I have a question about a personal medical mystery:
I've had paroxysmal AF for 25 years. The trigger is always cold drink or food, and onset is almost always in the evening. Episode of AF lasts 4-8 hours, until my heart resets itself back in sinus rhythm. I have an average of 3 to 4 episodes a year and I do not take any medication since the AF occurs so infrequently. I work out every other day (power walk and weights). I'm 6'2 and 170 lbs. My resting pulse is 58 and my BP is 110/70 and resting O level is 98%. I do not drink or smoke. I am in excellent health except for the following medical mystery: for some odd reason, I cannot run. The moment I try, I get a sharp constricting pain in the center of my chest that forces me to stop running, and then the pain goes away instantly. At first I thought of angina triggered by effort, yet that chest pain is never triggered by any other type of intense muscular activity. I power walk, lift weights regularly and practice martial arts without any such problem. My coronaries have been checked and show no pathology and my EKGs, blood work and stress tests are all normal (except for the fact that by the time I reached the higher level of the stress test and began to run on that treadmill, the pain appeared and I had to stop running.) There were no anomalies or abnormal ST intervals on the graphs. I had an isotope cardiac test and even a 3D heart scan that showed no structural or valve problems.
So I’d love to get an answer to my question: Why on earth do I get this disabling pain only when I try to run?
Thank you