Atrial Fibrillation

Hi there, Thankyou for that 'George', I will try the advice for getting to sleep, strange as it may seem the second night I was in Coronary Care I slept very well, the patients were all very quiet and I felt much calmer and of course was monitored which I suppose gave me more confidence. Last night was the seventh night at home and the worst, just felt scared and the heart rhythm felt really 'notchy' and 'bumpy' not a medical term but quite apt for me. I will try to get back to 'normal', my doctor was quite 'blase' when he said that it's quite a common problem. My problem seems to be that it is in permanent AF, I have a cousing in N. Zealand a bit older than me, (I am just 64) who has AF but the heartbeat is now regular although she does take a beta blocker. Anyway George, thankyou for your advice I really do appreciate it, and good luck with your own health. Cheers.

hi croydon george i have had a/f since 2012 and i am glad to think that i am not the only person with it and there is hope when it gets you down talking about bisoprolol i started on 5mg upt it to 10mg and now in the last 3 months i take 15mg and they do work for me after my last bout of a/f and yes drinking do start it off a could drink 6 or 7 pints when i went out but boy did i pay for it now its only 2 or 3 joe aged 65

Hi George,

I know you're post was over a year ago but I am new to afib and all this new chapter in my life. Could I please ask you, when you were put on flecainide did you find it steadied/controlled the rhythm/regularity of the beat , or did it just calm the speed down.

Many thanks

Andy.

Hi there, Thanks for the advice about the scary webchats. I have been scared enough this past week, not having any health problems at all for 63 years, have just come back from a cycling holiday in Catalonia!! Cycled up to 26k a day in 33 degrees, even the locals were surprised at the temp!! As I told George earlier, this came on suddenly, no prior warning at all, just very fast pulse and irregular heartbeat, my pulse/heartrate seems to have settled with the medication but it is in permanent AF, there has been no reverting back to 'normal' since I started with this, I think that's the scary thing. I don't smoke and 'did' excersise regularly with fairly long walks every couple of days but one of my 'life's' pleasures was a bottle of wine, (shared) with a meal, and real ale, we have a micro brewery where we live which does monthly tastings. It will be a very miserable existence without the occasional tipple. 

If you're in permannt AF I'm surprised they haven't suggested catheter ablation which is a surgical procedure and mean to be very successful (sometimes needs two goes). That bike holiday sounded a killer - 26K a day in 33 degree heat? Worse than the Tour de France! but shows that you have a basic good level of fitness which can only help with AF treatment. And no need to deny yourself a drink - just not vats of the stuff!

Hi, Just read the bit about catheter ablation on one of your previous posts. I only started with this last Wednesday and the cardiologist at hospital saw me on Friday before discharge so I suppose in his opinion I had only had it for 3 whole days then and only for a week when my own doctor saw me this Wednesday morning. I have had it non stop for 8 days now, maybe someone out there has had it for longer and it has stopped? Perhaps it will do so after the tablets really kick in. I am very new to all this. Thanks

I trust you're going back to see the cardiologist and not just been abandoned midstream. There are other options - cardioversion among them. I hope your AF stops of its own accord, however.

I was diagnosed with paroxysmal af last year... for some one of the age of 31 thats quite uncommon. I was admitted with a deadly low blood pressure but a heart rate of 247 bpm at its fastest and its slowest at 20 bpm. I have since had DC cardioversion which was successful all for an hour tops. I was started on 5mg Bysoprolol and 10mg apixiban, Bysoprolol since upped to its maximum dose of 10mg as the drugs weren't reducing my heart rate enough away from 150 bpm so have since been put on digoxcin which with the bysoprolol has got it down to its fastest at 120 bpm and its lowest at 54 bpm. Catheter Ablation was discussed with myself as being way to risky for my fast paced af that I have. It would possibly work for three years but would definitely return and return worse than before as the drugs have little effect on my af. But once the pulmonary veins have been isolated they are dead forever and then a pace maker would not work and the only viable corrective procedure would then be open heart surgery and a heart bypass which only guarantees you another 10-15 years life and open heart surgery isn't great survival odds. So now I have been told I will have af for the rest of my life and I'm at a serious risk level of 70% chance of a heart stroke and a heart stroke is 100 times worse than a brain stroke... life changing.

I used to play rugby and walk every where, now I get out of breath just turning over in bed. Them 8-10 pints I could drink on a Saturday night.... well I'm lucky if I can drink 2-3 pints now because of the blood thinners, and I love a good malt whiskey in the past.... but if I drink whiskey now, I pay for it after with severe chest pains. Having permanent af has changed my life completely, picking an item up of the floor is the same feeling of being completely hammered in drink. Then someone mentioned about sweating above.... every now and then I'll just break out into a massive sweat, which apparently is your heart removing fluid build up from beating to fast a kind of a bodily defense mechanism.

Also about the sleeping problems mentioned above... bysoprolol doesn't make me tired as since having af I'm permantly awake and the only thing I can do to sleep at night is take a very strong sedative prescribed by my GP. Being on blood thinners can also cause you to cough up blood which at first I got more worried thinking I was going to get diagnosed with something more serious, but was told by the cardiologist that its because of the blood thinners. My appetite also went out the window, I could eat a mountain of food before each meal time, now Im lucky if I can eat a childs portion sized meal.

