Can exercises be performed in chronic A-fib?
Patient: I am 70 years old and suffered a stroke aprox 18 months ago after being diagnosed with chronic afib. I am taking Coumadin and Toprol XL as medications at present. My question is related to exercise. Can I exercise with this condition. My at rest heartrate is usually between 95 and 110 beats per min. I have been reluctant to exercise because I fear my heart rate will increase to a very high rate. I cannot seem to get a definitive answer to this question. Can you help? Doctor: Hello Welcome to HCM In chronic atrial fibrillation important thing is to keep the ventricular rate under control. You heart rate seems to be well under control with the toprolol. Exercise can increase the heart rate. So strwnous exercises should be avoided. You can do do daily brisk walks and can walk on treadmill. You can keep a pulse oxymeter to monitor the heart rate. It should not go above 120 per minute. You can do short duration exercise with five minute intervals to allow heart rate to settle in between . Wishing you good health. Regards.