When the doc says "No Diving"

Went for a checkup yesterday and had an irregular EKG. No diving till a cardiologist checks me out this week. I eat right, dont smoke, get more exercise than a 48 year old should have too and now this. Also no symptoms at all. In the back of my mind I may not dive again but Im staying optomistic. Guess Ill postpone my scooter course plans again though. I would urge everyone to have an annual checkup since we all participate in an extreme sport. I followed someones advice on here and now glad I did. I hope my next thread isnt on the gear exchange.

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Originally Posted by stairman

. I hope my next thread isnt on the gear exchange.

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ME NEITHER! I hope everything works out for you......

I am glad you made the decision to wait! I had to recover one of my former students, because he went diving after he was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and scheduled for an EKG.

Don't be discouraged. An "irregular heart beat" on an EKG can be inconsequential, though it may be a sign of more serious issues. Just get it checked out, for your own piece of mind if nothing else. The fact that you're not having any symptoms is generally a good sign. The cardiologist should be able to put all this into perspective.

I really hope this is nothing. But to keep it on the bright side, I believe it may not be. I had a similar experience a doctor had told me that I have "mitral valve prolapse". Not even sure if I am writing this correctly. Anyway before I started diving I went to Duke hospital (it was convenient that I was living in NC) and did thorough heart tests with doctors from the hyperbaric section of the hospital. It turned that I was fine and fully fit for diving.

You are absolutely right though, we need to do a checkup every year. I do this every January, even though I am 33 and exercising every day, eating based on the Mediterranean diet and all that good stuff. A doctor has told me that I could do the checkup every two years at my age but because of cave diving I go every year.

Hope your next post will be a dive report! ;)

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Originally Posted by stairman

Went for a checkup yesterday and had an irregular EKG. No diving till a cardiologist checks me out this week. I eat right, dont smoke, get more exercise than a 48 year old should have too and now this. Also no symptoms at all. In the back of my mind I may not dive again but Im staying optomistic. Guess Ill postpone my scooter course plans again though. I would urge everyone to have an annual checkup since we all participate in an extreme sport. I followed someones advice on here and now glad I did. I hope my next thread isnt on the gear exchange.

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Take heart! (Pun intended.) My husband had the same, but after a bazillion tests including carrying a heart monitor, a CT-scan-like thing where the scanner went around him sitting in a chair, stress tests, a regular CT-scan, etc, he was completely cleared.

However, any new life insurance will be very costly. . . .

Thankfully you found this out while on dry land! Now you can get it squared away and be confident of not having any incidents in the cave. I'm not eating meat, exercising and drinking at least a gallon of water a day just to keep my blood pressure perfect for cave diving....it sucks but i owe it to my buddy.
Cave divers should get their yearly check ups, blood work and most importantly heart checks (blood pressure, ekg). Good on you for making this happen!

You're going to be just fine, when it's all said and done. Better to wait, and dive again, than to rush, and have a problem. Thanks for sharing your situation. Mark

As said, "irregular heart beat" can be totally benign, or something more. Many causes of significant irregular heartbeat can be treated very effectively, and some can be cured. Definitely room for optimism here!

I have an irregular heartbeat all the time, always have.

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Originally Posted by Xenia

"mitral valve prolapse" ;)

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Ahhh, the old extra "perflump". They detected MVP in me as well about 8 years ago. After a battery of tests, I was OK'ed to return to real diving.

At that point the biggest thing to worry about was dental procedures resulting in an infection that could spread into my bloodstream.

Hope things turn out just as well for you!

Just a bit of information: The normal heart has a regular rate and rhythm, usually (except in athletes) between 60 and 100 bpm. This rhythm is initiated in a single focus in the right atrium, called the sinus node. The signal that starts the heartbeat is caused by a gradual leak of ions into the cell, until an electrical potential is built up that causes the cell to "fire". What's unique about the sinus node is that this process occurs faster there than in other heart muscle cells, but all the cells in the heart have the ability to fire and start a contraction.

An irregular heartbeat can be caused by quite a few things. Some people have a rhythm that varies with their breathing -- as they inhale, the pressure in their chest drops, drawing more blood back to the heart, and the heart speeds up as a result, and slows down on exhalation. That's called sinus arrhythmia, and unless it indicates dehydration, it's totally benign. Other people have an occasional extra beat that comes from somewhere other than the sinus node -- these are termed premature atrial or ventricular contractions, depending on where the overly busy cell that's initiating the beat is living. In the vast majority of cases, these are totally benign as well (the exception is when they are due to something which is damaging heart muscle).

On the other hand, there is atrial fibrillation, which is probably the most common cause of irregular heartbeat. In atrial fib, the sinus node is being drowned out by uncoordinated electrical activity in the atrium -- It's the difference between the speaker addressing the crowd, and the crowd jabbering excitedly and drowning out the speaker. At intervals, one of these random signals makes it through the electrical "gate" between the atria and the ventricles, and causes a ventricular contraction. This doesn't occur regularly, so the rhythm jumps around. Depending on the health of the conducting system, the heart rate in Afib can be extremely fast -- if it is slow, in the absence of medications, it suggests the conducting system isn't healthy, either. Afib can be caused by circulatory damage to the heart, but more commonly is due to dilation of the atria from heart failure or valvular abnormalities -- or sometimes just from age. Sometimes there is one area that is setting up the chaos, and it can be ablated, and the rhythm returned to normal for long periods of time.

Until an electrocardiogram is done and the precise nature of the irregular rhythm is known, there is very little that can be said about possible treatment or prognosis. But PACs and PVCs are very common, so unless you are older, or have a history of some kind of cardiac issue already, there's a good likelihood that all of this will prove to be a tempest in a teapot.

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Originally Posted by diveconjeff

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At that point the biggest thing to worry about was dental procedures resulting in an infection that could spread into my bloodstream.

...!

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Or: dental procedures that could spread an existing local infection (gum disease, gingivitis) into the blood stream and settle into a "bad" heart valve. Bad oral hygiene is the highest risk, even without any dental procedures.

I always try to eat a balanced diet of all four major food groups. Fat, sugar, chocolate and salt. I get most of my exercise jumping to conclusions and @#$% the hell out of my doctor because my heart is in perfect shape. No plaque, no clogged arteries, excellent resting b/p. My SAC "could" be a bit better, but I'm working on that.

A lot of what goes on with your heart is hereditary. The only thing you can do is be born the child of healthy parents with good genes.

Update! The cardiologist said today to go diving. The blip on my EKG is electrical and nothing to worry about and is just the way my heart beats. The only other EKG I had was in 04 and wa also irregular, and I went thru the treadmill stress tests and turned out to be fine. I will rethink my diet and exercise programs to keep things in check, but am glad of the outcome and will be back kickinkaves by Saturday.

I agree with the cardiologist. I prescribe 90 minutes in hte clearest cave in FLorida. Call me in the morning.

Glad you got good news. I had the same thing before going to Mexico and further tests cleared me.

Awsome news. Hope I get returned to diving soon also

Sent from my Eris