Fear of Exercising after Muamba incident

roro_utd

After hearing the horrible story of Fabrice Muamba, and seeing as I was already pretty bad for health anxiety, I'm actually afraid to exercise anymore. It might sound weird, but I've heard so many stories of players in many sports dying suddenly and I know Muamba gladly hasn't passed away yet, the thoughts of something like that happening while exercising freaks me out. I've never been screened for any heart defects, can you simply just go to your GP and ask to be screened? Would the waiting list for something like that be long? I find that the thoughts of exercising and just collapsing in cardiac arrest puts me off it completely. Anyone else have this fear? I'm probably being irrational but I can't help it

NIMAN

Its still incredibly rare, I wouldn't let something like this put me off.

For all we know, these athletes may have had defects they knew nothing about.

roro_utd

NIMAN wrote: »

Its still incredibly rare, I wouldn't let something like this put me off.

For all we know, these athletes may have had defects they knew nothing about.

Yeah I was thinking of that aswell, like it isn't very common. I think the fact I haven't ever been tested for anything like that is worsening the fear

NIMAN

But no-one will be tested for it, unless they have had something that had scared them into going to the GP to be checked out.

I am in my 40s and play football. I get the odd chest pain but I just put it down to the odd pain and nothing more. Humans get pains. Who knows I might drop dead some day, but then again chances are I won't die on a football pitch.

If it is really worrying you, go and see your GP, but I think stopping any form of exercise will be counter productive in the long run. You will age, become more inactive, get more unhealthy, put on weight etc etc, and as a result increase your chances of ill health.

robinph

No reason to not get checked out if you have a concern... but... you are far more likely to end up with some heath issue if you don't exercise than you are if you do. Assuming that you're not about to take up some extreme sport?

SteelyDanJalapeno

its much more dangerous to not exercise at all

roro_utd

I do get chest pains sometimes, like just random ones but they go away. Everyone guess pains I guess, it's mainly the fear that I could drop dead any second while exercising, kinda puts me off it. I should probably just go for tests to be sure because I won't enjoy the exercise if I have this lingering fear in my mind

NIMAN

Is this the only fear you have? And did it just arrive after the Muamba incident?

Do you fear dying in a plane crash, a car accident etc?

Hanley

Did I hear a figure of 1 in 300 with the potential to have a similar issue? That's not to say its guaranteed to kill you.

Plus Muamba, CormacMc etc etc were all incredibly fit sportsmen putting massive amounts of stress on their bodies. I'd be surprised to see a similar effect from casual training.

But if it's a big deal, just get checked out. Personal responsibility and all that!

Maybe_Memories

OP an account from someone who went through the entire screening process might be helpful.

Four years ago when I was 15 I used to get palpitations, the feeling when you'r heart skips a beat. Not very regularly, about one every few months. My mother took me to Dr. Clarke in Aut Even in Kilkenny who had me did an Echo and ECG. I also had to wear a monitor for 24 hours. Everything came back normal and that was that.

However, a few months ago when I started training for the military I started getting very frequent palpitations (a few a DAY!) and when I sprinted a tightness in my chest. My GP told me to definitely go back to the cardiologist as people who experience both of these symptoms are at a risk of dropping dead during exercise. A small risk, but still a risk. Dr. Clarke gave me an event monitor to record whenever I had palpitations so he could see what the heart was doing at that time. Went back down to him and he told me everything was 100% normal. I said to him "So there's no chance of me dropping dead from exercise?" and he replied with "absolutely not, but if you do you'll be the first to know." haha He also put the chest pain down to me being unfit at the start of the training (which I was)

But since I was applying for the military I said they might make a bit of an issue out of it, so he sent me for a cardiac MRI scan. That was in the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin. During the MRI it was 45 minutes of inhaling, exhaling and holding my breath, then I had contrast dye injected, then more breathing patterns for them to examine.

Had the results in two weeks, and was told my heart was 100% structurally normal, and in the vast vast majority of people who die during exercise it's caused by an undiagnosed structural heart defect. Although there are some people who have things like Long QT Syndrome which makes exercising dangerous as well but I'm pretty sure that's all looked for during the ECG and whatnot.

Oddly enough I was never given a stress test, but whatever, I still get the daily palpitations but I can enjoy my exercise now worry free.


I'd definitely recommend getting an Echo, ECG and Stress test done, just to put your mind at ease. The don't cost a lot.

Also, look at it like this; you're heart is a muscle. Compare it to your other muscles. If you try bench pressing 100kg at the very start you wont be able to. If you try it with 50 kg you might be but after maybe two reps you'll hit muscle failure and wont be able to do anymore. But if you start with really low weights you'll be able to do lots and lots of reps. Same with your heart. If you go for a light run you'll be able to do it for a long time with little strain on your heart. But if you go sprinting a marathon you'll probably get heart failure. :pac:

Long story short; get checked out, and as long as you're not absolutely destroying your heart every workout you'll be grand.

kevpants

roro_utd wrote: »

After hearing the horrible story of Fabrice Muamba, and seeing as I was already pretty bad for health anxiety, I'm actually afraid to exercise anymore. It might sound weird, but I've heard so many stories of players in many sports dying suddenly and I know Muamba gladly hasn't passed away yet, the thoughts of something like that happening while exercising freaks me out. I've never been screened for any heart defects, can you simply just go to your GP and ask to be screened? Would the waiting list for something like that be long? I find that the thoughts of exercising and just collapsing in cardiac arrest puts me off it completely. Anyone else have this fear? I'm probably being irrational but I can't help it

At the risk of turning this into a psychology thread. Your issue isn’t with a potential heart defect or dropping dead or Fabrice Muamba. Your issue is clearly with anxiety. Think about it, do you really think you’re going to collapse like Muamba or is it that you can’t convince yourself you wont?. The only thing I can tell you for 100% certainty is that getting screened will do nothing to alleviate the irrational anxiety you’re feeling. After the heart thing has passed you’ll no doubt move on to some other neurosis. I’d recommend you take the time, effort and money you are considering spending on a cardiologist and look into something like cognitive behavioural therapy.

