Afib

I am going to call my doctor tomorrow to let them know . What did your doctor recommend you to do when your heart rate went down that low? I know I feel tired all the time and a bit light headed .

What type of meds were you on at the time if you don't mind me asking .

I was on Losartan for my BP and Bisoprolol for the AF. I then became intolerant to Bisop and stopped it as I previously had Amiodrone.

I was on verapamil from 2000 until 2012 when I had my aortic valve replaced. My AF was the result of that operation.

After my 7 day monitor I was fitted with a pacemaker. Many people are not aware of their slow heart rates. When I has getting my pacemaker another patient had a heart rate of 26 bpm that was only found when he had a pre hip operation check up. He'd never noticed and he evidently had no prior problems.

Okay thank you for your fast reply . I was on verapamil when I first found out about my afib. Then I was taken off of that and put on Amiodrone which I had very bad results my afib seemed worse plus I was on metoprolol which did nothing for my high blood pressure but caused my heart rate to go to low. So they took me off of both and put me back on verapamil . Now I am wondering if it was the verapamil that caused my afib in the first place. I hope that you're doing much better with the pacemaker do you still have episodes of afib since the pacemaker?

Prior to having AF I had ectopic beats and a heart rate in the lowish 40's that I only noticed when I bought a BP monitor in 2001. At that time I had been taking verapamill for my BP for about 18 months so I wonder if it may have caused it.

The pacemaker does not stop AF it kicks in when my heart rate goes under 60 bpm or it has too long a pause between beats. The next thing is to have an AV Node ablation that makes the heart pacemaker dependent but you still have AF but supposedly the symptoms are less.

Have you asked about a Cardioversion?  I had two that each time put me back into NSR. Between the first two and since other medical procedures (colonoscopy and DRE) stimulated my vagus nerve and put me back into AF. 

I have paroxysmal Af my first episode I did have a Cardioversion. I've had episodes since but usually go back to NSR on its own. Well thank you so much for helping me understand a bit more about this condition . I will be calling my doctor in a few hours to make an appointment hopefully she will set me up with the seven day monitor to find out how low my heart rate is actually going and then take it from there . Thank you again

I too have PAF I take bisoprolol and flecainide, I have episodes but they dont last long. My cardiologist said that asprin was not being used now for  patients with AFiband that I should   be on blood thinners to prevent a stroke!!  I take Apixaban which is one of the new type blood thinners.

Do you find any things that start your AF up?  Quite a lot of people have triggers they try to avoid.

Mine starts after a meal.and after a glass of wine, so I have stopped the glass of wine. and I try to eat smaller meals I also only have decaff tea and coffee.( Oh lifes a bore isn't it!!!)

Blood thinners were never a option for me. I'm not sure why .

Coffee and stress . And I love coffee lol but I switched to decafe. What about your triggers ?

Do you feel bloated after meals? Pressure against the heart or vagus nerve can start it up. See what your Doc says about it after starting after meals. Most just give you a blank look at the suggestion.

I stopped real coffee as it tended to often give me heartburn but tea and Instant are OK. Sorry to hear about the wine as I sit drinking my glass of Fitou:-)

yes its better is I have much smaller meals. Enjoy your wine!!!!!!!!

Me? They say that I'm in permanent AF!

Does your afib cause you to feel fatigue and light headed ?

No fatigue but the cause of my being light headed is open for debate.

I blamed bisoprolol and when I stopped it only lessened. I blame AF my GP says No.  I have had a back problem for about the same lenght of time that might be the cause. I listed dizzyness and all my other problems the other day and looked at Losartan side effects and thought Bingo. My GP agreed that all could be associated with it and is referring me back to the Hypertension Centre. I said I'll stop Losartan he said just to reduce the dose. Will see what happens.  

Well good luck . Hope all turns out good for you .

Okay I remember why my cardiologist said I didn't have to take blood thinners . He said my Chad scores were low and all I needed was a rate control and two lose dose aspirins a day .

The consultant there previously suggested that I'm not truly hypertensive but have spikes so that causes BP meds to give me more/worse  side effects. When I called his bluff and said should I stop Losartan he said no.

My BP can drop from 210/110 in the morning to around 106/74 by afternoon. They keep on saying it is the average that counts! 

 

I have white coat syndrome , when at the doctors my bp runs high but once I calm down and go home my bp is normal. That's why I kinda think the verapamil was probably too strong for me and probably was the cause of my Af . What was your bp running before you even got on bp meds ? Was it normal throughout the day just the spikes in the morning ? I wonder why you had the spikes in the morning ? Do you have sleep apena ?

But then again those spikes were pretty high. I'm not sure if the spikes put you at risk for a stroke.

Oops I just caught that typo apnea not apena 😩 I have to blame auto correct on that one lol

Yes they do but doctors rather ignore that.

I obviously have white coat syndrome but something else does it overnight. I have no idea what my normal BP was prior to early 2000. It was checked at odd times without comment.

In 2000 I had chest discomfort that was my usual indigestion and went to the doctors to get something for it as I was about to go on holiday. She checked my BP at 210/110 (not much change over the years) and sent me to the chest pain clinic.

They did an ECG and an echocardiogram but would not do a stress ECG as my BP was so high. Prescribed Amlodipine and Atenolol and said to come back at the end of the week. Then my BP was 168/?? and they did the stress ECG and said that I had angina (rubbish said my GP who knew my active lifestyle) ) as my heart was not getting enough oxygen but let me fly to Barbados. I had three weeks of side effects and pleaded to be taken off them when we got back.

All the other drugs apart from Verapamil and Losartan recently gave me problems.

They did an angiogram that was clear in 2001 as the stress ECG was a false positive as was a much later one in 2011.

No sleep aponea. I can get spikes at odd times day or night. Now I tend not to take my BP first thing in the morning. Really I am a night person and always say that I feel at my best when somwhere with a seven or nine hour time difference thoght that probably would not work if I was permantly so.