Dear All

I am a 32 years old male and for the past 3 years have noticed a marked decrease in my ability to exercise. Until that point I would regularly run and cycle (2 to three times a week), and was considered one of the fittest amongst my cycling and running peers.

I am now at the point where I really struggle during football training, have had to stop cycling to work (32 mile round trip), and struggle to keep up with peers on basic runs and cycles. I now even find it difficult to talk when walking up a slight incline.

I feel this is all linked to my heart and or lungs. I have palpitations, and have had episodes of irregular heart rate. My pulse on waking is 42, but often during the day this will drop into the 30s and become quite punchy (it has been recorded at 32) – this can be when I am walking around, not necessarily when resting. Conversely, when exercising my pulse goes high for a minimal effort – keeping below 150 bpm at a steady jog on the flat is difficult. I no longer get that wonderful tired feeling you get after a good run; I just feel weak throughout and burn out after a short time.

I have had a holter (4 months ago) and ultra sound of the heart (18 months ago) and both came back as no further action – the cardiologist said that if I could still cycle 16 miles in a day there couldn’t be anything wrong as he couldn’t. No doctor has ever mentioned my low heart rate - my doctor has now suggested psycho-therapy.

Since October I have started to get very tight feelings in the top of my chest, and this makes me feel quite breathless, this also makes me feel quite light headed and vacant. This often happens at work and it makes it very hard to concentrate. These symptoms are more pronounced when my heart rate drops into the 30s.

I am really at the end of my tether with all this now, as the whole thing is having an enormous impact on my standard of living. I can cope with the palpitations and irregular hart rate, but the inability to exercise and vacant feeling are really getting me down.

I am hoping that someone out there will be able to offer a little help to me; perhaps pointing me in the direction of a sports medical practitioner I could go and see to help me work out what is going on – I live in the Derby / Nottingham area.

I would be incredibly grateful for any help anyone could offer.

Many thanks

Paul