Sudden cardiac arrest during sport

[Rossi_h]

I used to have a really bad fear of cardiac arrest caused by heart arrhythmia to the point that even though I’m 32 I've probably had roughly 32 ECGs and I have had a stress (treadmill) Test, a holter monitor, and an echocardiogram (10 years ago) Nothing abnormal was ever found. I think the fear stems from the lack of control over it all; if I was to have an arrhythmia during a football match there'd be absolutely nothing I could do about it. Now after the euros with Christian erikson and now 2/3 lads aged between 17-25 all dying during football and rugby matches due to cardiac arrest my fear is back! I played football yesterday and that’s all I could think about all game and I played very poorly because of it!

The cardiac arrest fear comes to me in waves and it is triggered every time someone dies during a game of sport! It's so annoying because I've been having a 24 hour panic attack ever since I read the story. I am now convincing myself that because I've felt unwell lately with left shoulder pain and some dizziness, something is wrong with my heart. I had an ECG done 2 weeks ago at the drs as I explained my fears and he said it’s all normal. Happy for me to have chest x ray and 24 hour monitor if wanted.

With the information overload in the modern world, I feel it's impossible to avoid these trigger stories. It's easy to click an article when you see someone has died and then you only found out while reading it what the cause was. And your health anxiety goes into overdrive. I'm not sure what advice I'm looking for but I need to get this stuff off my chest to people who might understand. I'm getting tired of it all, it feels like health anxiety will never go away. In fact, it'll likely get worse and I just got want to enjoy playing sport, but I’m feeling like giving up all sport 😞 x

[JulieJay92]

i suffered this too even though i dont play sport, i got over it to a certain extent by rationalising to myself that they could well have had an underlying/undected problem for many years and also their own family history - ie hereditry etc etc

not sure if this will help but it did ease my anxiety and ive also had numerous ecgs and last this easter also normal

[iwantpeace]

you should know that these are very rare cases that are caused by rare genetic mutations. Cardiac arrest happens for a reason, something has to go terribly wrong in order for someone to have it. They may look like they come out of the blue but the is an underling heart or genetic defect that causes the cardiac arrest.

[smcca1983]

Hey , I realise this is an old post but just wanted to say I have Wolffe Parkinson White syndrome. It’s one of the three main conditions that can cause cardiac arrest on the sports field.

I wanted to reassure you that it’s picked up on ecg- even if I’m not having an attack or any symptoms. As are the other conditions that can cause fatal arrhythmia’s.. if your ecg says everything is good. Then it is… Also wanted to add I’m 38, I was born with my condition , a little genetic defect.. my WPW is considered ‘relatively safe’ , it is extremely rare even with my diagnosed case, to just have a sudden cardiac arrest. I hope this helps relieve some of the anxiety .. best wishes!