"Fear" when swimming/running

[Jen]

Hi everyone! So, I am now 8 months out of AVR. Doing great - jogged/walked a couple 5k's and an 8k, joined a tri training group a month ago. This is where my question comes in. We swim 2 times per week, right now we are doing around 2000+yds each time. I do great for the first 45 minutes or so (it takes me a good 1.5 hours to finish with the drills and such) When we do the longer swims, i.e. 300 yard timed, I get this overwhelming feeling that I will drown.. I know I have a mental block for some reason, and I have narrowed it down to I have a fear of having a heart attack or something when I am in the middle of the pool, or the middle of a interval run... Does anyone else have that "fear" after OHS and what did you do to help fix it?? Does anyone else out there know this feeling??

THanks!!

 

[tprice54]

Congrats on getting into tri's....it I a tough sport. I run, bike, but swim similar to a rock, so tri's are not my sport. My guess is that you are getting that "fear" when your are going all out and start to go into oxygen debt (timed swim, timed run). The best thing may be to work up to these maximum events more slowly....

 

[Bill B]

Can I just ask why you fear a "heart attack" specifically? I mean, having an AVR has NOTHING to do with the possibility of having a heart attack. They are totally unrelated. Heart attacks are from coronary artery disease, not valve issues. They are independent matters.

And BTW, I admire that you are fit enough to even swim half the distance you are siwmming. I couldn't go 100 yards. Maybe you need to go at this just a bit more slowly until you gain some confidence that something is not likely to go wrong.

 

[Jen]

I don't know why I have that fear. I just get 1/2 way out in the lane and sometimes I will start to hyperventilate, it does not happen all the time.. and like when I am running, i am just "afraid" something will happen so I am afraid to push myself like I know I can... I know AVR has nothing to do with CAD, but for some reason I just have that underlying fear... If I go slow and steady for the most part I am OK, but when I strt to push a little, that is when it happens.. maybe that was not a good way to put it.. I guess I am more just curious if anyone else has had taht fear of "If I push hard will I hurt what I have had fixed".. does this make better sense?

 

[Bill B]

Can't say I have had this fear when exercising, even when I push as hard as I can on the rowing machine, pretty much to total exhaustion. So, at this point, I can't offer any insight other than it is not rational, which you seem to understand. It is understandable to be more sensitive to body signals and sensations than before the surgery, worrying that they might mean something more significant. It's hard to have 100% faith in that artificial valve even though my surgeon was very clear when he said that after recovery I could do ANYTHING I wanted with no restrictions at all. So, some part of your brain appears to be interpreting the sensation of breathlessness and muscle fatigue as a warning sign of something more significant than it is. These valves just plain work no matter how hard you push. I was worried my aortic arch patch job might be a hazard, but my surgeon said it's as good as new and not a weakspot at all.

 

[johnp]

I've had this fear while exercising. But for good reason. I had very serious issues before surgery (cardiac arrest treated by an icd). But then I came to the conclusion of not exercising was much more frightening.

Not sure what your history is in endurance sports and or if you are on any medications. This matters.

As for the swimming, it might be better to grab your own lane at a separate time, and see how you are building endurance. Get yourself a hr monitor. Swimming is more about efficient form anyway. Very important to feel comfortable at a given pace and to keep your breathing measured. Every race I ever did I see people at the 200 yd mark who are overcome with panic or tried to push too hard and they stop to catch breath and calm down.

You should also ask your dr for a graduated exercise stress test.

(1.5 hr swim workouts? Timed swims? I train with a tri team and some do the ironman distances, we seldom swim for more than 60 minutes per session, how much biking and running are you doing per week?)

 

[SumoRunner]

Sure, I had those fears way back in the beginning, but that was before the internet and any support group such as this. I had no one to turn to for advice on how much, how hard, how often. The thing you can do now to alleviate your fears that I couldn't do years ago, is listen to this crew here. Mostly though, just slow down a little.

 

[carolinagirl]

Hi Jen,

This is my very first post on valvereplacement.com although I have been stalking the site for almost three years now. Reading this post prompted me to register though. I, too, am in Rock Hill. I am not a triathlete, but since my Oct 2009 AVR have taken up running and absolutely love it! Wanted to introduce myself since we are in the same city. I had my AVR at CMC and my cardiologist is at Sanger. Are you training on your own or with a group?