Sorry for bringing this kinda off topic but I see some pretty obvious warning signs here.

Del007

It actually happened a buddy of me a few months back. Luckily he survived thanks to amazing people in the gym.

He went for a stress test the other day and they couldn't find anything wrong with his heart. I don't think it's detectable

cc87

This was one of the better articles i read about it

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/mar/18/heart-disorder-hocum-fabrice-muamba

roro_utd

kevpants wrote: »

At the risk of turning this into a psychology thread. Your issue isn’t with a potential heart defect or dropping dead or Fabrice Muamba. Your issue is clearly with anxiety. Think about it, do you really think you’re going to collapse like Muamba or is it that you can’t convince yourself you wont?. The only thing I can tell you for 100% certainty is that getting screened will do nothing to alleviate the irrational anxiety you’re feeling. After the heart thing has passed you’ll no doubt move on to some other neurosis. I’d recommend you take the time, effort and money you are considering spending on a cardiologist and look into something like cognitive behavioural therapy.

Sorry for bringing this kinda off topic but I see some pretty obvious warning signs here.

Yeah i agree like i know myself that i'm a terrible worrier when it comes to health related stuff. I talked to someone about it before and they suggested all them breathing exercises etc but didn't really seem to help. Then for a few years my health anxiety kinda went away...only recently split up wit a girlfriend of three years and that seems to have coincided with the reappearance of my health worries. To answer your question, its more of a case of not being able to convince myself that it won't happen to me.

robinph

Try reading stuff about the health risks of sitting on the couch doing nothing rather than the ones to do with risks of exercise. Decide which is likely to be the safer option for your health and do that.

CL7

I'd recommend taking up meditation and cognitive behavioural therapy as well. From experience this will not go away on it 's own.

roro_utd

Dr. Strange wrote: »

I'd recommend taking up meditation and cognitive behavioural therapy as well. From experience this will not go away on it 's own.

Just to clarify, it's not like this is taking over my life or anything. Just a lingering fear that seemed to return after the incident at the weekend. I still played football yesterday for an hour or two and just ignored any stupid thoughts after a while. It's just a fear that's always been at the back of my mind and became more prominent over the weekend. By saying afraid to exercise...i particularly mean fear of exercising at a particularly intense level. I know deep down it's ridiculous to even waste time thinking about something like this. If it happens there's not much you can do about it anyway.

opinion guy

NIMAN wrote: »

But no-one will be tested for it, unless they have had something that had scared them into going to the GP to be checked out.

I am in my 40s and play football. I get the odd chest pain but I just put it down to the odd pain and nothing more. Humans get pains. Who knows I might drop dead some day, but then again chances are I won't die on a football pitch.

Eh...if you are getting chest pains when you exercise maybe you should be going to the GP yourself ?

kevpants

roro_utd wrote: »

Yeah i agree like i know myself that i'm a terrible worrier when it comes to health related stuff. I talked to someone about it before and they suggested all them breathing exercises etc but didn't really seem to help. Then for a few years my health anxiety kinda went away...only recently split up wit a girlfriend of three years and that seems to have coincided with the reappearance of my health worries. To answer your question, its more of a case of not being able to convince myself that it won't happen to me.

You're not anxious because of your breathing. The fact that it's health that you're worrying about is completely irrelevant it could be any scary thought. It's no coincidence that this period of irrational worrying occured after a rough time in your personal life. Believe it or not this is your brain trying to make you feel better. The key word is certainty. You are looking for it, it's not possible to find, the harder you look the more elusive it becomes and this CAN actually take over your life.

Don't want to turn this into a medical advice thread but every post trying to be helpful and explain the risks aren't that great actually feeds your problem a little bit more.

I'd say turn away from anything that reassures you about your heart worry and concentrate on the anxiety.

Dermighty

I used to get heart palpatations to beat the band, I had a hyperactive thyroid gland which drove my metabolism up the walls. Waking up int eh middle of the night with my heart racing, sweating profusely, feeling like I was having a heart attack (I wasn't!).

Though I had a confirmed medical issue, which has since been resolved ( ) I have to say that the psychological side of it stuck with me (unfortunately) and every now and then (when doing cardio) I worry that I might be pushing myself.

Then I remember than I don't worry about it when I have 100kg in my arms held above my face so why should I worry about it when I've only ona cross trainer. We're all going to die but if you eat well and exercise regularly then it's just bad luck if you do die suddenly, something that's out of your control.

So just enjoy exercise and realise that your body is a machine, so take care of it.

rocky

roro_utd wrote: »

Everyone guess pains I guess, it's mainly the fear that I could drop dead any second while exercising living, kinda puts me off it.

FYP