Hope this helps anyone who might have similar af issues.

Thanks, the bisopropol 5mg, seems to be slowing the heart, (and me!) down but that's what it's supposed to do. I don't really know about any of the other drugs being newly diagnosed but I really don't want to have an increased dose at the moment. I just hope that as I get used to the permanent aspect of this condition I will be able to sleep a bit better and therefore feel better in myself, thanks for your advice. Cheers. 

Hi Jess, Thanks for that, I was prescribed bisoprolol in the hospital, it was all new to me so I wasn't sure about alternatives. The AF is still there and that's the problem, difficulty settling to sleep. Friday night is usually pub night, I said I would go but instead of the real ale I think it's half a shandy!! Whoop whoop!!!

HI Jess, My Friday night was ok, just had one half, however had a good natter with friends so that was ok. I think for me the worst thing of all is that for 63 years I have not been to hospital except to visit someone, my one and only stay was when I was 26 and had my appendix out. After the shock of the racing pulse and irregular heartbeat last week when I was initially in A & E, I sort of thought it would go back to normal, unfortunatly 9 days later I am still in AF, perhaps someone out there may know if it can go back even after so long. I go back to the warfarin clinin next Tuesday and every week for the next 12, after that I can go to my local drop in centre where they will do the blood test. I will probably hear from the hospital about seeing my cardiologist in 8 weeks time to see about further options, until then I am getting used to life with AF. Cheers, 

Hi again lankylass

I'm glad you were able to enjoy your usual trip to the pub on Fri.  I still struggle with having to stick to one drink.  I think we are quite similar in that I had my appendix removed too when I was 16 and had been fit and well (size 12) all my life.  I also had a good diet (non-smoker) and no family history of heart trouble so I can understand what a shock it is to find yourself in hosital with AF.  

As I said before, last year (4th) was a bad year with my passing out 3 times and I felt very ill but now I have found medication to suit me (Asprin, Bisoprolol, Flecainide) I feel I have my life back but most people seem live a semi-normal ife with AF.  

I hope you settle into sinus rhythm and can get on with your life soon.

Jess 

Hi Jess, Wonder why you passed out last year? I just spoke to GrumpyPops and said that at the moment the bisoprolol seems to be agreeing with me but it's only the 11th day so fingers crossed!! It would be great to get into sinus rhythm again, I'm doing everything right, eating banana's for the potassium, lots of fruit and veg, cutting out most of the alcohol with the exeption of a half on the odd evening. As I said, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that 11 days is not too long being in AF to come out of it again and be normal. Cheers. 

Hi again Lankylass

I've been entertained reading the banter (as we say in Scotland) with grumpypops and yourself...in fact I must have a visit to Arran and see it all for myself.

I pass out because of the dizzyness and nausea I suffer when I have a bad attack of AF and have to spend days lying on the couch at home as I can hardly get upstairs at times with exhaustion. A good nights sleep is out of the question too so I'm overjoyed that Flecainide has changed all that and I can now scoot about like my old self.  Along with Asprin and Bisoprolol, I'm feeling so well again and very grateful.

This is all too depressing so please don't think this will happen to you... as some of the others have said - we all have our own symptoms and find different medication of benefit. 

I hope you'll be better in a day or so.

Jess

Hi Jess, Sorry you seem to have experienced bad attacks of AF, I don't really know what to expect, when I left Coronary Care they told me I was still in AF, after lots of 'googling' I found out that a lot of people go in and out of AF unlike me who's in it all the time. During the day so far I can't really notice it's there, the effect of the Beta Blockers, I can notice!! As I have said in previous postings I normally 'eat hills for breakfast', and am a keen walker and a newish cyclist. I was very miserable on Saturday when I attempted just a little walk round the canal path and took a little incline which resulted in breathlessness, I thought, 'What the hell's happening to me, will I ever get up those hills again?' I am trying to be very positive and look forward to the input of people like yourself and Grumpy Pops. Keep taking the tablets!!!

Yes I know exactly how you feel lankylass as the little walk I tried on my own during my first bout of AF was such a struggle, I burst into tears. However, it has come and gone over the years and I've been able to lead a semi-normal life and now I am much much better.  (Like you though, I do feel Bisoprolol makes me tired but it's not so bad now I am on Flecainide).

Some of my episodes last a few weeks so you may find things will settle down soon and you can get on with your life.  

Take care

 

I suffered fast and irregular heart beats specially at night for years but buried my head in the sand and pretended it wasn't happening, until I went for pre op check for a hernia repair and found myself in resuss Si fast my feet didn't touch the ground, though I am often asymptomatic), I was put on tilde am and thought that worked only to find last year when I had another prevop for a hip replacement that I was still suffering from PAF my heart was doing 180 and I was totally unaware of it, I am now on Tilden, flecanide and riveroxibane as far as I know it's ok. I certainly havnt had any night episodes for a long time but as I say I am often totally unaware of it anyway not sure if it's a good thing or bad, however though I don't drink often when I want to I still do and don't seem to be affected