topic Re: A Fib in Wellness

A Fib

Patriot3 — Thu, 17 May 2018 17:20:56 GMT

There are probably a lot of you out there w/A Fib......me, too. Do you know/feel when you are in it? I seem to go in it, full blown, in traumatic situations. It's always been in a hospital setting, which is a good thing. But my Cardio Doc seems to think I probably, mildly, go in and out w/out realizing it. Thanks for the feedback.

Re: A Fib

mishka14 — Thu, 17 May 2018 17:26:34 GMT

@Patriot3 wrote:
There are probably a lot of you out there w/A Fib......me, too. Do you know/feel when you are in it? I seem to go in it, full blown, in traumatic situations. It's always been in a hospital setting, which is a good thing. But my Cardio Doc seems to think I probably, mildly, go in and out w/out realizing it. Thanks for the feedback.

I know when my heart goes it Afib, I feel it immediately.. but, my Blood Pressure cuff also tells me if I am in Afib...it shows a little heart icon....my heart just doesn't just beat fast, it also flutters/jumps...hard to explain...but I know it exactly when it happens...

Re: A Fib

Mlsg — Thu, 17 May 2018 17:43:21 GMT

Hi yes exactly like in my case. I fill right away and can see in blood pressure thing. I have this from 2010. I take medication twice per day to keep heartbeat in order.But when it’s started meds no help to reverse. During this time I had 6 times cardio version and one abliation.

Re: A Fib

Jinlei — Thu, 17 May 2018 17:54:17 GMT

I am 57 and 10 years ago I had an episode of AFib. I woke up and I could tell something was wrong. I felt my pulse and it was erratic. I went to the ER and they admitted me as I was in full-blown AFib. I was in the cardiac wing for a day and a half. I got two shots to help my heart go back into normal sinus rhythym otherwise I was going to have to have cardioversion. I was eating my dinner that night and I felt my heart go back into normal rhythym. Since then I have been fine (fingers crossed). I take Toprol XL 50 mg every day to help my heart and follow-up with my cardiologist every 6 months. It is a very anxiety producing feeling when you are in AFib. It was scary.

Re: A Fib

2blonde — Thu, 17 May 2018 18:26:26 GMT

I had a period of time at least 10 years ago (I'm 69 now) where I was having it off and on almost all the time. I could definitely feel the fluttering when it was happening. I was about ready to do the holter monitor thing, but all I did was increase my potassium supplements, and it went away completely.

Re: A Fib

CelticCrafter — Thu, 17 May 2018 20:01:27 GMT

According to my m-i-l she cannot tell when it's happening and the only way they know it's happening is when she sees the cardiologist and he orders an EKG.

She swears up & down she's taking the prescribed meds but I don't believe her.

She went to another dr. for something else, according to the nurse her blood pressure was dangerously high and she lied straight faced that she was taking the blood pressure meds when she wasn't...according to her, she takes enough stuff and didn't feel like taking it.

Re: A Fib

blackhole99 — Thu, 17 May 2018 20:42:58 GMT

I've had afib for 2 years, I usually have no symptoms so I guess I'm lucky. I'm in permanent afib so I'm never in rhythm for any length of time. Because of my age and do not have symptoms, my heart rate is controlled with medicine and I'm on a blood thinner so I don't have a stroke. My electrophysiologist does not think ablation would help me, but I may have to consider a pace maker when the meds. are no longer effective. You really have to take care of yourself if you have afib, staying healthy is a must or you will end up in the hospital. I find the best thing to do is take my meds. and do not obsess over this condition.

Re: A Fib

DottieBlue — Thu, 17 May 2018 23:05:00 GMT

I also had A-Fib, off and on for many years. When I would mention this to my doctors, they just said "everyone's heart does that" and didn't seem a bit concerned. It got worse last year, and in August I ended up in the ER because suddenly I had a hard time breathing and was diagnosed as in full blown A-Fib.

I ended up staying in the hospital for a week as they tried several different medications, and electric shock, but nothing worked. They finally put in a pacemaker and did an ablation.

I am on 2 heart meds and a blood thinner. My current cardiologist (not the one who did the surgery) tells me the pacemaker I have now and the ablation that was done isn't working and I need to have it all done over again. Good grief! I am dreading another operation, but will have it later on this summer.

