Sharing recent experience - I was cardioverted with meds after 48 hours

Hi, I thought I would post a recent AF experience of mind here, mainly because I'd like to share it in case there are others who experience something similar.

I am a 37 year old male, who has experienced persistent AF episodes since my first incident when I was 19. 

I have had 7 re-occurences since then (feels like a lot more though!). 

I have NEVER reverted to Sinus rhythm without either drugs or DC cardioversion, which makes me very grateful that I happen to have been born in this day and age, because if I had been born 200 years ago I would be an absolute mess.

I *hate* AF.

I am extremely symptomatic with it. It robs me of my energy, it makes me anxious (I can feel every single beat of my heart pretty much), and leaves me unable to carry on with my life as normal. 

When I have it, I feel like I'm running at about 50% capacity, if even that. 

I would liken it to a car whose clutch is knackered, the accelerator may be revving, but not enough power is going to the wheels. 

I've never really understood why some people are symptomatic whilst others aren't, but I know I am in the minority when it comes to feeling like this.

Luckily, most AF episodes pass within 48 hours, due to a quick dose of anti-arrythmic drugs (Fleccainide) or a DC cardioversion. 

However, during one episode, 4 years ago, the fleccainide didn't work, so I was discharged from hospital with some beta blockers, and told to wait for a follow up appointment. 

This was the start of the worst 4 months of my life. I was put onto warfarin, which I was very resistant to for some reason, which meant that getting my INR into therapeutic range took way longer than expected.

Once I had gotten into range, my cardioversion was scheduled, but on the day before it was due to take place, I had an INR check at the hospital which showed that the INR was fractionally off the required range, so the cardioversion was rescheduled for another 4 weeks. 

This was so upsetting and maddening, I won't go into the reasons why I completely disagreed with the way I was treated during this period, but once I had my cardioversion I vowed never to visit the hospital in question,

and I haven't. My new consultant and the hospital I visit during episodes now is much much better.

Anyway...1 week ago I had another episode. I went to A&E, they discharged me with some beta blockers and anti-coagulant...deja vu...I really should have insisted on a cardioversion there and then but for some reason I didn't (my own fault).

The next day, I began to fret that I would have to endure another 3/4 months of waiting to get cardioverted, so I went back to A&E, and pleaded with them to help me out.

Luckily my consultant happened to be there that day, and he was very sympathetic, he offered the possibility of a DC cardioversion in approx 3/4 weeks, or to take some Amiodarone, which he said 

would sort it out within a week or so.

I agreed to trying the Amiodarone, it sounded like a quicker fix and less of a drain on the NHS. I knew it was a powerful drug but I was still willing to give it a go.

3 full days after starting the Amiodarone, my heart rate jumped. It went up to 145 bpm, which for me, was very distressing, so I went back to A&E. It became clear that my heart had gone into flutter rather than fibrillation, which explained the much higher rate. 

After a couple of hours, I was told that the cardiologist (my own consultant, who was on call at the time), was happy for me to be discharged, and that I shouldn't have any rate control

mediaction in case it interacted with the Amiodarone. I literally couldn't believe it, I felt like I was in mortal danger, yet they were happy for me to go home!

I asked if I could please stay in the hospital, at least until the rate had come down. I was seriously beginning to think that the Amiodarone had caused some weird interaction with my heart and was literally poisoning me (it's hard to think straight when you can feel your heart punding in every part of your body). 

10 hours later, my heart was still thumping along at 145bpm, I was physically exhausted but couldn't

sleep due to the complete awareness of this extremely (for me at least) high heart rate.

At about 2am the following morning, I can distinctly remember my heart finally relaxing, and the rate dropped. I managed to get some sleep, woke up the next morning and to my surprise, normal sinus rhythm was back!!

A few hours later, my consultant walked in, and we arranged for me to have an ablation (my second, I had my first around 2.5 years ago).

I felt incredibly relieved, and so happy to be back to normal.

The first thing I'd like to point out about this recent experience is that I managed to be chemically cardioverted well after 48 hours from the onset of the AF.

When I started that Amiodarone I kept searching the internet to see how likely a chemical cardioversion would be...nearly everything I found led me to believe that a chemical cardioversion was unlikely after the initial 48 hours.

Well, in my case, I cardioverted 5 days after the onset. I draw strength from this and hope that others can too.

The second thing is that if, like me, your AF episodes are relatively rare but persistent, and you are symptomatic, you should insist on being cardioverted withn 48 hours of the onset.

If it stops you from living your life then get it sorted ASAP. 

I hope that some of this will be useful to someone. While it probably isn't a good idea googling everything about a condition you currently have, I myself have read a lot of the posts on here and 

they helped to put my mind at ease and helped me to rationalise some of what I've been feeling.

Thanks for reading. 

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