NFT: Atrial Fibrillation

information, but good luck to you.

it to an extent, and is due to having transposition of the great vessels. I was on lisinopril when I was a teenager but they later said it wasn't really necessary so I haven't been on it in a long time. Definitely see a cardiologist, I wouldn't want my primary care doc making those decisions.

Low sodium diet, cardio, don't get fat. That's what my cardiologist has been telling me for years.

On this I'd apprreciate it as I don't seem to have his email on thi damn device. Thanks.

I see both a cardiologist and a cardiac arrhythmia specialist. I take a small dose of Atenolol which slows the heart rate , in addition to 2 81mg aspirins. They tell me to limit alcohol to less than 4 drinks a week, no smoking, get plenty of exercise and don't gain weight. They also tell me to not let it interfere with any activities and live life as I want to, except for smoking and drinking.

I haven't had any further episodes. It is a very common condition. Best of luck to you.

March 18. Heart rate jumped from a normal of 55 to over 110 at that time. They were going to cardiovert me on the 5th of April but they noticed perhaps a clot and decided to place me on Pradaxa (blood thinners). No idea what brought it on, no idea why it went away, but glad it did. Was a little lethargic while playing bball a couple times but overall no issues other than the hear rate was elevated. Best of luck wish I had more to contribute...

The first priority in atrial fibrillation (AF) is controlling the heart rate. Activity is often restricted while this is accomplished, but the goal is return to full activity without limitations; professional athletes have come back to play after AF.

The next issue is stroke prophylaxis, something that is done with a point score called CHADS-VASc; depending on the score, anticoagulation might be recommended.

The last step is consideration of restoring (or maintaining) a normal rhythm, something that might not need much attention in paroxysmal AF. But the natural history of paroxysmal AF over time (years) is generally recurrence and sometimes the AF becomes persistent. There are a number of options here, both pharmacologic and procedural (electrophysiologic ablation).

Many internists can handle the first 2 steps without much trouble. My bias is that once you get to the third, you are best managed by a cardiologist.

The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology have good resources to get you started. Try to avoid information overload, particularly with anecdotes, if you can. Find a doctor you can trust and trust him or her.

AHA atrial fibrillation - ( New Window )

By AliveCor? It's a sensor you stick on the back of your smart phone that can take your ekg whenever you want with your fingertips. you can forward results directly to your cardiologist. The app also builds a heart profile and can alert you if anything is wrong.

My RN wife noticed it when laying her head on my chest while watching TV. Got shocked out of it via a TEE and cardioversion this past Wednesday. Doctor says it's even money to recur.

I never noticed any difference (but then I'm on the shelf athletically due to chronic back pain and a foot drop).

Simple visit, and top advice.

stop taking any nsaids

I started experiencing occasional episodes in my late 20’s. In my early 40’s the episodes became very frequent and I found that alcohol (anything more than 2 beers) and salt would trigger episodes lasting 1 to 2 days. At that point my cardiologist put me on a med called Tambocor. Tambocor had some irritating side effects, but effectively kept my Afib mostly in check for several years; however, to remain effective the dose was increased twice during that time. By the time I reached 47, the Tambocor was no longer effective and I was in Afib more than I was out of it. In 2008 I opted for Ablation surgery. The doctors isolated the source of the current (causing Afib) in my pulmonary vein, and ablated it. I went into Afib once four days after the surgery, but have not experienced a single episode in the last 8 years. Basically, the surgery gave me my life back, and I have been fully active since.

The blood thinners don't control Afib, they reduce your chance of a stroke while you are in it.

In comment 13438133 Remdad said:

Quote:

The first priority in atrial fibrillation (AF) is controlling the heart rate. Activity is often restricted while this is accomplished, but the goal is return to full activity without limitations; professional athletes have come back to play after AF. The next issue is stroke prophylaxis, something that is done with a point score called CHADS-VASc; depending on the score, anticoagulation might be recommended. The last step is consideration of restoring (or maintaining) a normal rhythm, something that might not need much attention in paroxysmal AF. But the natural history of paroxysmal AF over time (years) is generally recurrence and sometimes the AF becomes persistent. There are a number of options here, both pharmacologic and procedural (electrophysiologic ablation). Many internists can handle the first 2 steps without much trouble. My bias is that once you get to the third, you are best managed by a cardiologist. The American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology have good resources to get you started. Try to avoid information overload, particularly with anecdotes, if you can. Find a doctor you can trust and trust him or her. AHA atrial fibrillation - ( New Window )

My cardiologist did not stop me from playing basketball with afib, my heart rate was well under 100 (around 80 most of the time). I know it'll rear it's ugly head again I'm sure, but monitoring it and taking the necessary precautions (limit alcohol and a decent diet) will probably go a long way in hopefully avoiding it.

