J.J. Watt Went Into AFib This Week, Playing Today…

[MillionDollarCam]

So this is pretty wild…

The most recent incident of a fairly famous professional athlete suffering from a heart issue occurred in the sport of soccer when Denmark’s, Christian Ericksen, collapsed on the field… he was out for months… I’m not entirely sure how Watt gets cleared here.

Edited October 2, 2022 by MillionDollarCam

[SmokinwithWilly]

As someone who's dealt with it for years, it really friends on the severity. My doctor gave me nitro for the bad occurances which would cause me to reset. I would be down for a day then back to normal. 

[MillionDollarCam]

Just now, SmokinwithWilly said:

As someone who's dealt with it for years, it really friends on the severity. My doctor gave me nitro for the bad occurances which would cause me to reset. I would be down for a day then back to normal. 

Interesting, thanks for sharing as I’m not too familiar with it. Do you feel any different when you are out and about and exercising? Was just curious as to whether or not exercise could cause some sort of major issue for Watt.

[klumme]

28 minutes ago, MillionDollarCam said:

 

So this is pretty wild…

The most recent incident of a fairly famous professional athlete suffering from a heart issue occurred in the sport of soccer when Denmark’s, Christian Ericksen, collapsed on the field… he was out for months… I’m not entirely sure how Watt gets cleared here.

Eriksens heart stopped and he was dead on the pitch, not exactly the same thing and one of the reason he was out so long was he played in Italy where you are not allowed to play with at pacemaker. 

Nonetheless crazy Watt can play today.

[Jackie Lee]

Crazy he's still playing in general. He's been injured for like 7 years straight it feels like

[Ted Ginn Jr.'s Hands]

I'd also add some cases can be treated with medication.  I had afib / vtach episodes in my youth.  They tried an ablation (essentially burning out irregular electrical signals) but didn't think that was successful.  They put in an ICD (internal cardio defibrillator) which is what the soccer player got.  The medication has been successful at preventing arrhythmias for 20 years (knock on wood), so when I needed new ICD a few years ago, they just took the whole thing out.

Can't comment on Watt's case, but that was my experience.

[MillionDollarCam]

7 minutes ago, klumme said:

Eriksens heart stopped and he was dead on the pitch, not exactly the same thing and one of the reason he was out so long was he played in Italy where you are not allowed to play with at pacemaker. 

Nonetheless crazy Watt can play today.

Yes, but just using it as an example. I’m not terribly familiar with AFib but figured that team doctors would take the situation rather seriously if it could potentially lead to a clot or heart stoppage.

[Peon Awesome]

What Ericksen had was likely Vfib, not afib. Most people with afib have no symptoms. It can be an issue if the heart rate gets too high, where someone might feel palpitations, light-headedness, chest pain and/or shortness of breath, but more often than not, patients don't even know when they have it until it comes up incidentally on an EKG or heart monitor. Meanwhile, Vfib causes cardiac arrest and death if not treated immediately. While I'm surprised Watt is playing the same week as a cardioversion, it's not completely outlandish if the shocking reverted him to a normal rhythm. That being said patients often eventually jump back into afib again even after the shock. So there's a good chance this might not be the end of it for him.

[Proudiddy]

35 minutes ago, MillionDollarCam said:

Yes, but just using it as an example. I’m not terribly familiar with AFib but figured that team doctors would take the situation rather seriously if it could potentially lead to a clot or heart stoppage.

(edited out misinformation)

...but when I read up on it some time back, I was actually surprised with how conservatively it is often treated. 

Edited October 2, 2022 by Proudiddy
misinformation

[MillionDollarCam]

Just now, Proudiddy said:

From memory, and i dont want to speak out of turn but, I don't think clots are a risk at all, it's just the irregular heart beat and an increased risk for a cardiac event and/or stroke...  but when I read up on it some time back, I was actually surprised with how conservatively it is often treated. 

Gotcha, I don’t know anything about the medical field so just seeing that there was something wrong with Watt’s heart and subsequently seeing that he was playing today was shocking, but I guess there are situations where it isn’t overtly serious.

[SmokinwithWilly]

48 minutes ago, MillionDollarCam said:

Interesting, thanks for sharing as I’m not too familiar with it. Do you feel any different when you are out and about and exercising? Was just curious as to whether or not exercise could cause some sort of major issue for Watt.

No. I'm fine and then it hits. It starts with what I can only describe as a quiver in the heart muscle, then it gets out out sync. When it happens there's no mistaking it. After the nitro and recovery I have to take it easy for a day because of the after effects. Then ease back into my regular work load as my body feels better. It's some scary poo, not gonna lie. Had it happen in the middle of an apartment complex and ended up laying in the middle of the green space for an hour before coming too. 

[Peon Awesome]

8 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

From memory, and i dont want to speak out of turn but, I don't think clots are a risk at all, it's just the irregular heart beat and an increased risk for a cardiac event and/or stroke...  but when I read up on it some time back, I was actually surprised with how conservatively it is often treated. 

Actually that is the one complicating factor in all this. Because afib results in erratic heart contractions, sometimes blood can pool into one corner of the heart that's not contracting well and form a clot. The clot can eventually get dislodged and enter the circulation to the brain and cause a stroke. Since afib has a high chance of recurring even after a shock, many people are on blood thinners even if they fix the afib. Doubt Watt could play on blood thinners given higher risk of internal bleeding with collisions. My guess is the team decided since Watt can be monitored so frequently, they'll catch any afib recurrence early and preempt the need for blood thinners.

[TrevorLaurenceTime22]

Guy hasn't had more than 4 sacks in four seasons....

[Proudiddy]

5 minutes ago, Peon Awesome said:

Actually that is the one complicating factor in all this. Because afib results in erratic heart contractions, sometimes blood can pool into one corner of the heart that's not contracting well and form a clot. The clot can eventually get dislodged and enter the circulation to the brain and cause a stroke. Since afib has a high chance of recurring even after a shock, many people are on blood thinners even if they fix the afib. Doubt Watt could play on blood thinners given higher risk of internal bleeding with collisions. My guess is the team decided since Watt can be monitored so frequently, they'll catch any afib recurrence early and preempt the need for blood thinners.

Wow...  I'm an idiot.  Typed stroke and completely disregarded clots are the cause of stroke lol.  I just remembered reading that although it can be dangerous, that it seemed it was often treated conservatively and a lot of people just lived with it, and I was a bit shocked by that.

Thank you for the very informative post!