Anyone here with Atrial fibrillation?

[left-of-center2012]

I saw my doctor yesterday for a routine matter. After listening to my heart he said he’d like to do an ECG/EKG.
He showed the results to the cardiology department and confirmed it shows atrial fibrillation.
I have an appointment Friday morning with a cardiologist.

I’d be interested in hearing experiences from others here who have had experiences with afib.
Thanks

"Atrial fibrillation is an irregular and often rapid heart rate that can increase your risk of stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications."

http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/home/ovc-20164923

[Keefer]

1. I have atrial flutter.

Very similar to fibrillation:

Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common abnormal heart rhythm. In a normal heart, the four chambers of the heart beat in a steady, rhythmic pattern. With AFib, the atria (upper chambers of the heart) fibrillate (quiver or twitch quickly) and create an irregular rhythm.

http://www.hrsonline.org/Patient-Resources/Heart-Diseases-Disorders/Atrial-Fibrillation-AFib

Atrial flutter (AFL) is a common abnormal heart rhythm, similar to atrial fibrillation, the most common abnormal heart rhythm. Both conditions are types of supraventricular (above the ventricles) tachycardia (rapid heart beat). In AFL, the upper chambers (atria) of the heart beat too fast, which results in atrial muscle contractions that are faster than and out of sync with the lower chambers (ventricles).

http://www.hrsonline.org/Patient-Resources/Heart-Diseases-Disorders/Atrial-Flutter


I had a defibrillator/pacemaker implanted a little over two years ago.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. I have it sometimes.

When I was first diagnosed, I was in it about 11% of the time. I can always tell when it comes on: my heart starts thumping very hard and I can feel it all over my chest. It's very unpleasant.

We've decided to consider doing a cardiac ablation after the holidays. This discussion started when I had two back-to-back episodes of atrial fibrillation 48 hours apart a few weeks ago. I've been taking an anti-arrhythmic medication for several years, but it seems to be somewhat less effective than it has been.

Mostly my rhythm is normal but on the slow side.

Many folks live with afib all the time and do well with it. Good luck to you!

[Binkie The Clown]

3. Had it for 44 years, that I know of. Scary as hell, not usually dangerous.

Listen to your doctor's advice, and keep in mind that worrying about it can make it worse, so relax and learn to live with it. Smile. Be happy. That actually helps.

[zipplewrath]

4. You're in no hurry

From your brief description, I'd suggest you not hurry into anything and learn all you can first. The wife has this, and we now realize she has had "attacks" for years. Usually they only lasted a few minutes. One finally lasted long enough for us to get it detected/documented.

All of the "treatments" are rather "extreme" in some sense or another. The pharmacological approach requires twice daily medication that must be taken within about a 1-2 hour "window". One of them will be an anti-coagulant which may or may not cause you some bleeding problems depending upon how your body reacts. The other will tend to interact with ALOT of common medications and severely limit your options for everything from pain relievers and anti-inflamatories to antibiotics.

Your other option will tend to be "ablation". It is becoming the more "preferred" option. It is a procedure, or really more like a series of procedures, to modify your heart muscle, mostly by "deadening" certain regions (the medical industry probably wouldn't like that description). It can be relatively "permanent" but it can take a fair number of attempts to complete.

Some people react very well to all this, and some don't. Know who you are. And know that once you start, going back may or may not be possible. Talk, ask, learn, think. Like I say, you have alot of time to consider your options. Don't just think about the effects of the "disease". Consider the effects of the "treatment".

[Lifelong Protester]

5. My spouse does.

PM me and I'll tell you what he did (He's living with it on meds).

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

6. Had it, live a happy life...

Last edited Wed Dec 16, 2015, 06:39 PM - Edit history (1)

Caused a few heart attacks, really did not realize what they were. Worst episode before I got any treatment led to a couple mini-strokes.

Got treatment at my VA hospital. Had a five way heart bypass. On meds for afib. Almost four years no more complaints from the heart.

I walk almost five miles every day, no matter the weather. Live in the lower of Michigan.
Updated my diet. It was good before but I tweaked it a little in regards to sodium, fats and so forth. Meditation helped a lot. Stress relief.

