Would pacing improve my athletic capabilities?

Hi,
I'm a 16 year old male with congenital complete heart block. The docs have always been impressed with my athletic capabilities on the bike etc. but they told me or they at least implied a while ago that'd I'd eventually fall behind in sports is this true? I have always been an active kid I run xc in the fall and winter track in the winter. I can run a sub 18 5k and can get my heart rate up at the max to 155 or so (which I'm told is good) so I'm wondering if I get paced would I become a better athlete? (Faster etc?) thanks

4 Comments

wait.... wait....

by Eni - 2012-12-30 05:12:25

Well you are like me,

I am 29 year old , I was born with a heart block , I too have been very strong boy, I've ride my bicycle for 10 years. I've been always the strongest of all my fellows, I've done a lot of heavy jobs, all people have been surprised by my strength and my body,
but a beautiful day, I felt strong beats from my heart, I did have a visit to the doctor and I found out that I was born with a heart block 2to1, i did have some visit to different cardiologist , all of them suggested to have a PM, one told me to have it right away, another one told me to wait till i have more symptoms, but with time passing I'll have to implant it, the one who did put my PM,said I was getting my heart tired day by day,,,,
I was scared , I had a lot of reason to do it, not that I had serious problem with my helath, but if all doctors told me one day I had to put the PM,,,, than why should I wait,, and feel stres everyday.....

I can say ,,
I had blood pressure 14 - 8 my heart beat goes from 33 to 50 ,it was the firt time I had a visit to the doctor , I never get ill. so I have no idea what where my heart record at your age
I did eat a lot especially in the morning , every time i felt tired I did eat and get to normal, usually I eat 5 times at day or more . I don't know if it has anything to do with my heart work.... ( my body is perfect )

I don't feel any change by having PM.. except my heart beats goes till 95 and I don't feel the strong beats anymore .... my strength is the same as before ....

Do not rush to put PM.....

I would be grateful if you will inform me what you are going to do..and feel free to ask me anything you want.....

Pacemaker & congenital heart block

by golden_snitch - 2012-12-30 06:12:59

Hi!

Wow, you are really doing great, despite the heart block! You know, it's difficult to look into the future. No one will be able to tell you, if a pacemaker will help you become an even better athlete. In heart block patients who cannot get their heart rate any higher than 100 or so, one could probably say that they will most likely benefit from a pacemaker. But in someone like you who's able to get the rate up to 155, despite the heart block, it's really hard to tell, if a pacemaker will make such a big difference.

Since you are doing so well at the moment, if I were you, I'd wait with the pacemaker as long as possible. After all, it's a surgery associated with some risks, and it's not clear that you'll benefit from it. Long-term, permanent ventricular pacing can lead to problems, too, so gain as much time without a pacemaker as possible.

Best wishes
Inga

wait

by Tracey_E - 2012-12-30 09:12:25

I also have CCHB, but unlike you my rate didn't go up at all, it stayed under 50 no matter what I did. That was in the 70's, back then pm's were huge and not very sophisticated so they didn't give them to kids unless it was life and death. I got by but sports were not a possibility, I was the best scorekeeper in PE class. So, add me to the list of very impressed with your athletic abilities!! And a little jealous :)

As Inga said, wait if you can. As long as you can be active and you feel good, leave well enough alone. If/when you start to struggle to do the things you've always done, when you get dizzy and tired more easily, when you struggle to run, that's when it's time to look into the pm. I started to feel worse in my early 20's, got my first pm at 27. We're all different, there have been a couple of people here who felt great well into their 30's before they needed it, a few later than that or even never.

It's likely that eventually you will have trouble doing what you are doing now. When that day comes, know that there is an easy fix. Heart block is the easiest condition to fix with a pm, the heart's natural pacemaker (sinus node) works perfectly normally, all the pm does is complete the broken circuit by helping the ventricles to beat when the atria does. But who knows when??? You've already beaten the odds with your running ability so fingers crossed you continue to defy the odds for many years to come.

Good luck to you!

Whoa

by ElectricFrank - 2012-12-31 01:12:45

With complete block there is no conduction between the atrium and ventricles so they don't track increased rate with exercise. If your heart goes up to 155 with exercise I would seriously question the Complete Heart Block diagnosis.I have completed block and without the pacer my HR is about 35 and stays there even with exercise.

Have you ever had an independent evaluation by a cardiologist that isn't looking at your previous records? I was diagnosed with heart murmur when I was around 12 yrs old. I carried the diagnosis on my records with every new doc hearing it until I was 22. At that point my draft board called me in for a physical and guess what? No murmur. I tried to stay out of the Army by getting an independent opinion, but this doc couldn't find it either. So I spent 2 yrs in the Army.

There is a tendency for docs to just follow your medical records and "find" what the doc before "found".

And by the way a pacer isn't likely to improve your performance much if you have HR tracking you mention.

frank

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