… of nasal decongestant ???
Last Wednesday (March 27th) I was at the end of one of the harder 2k rows I’ve done lately and since I typically sprint the last 500 or so meters, at the end my HR (displayed on the C2 rower, based on data transmitted by my Garmin chest strap) peaked at 171 bpm. (In my two previous, a bit less intense, workouts my max had been 167 and 168. These days I’d guess that my absolute max HR is in the low to mid 170s.) After the distance counted down to 0, I did what I usually do, which is take a few seconds to catch my breath, then I glanced at the HR display to see how well that was recovering, and to my surprise, instead of starting to come back down it was well over 200 bpm.
I checked the chest strap and the contact was good and the display still above 200. Other than being wiped out due to the effort, I felt fine and normal (for the end of a hard row). I then took my pulse manually at my wrist, and sure enough, it felt as if there was something irregular going on. Finally, maybe 30-60 seconds after I’d stopped rowing, I saw that my HR had dropped down to around 130 bpm, and it then continued going down.
Because I felt 100% normal I wasn’t too worried, but since it could potentially be a serious thing that a) could affect my health, or b) affect my training, I didn’t just dismiss the whole thing as nothing, or “bad data” from the Garmin. It then occurred to me that earlier that day I had taken a new-to-me nasal spray decongestant (Mucinex Sinus Max nasal spray, which contains oxymetazoline hydrochloride – see links below for more info) not because I had a cold, but to clear my left eustachian tube, which was blocked up. (I'd never taken this before, but I was going to fly to Boston on Thursday and the last time I flew with a cold and couldn't clear my ears the descent was very painful, so I took the decongetant to Wednesday as a test to see if it would help with my ear, and as it turns out, it did a good job of that. Normally if I have a cold that's bad enough to require decongestant I'm not going to be exercising much, if at all, but this time I didn't have a cold and was going pretty hard.) I looked up the nasal spray and found what you see below.
Yesterday I did another session on the erg (without any decongestant) and limited my HR to 150 BPM and had no issues at all. On Monday I have an appointment with my PCP, and we’ll see what he thinks of the situation. I’d like to do a stress test to see if they find anything strange and confirm that I’m fine.
Has anyone had something similar happen to them?
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https://www.mucinex.com/products/muc...-sinus-allergy
https://www.drugs.com/sfx/oxymetazol...e-effects.html
Serious side effects of Oxymetazoline nasal
Along with its needed effects, oxymetazoline nasal may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.
Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur while taking oxymetazoline nasal:
• Blurred vision
• fast, irregular, or pounding heartbeat
• headache, dizziness, drowsiness, or lightheadedness
• high blood pressure
For Healthcare Professionals
Applies to oxymetazoline nasal: nasal solution, nasal spray.
Cardiovascular
Very rare (less than 0.01%): Tachycardia, palpitations, increased blood pressure