I'm 64, good to go for another 20-30 or so.

Edit to add,
The meds I'm on are plavix, carvedilol, baby aspirin, lisinopril. Plus I will add I smoke a decent amount of pot. I grow my own. It is a vascular dilator, opens up the vascular system. This allows more blood to the needed parts of the body. This is a recommendation from my doctor. A VA doc no less. Under the table of course. Nod, nod, wink, wink. Relieves tons of stress also.

[left-of-center2012]

9. "I smoke a decent amount of pot"

My state does have medicinal marijuana. My regular docs may not provide it, but I see ads from the 'pot shops' from docs who work with them.,

[Rainngirl]

7. I have it all the time 24/7

I used to only get a flutter here and there, which is super common and most people get tiny bits of it. But in 2003, after a layoff, bankruptcy, long unemployment, broken relationship, money worries, it started being all the time. My doctor knew virtually nothing about it and led me down the wrong path, so I didn't get the right meds or the right advice--I'm not even sure I've got the right doctor or advice yet. Get on a blood thinner (with doc's guidance, of course), which will lower the worry about stroke. Make sure you have the best cardiologist possible. I found a lot of doctors not taking me seriously and got the runaround for a long time. I've had two cardioversions, neither of which worked for more than a couple of days, and I had a cardiac ablation, which also didn't work. It's very scary, but I keep being told you don't die of it. The MAIN THING IS TO KEEP YOUR STRESS LOW! I'm having a horrible lot of stress at work and it's really messing with me. Good luck. Maybe if you get the right treatment and advice right off the bat, it will save you a lot of trouble.

[left-of-center2012]

8. "you don't die of it"

I'm told you can get blood clots, and one to the heart would do me in, right?

[Rainngirl]

10. I guess it could,

but the blood thinner is supposed to keep that from happening. I'd be a lot more scared without the blood thinner. And then I try not to think of it, since the fear makes it worse.

[Warpy]

12. No, but a shower of them to the lungs will

and clots to your brain will ruin the rest of your life. Best idea is to get treatment and avoid them both.

The problem with clots in the atria is that they like to travel.

[Warpy]

11. The best idea is to convert you to a normal rhythm, something that can be done chemically

or electrically, and they do put you under for the latter.

However, there are many millions of people living long and happy lives with atrial fibrillation as long as the ventricular rate is slow enough (usually via drugs) and they take blood thinners to prevent clots from arising in their atria. Those clots can then migrate to the lungs and brain, so you do want to keep them from forming.

In extreme cases, where conversion and control of a fast ventricular rate have both failed, they'll disconnect the conduction system within the heart and put the person on a pacemaker.

Bottom line: it's just another pain in the ass thing you're going to have to take care of if you want to live a long life.

My guess is that your ventricular rate is already tolerably slow. If it weren't you'd be writing your post from a hospital bed. They'll most likely attempt conversion and maintain the normal rhythm with drugs or they'll just get you on an anticoagulant.

[SheilaT]

13. My sister had a recent occurrence of it,

which had her in the hospital most of Thanksgiving Day.

Practically everybody has the occasional transient episode, but what happened to my sister went on for nearly twenty-four hours, until her heart finally converted to a normal rhythm.

After she got out of hospital, she showed me print-outs of the EKGs, one taken when she was in a-fib, the other after it had converted. It was a wonderful visual representation.

The up side of this happening on Thanksgiving was that I got to cook the dinner, which she'd planned to do -- I love fixing the traditional turkey and all, so it wasn't a chore. Plus, I wound up going to the hospital about three times that day, including bringing her home (she called to tell me she was released literally 30 seconds after I pulled the turkey out of the oven) and it was no bother as there was NO traffic on the roads. I told her she had exquisite timing.

But back to some of the underlying parts of your question: A-fib can be quite serious. In my sister's case, she had a very serious heart attack at age 43 -- she's now 68 -- and over the years has had various procedures, including stents and bypass surgery about three years ago. It doesn't help that she started smoking at age 13, and continues to do so, although perhaps 5-8 cigarettes a day. For what it's worth, heart disease runs rampant in our family, on both sides, although the older generation all smoked, and the younger, non-smoking generation does not have heart disease. How odd is that?

