bad for you; the various chemicals that are found in tobacco and other drugs can cause in increase in heart rate, sometimes, a dangerous increase in heart rate. Smoking generally does not cause a tachycardia that is dangerous though. Other things, such as thyroid disorders, and cardiac valvular disease, need to be investigated.

There are also, more simpler reasons for increased heart rate in young healthy people, one of which would just be hypovolemia. Not drinking enough water, and getting dehydrated during the day, might lead to a decreased blood volume. Any exercise during that state would necessitate a tachycardia just to maintain cardiac output.

And then you've got various non-physical issues that cause tachycardia, such as stress, anxiety, fright, paranoia, etc.

Getting into more complicated reasons usually implies some sort of cardiac pathophysiology. The last thing I want to get into here is a complete discourse on cardiac physiology; let's just keep it simple. There are natural pacemakers in the heart that regulate the pace of the heart's beating. The main one, the sino-atrial node, resides near the top of the atria (the two chambers that preload the main pumping section of the heart, the ventricles). The SA node usually beats at sixty to one hundred times per minute, but it can be influenced by circulating epinephrine and by direct action of the sypmathetic nervous system, to speed up it's rate of stimulus. On the contrary, to slow it down, the parasympathetic nervous system, via the vagal nerve, slows it down. Further on down the line, near the junction of the atria and the ventricles, resides the atrio-ventricular node (the AV node), which has a resting stimulus frequency of forty to sixty beats per minute. In between, any area of the heart,or the electrical conduction system, which is damaged, can itself become a stimulating point, to the point of going faster, or over-riding the SA node. (The SA node normally over-rides the AV node). Also, below the AV node, any portion of the electrical conduction system to the ventricles, or, parts of the ventricles, can become pacemakers themselves, if the tissue is damaged. So, in general, you've got lots of areas of the heart that can beget a stimulating impulse, and cause the heart to contract.

In young people, and predominantly women, you can get what's called paroxysmal atrial tachycardia; that is, there is an area in the atria that is damaged, that sends out impulses at a rapid rate, thus over-riding the normal beat pattern of the SA node, and causing a tachycardia, with all of its concurrent physiological effects: shortness of breath, feeling of faintness, etc. It's also common in older people. Young people can get an atrial tachycardia from various drug ingestions, hypovolemia, illness and fever, cardiac valvular disease, thyroid disorders, (rarely adrenal gland disorders and tumors) or, what we call "idiopathic", which means, "we don't know". Caffeinated drinks, such as Coke or coffee, can also be the culprits. Generally, when one is confronted with an young individual who complains of tachycardia, one first investigates the cause (exercise, such as climbing stairs, is common), and a dietary and drug history. The is a plethora of causes of tachycardia, especially in older individuals, that I won't get into. Needless to say, a good deal of them are the result of a lifetime of smoking and bad dietary habits.

Smoking cigarettes is bad. Period. You want to stop? Don't bother with all of these "stop smoking" aids. You're young, and relatively un-addicted (try getting some sixty year old guy with three heart attacks to stop, lol...). The best way to do it, is buy a bunch of gum, plan a few really hard work out days, and plan to pick one day when you're just gonna throw the shit away and never look back. The first two or three days will be hard, but if you get past that, you should be able to do it. And, stay away from people who smoke; the second hand smoke is enough to trigger desire (and disease). If you're serious about martial arts training, then you shouldn't be smoking. If you're serious about living a healthy life, then you shouldn't be smoking. Period.

Yawning is a way of increasing oxygen supply to the blood. It's also a normal physiologic response to being tired. It most likely has nothing to do with all the tar you think you're coating your alveoli with by smoking. It might have something to do with the carbon monoxide you're inhaling while smoking, which can cause you to temporarily drop your blood oxygen levels.

Is smoking causing your problem? Not sure, though I doubt it. I'd look at how much soft drinks your imbibing, and what other medications you might be taking. I'd also look at how your fluid intake is during the day, and, the actual intensity of your workouts (you might not be in as great a shape as you think; climbing stairs is a greater stress producer physiologically because you are lifting your weight with each step. You might want to look at how much you weigh also...) The odds are, that you don't have anything wrong with your heart, though, if this keeps occurring, and it worries you, you most definitely should have your physician evaluate it. They'll attach you to a holter monitor which records your heartbeat for twenty four hours, just to make sure that you don't have some sort of pathological arrythmia that is causing your tachycardia. Also, blood work to check thyroid function and adrenal function is in order. An echocardiogram would be necessary to rule out congenital valvular disease. At your age, statistically, one would generally presume that you're problem is exogenous, of the result of poor condition, and not the result of some pathological process.

[Maestro]

i dunno

i dunno..for the helluva it i guess

why does doc shave his head when hes not a monk?

why does asger have a little gimpy dragon..

i dunno

no reason really

actually when i first made the avatar i was thinking of porn

thats why i put in the quote under my posts "wheres the beef"

you see..wheres the beef..a japanese anime girl..beef..anime..beef

its just something that makes me smile from time to time...

but besides that no real reason..

heheheheheheh

[Jay]

Just to update..

Ive stopped smoking for almost a month now. And feeling fantastic. My energy levels are 10x what they were.
Also the syptoms I described above when climbing stairs, have greatly reduced, to a more normal level.

Fantastic

[Asger]

I'm very glad to hear that Jay. Keep it up