How ESPNs Mike Greenberg got his life back after scary health issue: I couldnt live like that

“The sleepless nights, the anxiety — I wouldn’t have made it.” In an emotional interview with The Post, ESPN host Mike Greenberg recalled living in fear of his own body after being diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, also known as AFib, the most common cardiac arrhythmia — or irregular heartbeat — in 2015.“At first, it was manageable with meds, I was on beta blockers and used a ‘pill-in-the-pocket’ approach,” Greenberg, 57, said.“It worked — until it didn’t.” The father of two was rushed to the hospital after his heart rate significantly spiked and he thought he was having a heart attack.“I was in my mid-40s, I was just sitting on my couch and suddenly felt my heart racing up in the 160s or 170s,” he said.

“Imagine sprinting on a treadmill, that was my heart rate while sitting.” Greenberg, the host of “Get Up” and “Sunday NFL Countdown,” recalled years of going to bed scared because he was waiting for “another episode” to occur.“The episodes became more frequent,” he said.“The meds didn’t stop them anymore.

I’d lay awake at night feeling my heart race, frustrated and scared.“The moment that pushed me to act was in summer 2022.My wife [Stacey] and I went to Burgundy, France — my favorite wine region.

But I was afraid to enjoy it.I was sipping tiny amounts, scared of setting off an episode.

That trip was one of many other moments that made me realize, I couldn’t live like that.”Greenberg was working seven days per week at ESPN and had a wake-up time of 3 a.m., while keeping his condition private at the time.There came a point where his condition worsened and it took a toll on every aspect of his life.In March 2023, Greenberg sought a second opinion and Dr.Jim Cheung recommended a catheter ablation procedure, which is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure to treat AFib.He slept in his own bed the night of the procedure, was back at work within a week and has been symptom-free ever since. “Th...