[left-of-center2012]

14. "print-outs of the EKGs"

I had two EKGs this past week, about 5 days apart, and they were identical in showing afib.
I'm having an electrocardiogram on Jan 5 to see if I have heart damage.
I'll see the cardiologist after the test. Hoping I can just use meds.

[SheilaT]

15. Did your printouts show nothing but afib, no normal rhythm at all?

That's what hers was, until she converted back to a normal rhythm.

[left-of-center2012]

16. I don't know

I'll ask when I go back on the 5th.

[SheilaT]

17. I can state with some confidence that it doesn't,

or you'd be in the hospital, as my sister was. And you'd be very aware that our heart was racing constantly, no let up at all. Not at all pleasant.

[left-of-center2012]

18. She checked me for edema

Last edited Mon Dec 21, 2015, 05:05 PM - Edit history (1)

She poked my feet with a finger looking for 'pitting edema' and found none
but being slow witted I realized when I got home that my wrists and feet are thicker, fatter even with out the pitting
and that started a couple weeks ago.
I'll point it out on the 5th.

[SheilaT]

19. Interesting.

Edema can be a sign of heart failure, that your heart isn't pumping as strongly as it should, and that's why fluid will build up in the feet and lower legs.

In earlier centuries it was called "dropsy", so if you ever read in a historical novel or straight biography/history that a character has dropsy, you'll know it was heart failure. Catherine of Aragon is one who famously suffered from dropsy.

[left-of-center2012]

20. Come to think of it ...

The foot and wrist thing began when a urinary tract infection began. I just finished taking prescribed Cipro.
I also notice I get 'winded' more easily when walking a block or two.

Well, I try to be alert to any need to get medical aid before my next appointment.
Thanks for your input.

[Stonepounder]

21. Would you believe that afib saved my life?

I had evidently had it for a while, but not serious enough for me to do anything about the symptoms. Then one Saturday night it got bad enough that I passed out in the garage. Scared the hell out of the wife who called 911 when she couldn't really get a response out of me. Ambulance to hospital to ER followed by lots and lots and lots of tests. Of course, but the time they did the tests I was no longer in afib. They decided to keep me in the hospital and run some more tests.

For some strange reason the had a team available to do an angiogram on Sunday. I remember drifting up out of the anesthesia for a moment and hearing the doctor say "I knew we'd find something interesting". (Which is something you NEVER want to hear your doctor say!).

Turns out that I not only had afib, but three seriously clogged arteries and a 'hanging clot'. So, Monday morning bright and early I was shaved and wheeled into surgery for a triple-bypass, clot removal of the clot (which the staff refers to as 'the widow maker' among themselves) and a MAZE procedure to correct the afib.

That was 13 years ago and my cardiologist swears that if he couldn't see the scars on my chest from where they cracked it open he would think that somehow records got switched since my heart is still healthy as a much younger man.

So, make sure you have a good cardiologist do all the tests he wants to just to make sure there is nothing else going on.

Good luck!

[left-of-center2012]

22. I see my cardiologist again in about 3 weeks

My opening post here was written Dec 16, 2015.

I had the thing done soon after that time where they put me to sleep and electrically shocked my heart.
That fixed the Afib until about six weeks ago.

My Afib is back, and now they are going to want to do the thing where they put me to sleep and 'scar' areas of my heart to 'fix' the Afib.
I guess I'll have to absorb the co-pays and do it.

In addition I'm to have a 'sleep study' done for sleep apnea and may need to wear a CPAP mask when I sleep.
I'm told sleep apnea may lead to a stroke, heart attack, Afib, etc.

The copays for all my ailments are killing me.
I'm 72, on Social Security and Medicare.

[Stonepounder]

23. You and I are way too much alike.

I also had sleep apnea. Of course mine was caused by my being morbidly obese. I loathed my job and was drinking and eating way too much.

I took early retirement, moved back to KY, lost 100 lbs, and the sleep apnea went away.