 

[spartangator]

Hi Jen,
Those concerns happen. As others have said, you're still settling in after a big change on several levels. Part of it will fade over time as you develop more confidence in your health by seeing that you can, in fact, perform. One thing that helped me was an HR monitor. During runs, I found it helpful to look down, see the number, and know that everything was working just fine.

 

[Richard Gardner]

Hi Jen,
I haven't experienced the fear you're talking about although I have a friend who has. She is recovering from cardiac amyloidosis (spelling?) and she too has a fear of a heart attack when exercising and heart attack and her issue are totally unrelated. She found in helpful to go to cardiac rehab where they can monitor everything as she exercises until she feels confident enough to do so on her own. She's only up to 8 minutes on the treadmill (walking I think) so she's no where near being in your ballpark as far as exercise and endurance goes...but...just thought I'd share that for what it may be worth.
Good luck,
Richard

 

[Jeff Edmonton]

I used to be a strong swimmer and find now that I have my good days swimming and bad days. I find my lung capacity varies and struggle some days swimming. I just passed a off shore survival course which required me to flip over in a helicopter simulator and did lots of swimming to prepare myself. I enjoy swimming more than running now because of a bum knee but envy you for being involved in a tri-Athlon sport. My advice would be to pace yourself and take breaks as often as you need and not worry about it. Eventually you will get stronger, it has only been 8 months since your surgery.

 

[haggis basher]

Can't say I have had this fear when exercising, even when I push as hard as I can on the rowing machine, pretty much to total exhaustion. So, at this point, I can't offer any insight other than it is not rational, which you seem to understand. It is understandable to be more sensitive to body signals and sensations than before the surgery, worrying that they might mean something more significant. It's hard to have 100% faith in that artificial valve even though my surgeon was very clear when he said that after recovery I could do ANYTHING I wanted with no restrictions at all. So, some part of your brain appears to be interpreting the sensation of breathlessness and muscle fatigue as a warning sign of something more significant than it is. These valves just plain work no matter how hard you push. I was worried my aortic arch patch job might be a hazard, but my surgeon said it's as good as new and not a weakspot at all.

Hi Bill B
I am 8 months after AVR, same as Jen. I was rather scared to speed up in my running thinking that I
might have a heart-attack or something. I suffered from breathlessness, and fatigue when I ran, which made me worry more. I changed my thinking last saturday (club 3km x-country) and ran confidently all the way in a relaxed manner
in 18min 25sec (72age)
Reading your reply to Jen, has relieved me of a lot of my fears and misunderstandings, and given me confidence to expand (slowly) my running distance.
See Ya Pal
Brian

 

[RunMartin]

I do most of my training on my own. I swim and run everyday and it was in the swimming pool, pre surgery, that I had the funny feeling something was not quite right (pulse rate was very high). I ended up in hospital where I was told it was now time for surgery after all these years of waiting.

When I first got back in the pool after surgery I took it really easy. I did not like being in the pool on my own in case anything happened and would be constantly analysing any odd feeling in case something bad was happening to my heart. Now I push it 100% and I do not even think I have had heart surgery whilst swimming. I even do open water swimming now - up to 3.8K in distance.

Running took longer to feel comfortable with. Early on I did not like to be in places where there were not many people about and especially not far from where I had set off from in case anything happened. I run in the countryside, especially up hills and have recently been training for a long distance hill race (24 miles) that used to be important to me. This race is in two weeks and I am really looking forward to it. I have had to do much longer training runs and other long races to train for this. I have just got my weight down to my old racing weight and I feel 100% better and more confident than even 6 months ago. I now do not give it a second thought about where I am going and how far it is to get back. I do always now take my mobile phone with me and wear an identity band on my wrist. What I have found/learnt is that it takes time to get back to normal. It is not a race to get back to normal, i.e. in the shortest possible time. The fears will eventually subside as confidence and healing improve. It took much much longer than I thought to get back to somewhere near where I want to be. I am just a little slower now but I have learnt to enjoy myself as I am now. I wish I had known this before surgery as it would have made my recovery so much easier, i.e. less expectation and give the body chance to recover.