Recovery from PAF??
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I was diagnosed with PAF four years ago. Since then I have had three episodes that I am aware of - each one causing heart rates of up to 200 and putting me in hospital. Each time Amiodorone was used to treat and it has taken 3/4 days. After the last one two weeks ago I am having a lot of breathlessness - does anyone else take time to recover? It seems to be worse this time than before.
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jay7196 rudders
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rudders jay7196
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Cheers,
Sam
jay7196 rudders
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rudders jay7196
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simon56380 rudders
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i was diagnosed with atrial Afib and severe cardiomyopathy (EF 25%).
Was cardioverted mid Jan after med failed to put me back in rhythm but only stayed in for a few days.
Was then put on Amioderone and cardioverted again mid Feb, once Amioderone levels had built up.
After being in rhythm for a month my EF increased to 54% and mid year was 58%.
I switched from Amioderone to Sotolol at my last cardiologist appt.
I'm currently on Sotolol, perindoprol and eliquis/Apixaban.
I have Frusemide, and used it early days when I had a fairly salty meal and retained fluid as a result, but found being very rigorous with my sodium intake that I didn't need to take it (and haven't done for 9 moths or so).
I still find that I get quite light handed or dizzy if I stand up too quickly.
I now find that I don't need to worry so much about my sodium intake as much(presumably because my EF is quite good). In the early days, I could gain a couple a couple of kilos (fluid retention) from having a salty meal (Chinese etc.).
Am off to the cardiologist this morning for an ECG and a follow appt. am hoping he'll say he doesn't want to see mee again for another 12months.
simon56380 rudders
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rudders simon56380
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Thanks for responding - I've been feeling quite nervous about the ICD operation this week and it's good to hear about a positive story.
Thanks,
Sam (38 in the UK)
simon56380 rudders
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I did a sleep study last January and was diagnosed with severe sleep apnea
I was having an average of 58 apneas per hour (less than 5 is normal, more than 30 is considered severe)and not breathing for up to 35 seconds at a time!
I was shocked to to find out about the major health implications that untreated sleep apnea can cause!
Looking back at it all now with the benefit of hindsight, I suspect that I used to experience short bouts of Afib that would resolve themselves on a semi-regular basis over the last couple of decades. I would get what I'd consider 'palpitations', usually when smoked, drank or used illicit substances. I never really thought too much of it as it was usually fairly short lived and always went went away after a while. I kind of thought this was more or les par for the course, given what I was doing.
Although I've been pretty 'clean living for the last five or so years
I suspect what sent me into Unresolving Afib was a really big night on the booze in Nov. 2014.
I think I was in undiagnosed Afib(and tachycardia) for a couple of weeks. I was feeling lousy and put it down to having the flu or a virus. I was admitted with a 'tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy' (and I was also in Afib).
I attribute my EF improvements to
1. being able to stay in rhythm (thanks to the short-ish term use of Amioderone - long term use can have some potentially very nasty side effects)
2.using a CPAP machine to treat my sleep apnea every night without fail
3.making major dietary changes to really minimise my sodium intake To the point where I rarely needed to take Frusimide.
4. A daily walk around the neighbourhood as felt comfortable with (just a very slow 'waddle' around the block to start with, but increasing as I began to feel better.
The cardiologist was considering putting an ICD on me if my EF didn't get above 35% ( fortunately it did!).
I completely understand you feeling anxious about it, but if you need it you need it. It's gotta be better than the alternative (a fatal heart rhythm with no ICD fitted) right.
Best of luck with it all,
Simon
simon56380
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rudders simon56380
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simon56380 rudders
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Wishing you all the best with it, keep in touch and let us know how it's going for you.
Kind regards,
Simon