In comment 13438256 Beer Man said:

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I started experiencing occasional episodes in my late 20’s. In my early 40’s the episodes became very frequent and I found that alcohol (anything more than 2 beers) and salt would trigger episodes lasting 1 to 2 days. At that point my cardiologist put me on a med called Tambocor. Tambocor had some irritating side effects, but effectively kept my Afib mostly in check for several years; however, to remain effective the dose was increased twice during that time. By the time I reached 47, the Tambocor was no longer effective and I was in Afib more than I was out of it. In 2008 I opted for Ablation surgery. The doctors isolated the source of the current (causing Afib) in my pulmonary vein, and ablated it. I went into Afib once four days after the surgery, but have not experienced a single episode in the last 8 years. Basically, the surgery gave me my life back, and I have been fully active since.

How was the procedure (Ablation), my cardiologist tells me it's about 75% effective?

I had A flutter and also A fib. I had the ablation for a flutter but still deal with the a fib. I take flecinide 2 times a day and diltiziym (sp?)
I a fib procedure is a more difficult surgery due to where the a fib happens on that side of the heart. This area has more to do with you brain and lungs I believe.
Good luck to you. Suprised there are many here that are familiar.

Wife (60) was just diagnosed with it and may have had it for years without knowing about it. She has yet to visit our cardiologist so I don't know what will be prescribed for her.

I have been dealing with AF for 6 years or so. Take blood pressure meds and blood thinner. I never even think about it as it has not affected me since my initial hospital stay. I am 54 and a big guy who could take better care of myself. The only issue I have is that I get cold easier (I used to never be cold) which I assume is because of the blood thinner. I have a couple of friends who have been on AF meds for 25+ years without any problems.

In comment 13438275 Sec 103 said:

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In comment 13438256 Beer Man said: Quote: I started experiencing occasional episodes in my late 20’s. In my early 40’s the episodes became very frequent and I found that alcohol (anything more than 2 beers) and salt would trigger episodes lasting 1 to 2 days. At that point my cardiologist put me on a med called Tambocor. Tambocor had some irritating side effects, but effectively kept my Afib mostly in check for several years; however, to remain effective the dose was increased twice during that time. By the time I reached 47, the Tambocor was no longer effective and I was in Afib more than I was out of it. In 2008 I opted for Ablation surgery. The doctors isolated the source of the current (causing Afib) in my pulmonary vein, and ablated it. I went into Afib once four days after the surgery, but have not experienced a single episode in the last 8 years. Basically, the surgery gave me my life back, and I have been fully active since. How was the procedure (Ablation), my cardiologist tells me it's about 75% effective?

My cardiologist quoted me similar statistics and told me that in about 40% of the cases the procedure has to be repeated a second time. So far for me, the first surgery was 100% successful. I think the level of success is influenced by where the source of the stray current is located in the body. In my case, stray current was being generated from cells within the pulmonary artery, where it would travel to the atrium causing it to contract when it shouldn’t. Rather than experiencing a very rapid heartbeat (as many with Afib do), I was experiencing a very erratic heartbeat. The way my cardiologist explained the surgery was that he isolated the cells (in the pulmonary vein) producing the stray current and ablated them. Then he ablated the entire circumference of the pulmonary vein where it enters the heart, setting-up a scar tissue barrier (evidently, current has a more difficult time travelling through scar tissue). The entire procedure took 6 to 7 hours, and I was out the entire time.

For me it was worth it. During episodes of Afib, because of the erratic heartbeat, I was severely limited as to the amount of physical activity I could engage in, and my whole body would feel like it was in distress. My last episode before surgery lasted 11 straight days.

I probably should have been clearer. The heart rate is often fast at first diagnosis, and the recommendation is to stay away from heavy exertion until the heart rate is reasonably well controlled with medications, something that can be accomplished in a matter of days. After that, no problem with vigorous activity - this usually doesn't trigger AF.

In comment 13438211 Stan in LA said:

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Simple visit, and top advice.

You need to see a cardiologist while you are in Afib otherwise they have no way of knowing what you have. I went to my family doctor and a cardiologist multiple times when I first started having problems, and because I wasn't in it at the time they couldn't determine what I had. My wife is a nurse, and one night when I went into it she recommended going to the emergency room where they could see it first hand. My cardiologist happened to be on duty that night, and immediately diagnosed what I had. Up until then, my family doctor thought it was all in my head.

!

I'm on Warfarin myself because I have clotting issues -- best advice I can give you is to ask as many questions as you can and read up on this -- the more you know the easier it is to deal with this cr@p. I is kinda like shock facing up to a body condition that now you have to live with for the rest of your life after not having given anything like it nary a thought for 5 and a half decades.

For info and thoughts.