Is It Safe To Experience Extreme Changes In Temperature When Diagnosed With Low BP?

Posted on Sat, 29 Oct 2016

Question: My 71 year old husband was diagnosed with asymptomatic A-fib 5 months ago for which he takes medication. He's very fit and always has been, never experienced breathlessness, swollen ankles or anything else associated with atrial fibrillation. We wear fitness monitors and his resting heart rate is normally around 60-70. BP is always round the 110/60 mark or within normal range. We routinely walk 10,000 - 20,000 steps a day and bike riding is no problem plus gym. We are off to a German thermal spa soon with 30 different types of sauna, steam, jacuzzi treatments etc. Many of these will involve big variations in temperature followed by cold plunge pools, showers etc. We've always used saunas before the A-fib diagnosis. Does he need to be careful?

Answered by Dr. Ilir Sharka (34 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
I would recommend as follows:

Detailed Answer:
Hello!

Thank you for asking on HCM!

I carefully passed through your question and would explain that the extreme changes in temperature ( in sauna, jacuzzi, etc.) Can lead to possible low blood pressure and syncope.

As he is taking xarelto, he is at increased risk of bleeding if he falls during a syncope.

Another risk is the possibility of dehydration and electrolytes imbalance caused by increased sweating, which can trigger a cardiac arrhythmia or syncope.

So I would recommend to be very careful and avoid staying in extreme temperatures.

Hope to have been helpful!

Kind regards,

Dr. Iliri

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar