On January 6th I went out for a 2 hour ride and whilst making my way on a flat road 6 miles from home, I was having heart palpitations for around a minute or so.
I've had the odd one before but for this episode to last so long, was unnerving. They eventually stopped as I slowed my pace right down but my HR was increasing. I thought that it might correct itself on the journey home. After an hour at home the HR didn't come down, in fact, it went up to around 170 bpm.
My partner drove me to A&E and I was admitted for two days. I was given a 23 hour infusion which brought my HR back to normal. I had 2 ECG's and the
X-RAY and Echocardigraph were all clear.
The consultant told me I had an Atrial Flutter and obviously I was keen on what he thought may have triggered the episode.
He told me that my white blood cell count was slightly raised and that I had an underlying infection which was a possible contributor and for this he put me on Antibiotics. He also thought that the amount of alcohol I consumed on New Years Eve, contributed. Now, I very rarely drink, I probably have a couple of bottles of beer once in a blue moon. On this particular night, I drank 3 large Gins, 4 beers and two glasses of Champagne over a period of around 7 hours.
Believe me, that will never happen again. I was surprised though to think this would have an effect 5 days later.
I was given the all clear, told to rest for four weeks and discharged without any meds. The consultant said he had no reason as to why I can't go back to carrying on the way I did on the bike. He did say he'd like to do a check up in three months.
The thing is, due to my work commitments, I don't get out on the bike as regularly as I used to. The last two years or so, I will often go without riding for up to two weeks and then when I do, I go out hard.
Also, I like coffee, I'll have maybe four or five a day. Now after that small drama, I've restricted it to just one 'Proper' coffee in the morning and then the rest are decaf.
As from next week I'm back on the bike and I'll admit that I'm nervous about it. Be sure that I'll be building it back up slowly.