Re: A Fib

blackhole99 — Thu, 17 May 2018 23:20:21 GMT

@DottieBlueOh, you poor thing. I would be really ticked off if I had a pace maker inserted and it didn't work. Did you have the ablation first? I know ablations are notorious for having to be done over multiple times though. I know doctors will not diagnose someone with afib just by taking their pulse and noticing it's irregular. You may want to talk to an electrophysiologist before you go down that ablation road again.

Re: A Fib

151949 — Fri, 18 May 2018 00:22:03 GMT

While it is important to get a fib appropriately treated it is also important WHY you have a fib. A healthy heart does not just suddenly go into a fib. This is a disturbance in the normal pathways thru your heart that cause your heart to beat.Usually caused by some heart disease. I would definitely be asking my doctor WHY my heart went into A fib.

Re: A Fib

Patriot3 — Fri, 18 May 2018 01:15:58 GMT

@DottieBlue wrote:
I also had A-Fib, off and on for many years. When I would mention this to my doctors, they just said "everyone's heart does that" and didn't seem a bit concerned. It got worse last year, and in August I ended up in the ER because suddenly I had a hard time breathing and was diagnosed as in full blown A-Fib.

I ended up staying in the hospital for a week as they tried several different medications, and electric shock, but nothing worked. They finally put in a pacemaker and did an ablation.

I am on 2 heart meds and a blood thinner. My current cardiologist (not the one who did the surgery) tells me the pacemaker I have now and the ablation that was done isn't working and I need to have it all done over again. Good grief! I am dreading another operation, but will have it later on this summer.

@DottieBlue I am so sorry you have to go thru all of this. You'll be in my prayers.

Re: A Fib

Patriot3 — Fri, 18 May 2018 01:18:38 GMT

Thanks for all the feedback, ladies. It sounds like this darn A fib affects everyone differently. I feel very fortunate mine isn't any worse than it is. Take good care of yourselves everyone!!

Re: A Fib

mousiegirl — Fri, 18 May 2018 02:03:48 GMT

@Patriot3 wrote:
There are probably a lot of you out there w/A Fib......me, too. Do you know/feel when you are in it? I seem to go in it, full blown, in traumatic situations. It's always been in a hospital setting, which is a good thing. But my Cardio Doc seems to think I probably, mildly, go in and out w/out realizing it. Thanks for the feedback.

@Patriot3 @151949and everyone else

Atrial fibrillation - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/.../syc-20350624

Re: A Fib

Patriot3 — Fri, 18 May 2018 12:27:18 GMT

@mousiegirl wrote:
@Patriot3 wrote:
There are probably a lot of you out there w/A Fib......me, too. Do you know/feel when you are in it? I seem to go in it, full blown, in traumatic situations. It's always been in a hospital setting, which is a good thing. But my Cardio Doc seems to think I probably, mildly, go in and out w/out realizing it. Thanks for the feedback.

@Patriot3 @151949and everyone else
Atrial fibrillation - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/.../syc-20350624

@mousiegirlThanks, I always click on Mayo Clinic when I want to see something medical

Re: A Fib

hckynut — Fri, 18 May 2018 15:02:50 GMT

@Patriot3

My suggestion, buy a chest heart rate monitor. Why think/guess or speculate when this will tell you exactly what is going on with your hearts Beats Per Minute(bpm)?

I have worn a Polar Monitor for over 30+ years. Started primarily to know exactly what my bpm was when training for Road Races and all my other high level physical activities. 3 of my exercise machines came with Polar monitors, as they all include a Polar Readout on their program screens.

There are many models of Polar, some tell you probably every move your body makes, which you can download to anything with a computer.

Mine are simple, cheaper ones, as all I want to know is my heart rate. I wear it ice skating and during every exercise workout I do in our home gym, because it tells me if my body needs an easier workout, or it is rested enough for high bpm intervals.

This was not done because of me ever having A-Fib, or my 2 heart attacks, it was done because of my desire to train smarter as I grew older, and let my body show me exactly how hard it is working on any given day or time. It also is my most important measuring device for my fitness level which is how fast my HR returns to it's "lower normal" during a High BPM workout, and/or intervals.

Polar is not the only one that makes these types of HR monitors, but I know they are accurate and dependable from decades of using them. Think they might even make a bra that has the HR sensor built into it, not sure where.

This is, for me, my most important piece of training and exercising equipment, and I wear it for as long as I feel the need. My friend is 82 years old and has been a Fitness guy all his adult life. In 2016 he had his Aortic Valve replaced. Unlike me, he for some reason strange to me, does not want, or seem to care about reading his heart rate, I DO!

There are choices to know this information and that is what I chose to do. Never a bad idea to talk with your Cardiologist about these things first.

hckynut(john)

Re: A Fib

DottieBlue — Fri, 18 May 2018 23:22:42 GMT

@blackhole99 wrote:
@DottieBlueOh, you poor thing. I would be really ticked off if I had a pace maker inserted and it didn't work. Did you have the ablation first? I know ablations are notorious for having to be done over multiple times though. I know doctors will not diagnose someone with afib just by taking their pulse and noticing it's irregular. You may want to talk to an electrophysiologist before you go down that ablation road again.

The surgeon did both the pacemaker insertion and the ablation at the same time.

My new cardiologist is the "electrician" kind (as was explained to me). He is more experienced than the doctor who performed my first surgery. So I hope it goes well the second time.

Thank you so much for your kind response.

Re: A Fib

DottieBlue — Fri, 18 May 2018 23:26:13 GMT

@Patriot3 wrote:

@DottieBlue wrote:
I also had A-Fib, off and on for many years. When I would mention this to my doctors, they just said "everyone's heart does that" and didn't seem a bit concerned. It got worse last year, and in August I ended up in the ER because suddenly I had a hard time breathing and was diagnosed as in full blown A-Fib.

I ended up staying in the hospital for a week as they tried several different medications, and electric shock, but nothing worked. They finally put in a pacemaker and did an ablation.

I am on 2 heart meds and a blood thinner. My current cardiologist (not the one who did the surgery) tells me the pacemaker I have now and the ablation that was done isn't working and I need to have it all done over again. Good grief! I am dreading another operation, but will have it later on this summer.

@DottieBlue I am so sorry you have to go thru all of this. You'll be in my prayers.

THANK YOU so much for your very kind words and for your prayers. What a wonderful person you are.

Re: A Fib

harcon — Fri, 18 May 2018 23:45:46 GMT

I not only have Afib I also have AFlutter. After a heart shock, a pacemaker and 2 cardiac ablations I'm happy to say I feel like I have my life back.

Afib would make me feel weak, dizzy and I'd break out in a cold sweat. The meds didn't help. Just before the pacemaker I started passing out, just for seconds, The first ablation didn't help at all. When I had the second I was in afib which the Dr. said helped.

The first ablation was radio frequency and the second was cyroablation.

Good luck with your second one.

Re: A Fib

DottieBlue — Sun, 20 May 2018 07:33:01 GMT

@harcon wrote:
I not only have Afib I also have AFlutter. After a heart shock, a pacemaker and 2 cardiac ablations I'm happy to say I feel like I have my life back.

Afib would make me feel weak, dizzy and I'd break out in a cold sweat. The meds didn't help. Just before the pacemaker I started passing out, just for seconds, The first ablation didn't help at all. When I had the second I was in afib which the Dr. said helped.

The first ablation was radio frequency and the second was cyroablation.

Good luck with your second one.

Thank you. I am so glad you finally got a satisfactory resolution.

My ablation was they put a probe through my vein, starting in my inner thigh, up to my heart. I didn't know there were different kinds of ablations. I need to look up the 2 that you had, I have no idea what my ablation procedure is called.

My Afib just made my heart beat really hard and fast, I could feel it, and beat irregularly. Then all of a sudden I experienced severe shortness of breath and that is what sent me to the hospital.

Re: A Fib

harcon — Tue, 22 May 2018 13:28:28 GMT

@DottieBlue

I asked a lot of questions of my Dr, the PA and did a lot of research online. The team my Dr. worked with was very good about explaining every step along the way and even showed me on their computer what they'd be doing. The hardest part for me was the lying still for 6 hours after the procedure because my back was hurting. For both ablations the lines were inserted on both sides of my groin.

Even with the procedure I am on daily meds that so far have helped keep me going.

My advice to anyone is to do your homework, ask questions and don't be afraid to be assertive.

I hope you're feeling better and if you decide to have that second ablation I wish you success and healing.