topic Re: Afib anyone? in Wellness

Afib anyone?

MoJoV — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 00:54:18 GMT

I had a bout with Afib this morning. It's the first one I've had in about six months. I've been seeing a cardiologist and have been on medications for it about 2 years now. Dr. says I may end up with a pacemaker some day.

Curious if anyone here has it if they care to share.

Re: Afib anyone?

Nonametoday — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:03:55 GMT

My husband, not me, has had Afib for several years. He was never able to convert with medications and had 4 cardioversions, then he underwent a pacemaker which ended in his having pericarditis and it was removed, and he had another pacemaker installed, and subsequently he has had two ablations, and they have not worked. He stays in Afib-flutter and is on a load of medication. He had a toxicity to amiodarone (the main one) so he had to be converted to steroids because the amiodarone caused him to have pulmonary hypertension. He more recently had a quadruple bypass and a maze procedure which, the maze procedure, did not work either. So, he is getting over the bypass surgery and has been scheduled for another ablation in the very near future. His incisions from the quadruple bypass are not healed yet because he is diabetic (and slow in healing) but when they are healed, he must undergo another ablation.

I have a friend who has had Afib for many years. She is on medication, infrequently has runs of Afib and her doctor does not see cause to do anything else (she and my husband have the same caridologist, incidentally).

Re: Afib anyone?

sgraham30 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:09:38 GMT

@MoJoV wrote
I had a bout with Afib this morning. It's the first one I've had in about six months. I've been seeing a cardiologist and have been on medications for it about 2 years now. Dr. says I may end up with a pacemaker some day.
Curious if anyone here has it if they care to share.

@MoJoV , I've had 2-3 episodes of a-fib since July 2017. My arrythmias are NSVT (non-sustained ventricular tachycardia) I've had 3 ablations, all of them failed. I've tried 10 or 11 different meds, I've lost count. They all did what they were supposed to do, but the side effects were ridiculous so I stopped taking them. I've been told to "learn to live" with the arrythmias since I will not have another ablation & am unable to take the meds.

Re: Afib anyone?

blackhole99 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:07:44 GMT

Yes, unfortunately I am a 4 year veteran of permanent atrial fibrillation. I take a beta blocker and anticoagulant and rarely have symptoms. My electrophysiotherapist mentioned a pacemaker down the road when the meds don't work any more. I'm looking into possibly having the Watchman procedure.

Re: Afib anyone?

sgraham30 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:08:15 GMT

@Nonametoday wrote:
My husband, not me, has had Afib for several years. He was never able to convert with medications and had 4 cardioversions, then he underwent a pacemaker which ended in his having pericarditis and it was removed, and he had another pacemaker installed, and subsequently he has had two ablations, and they have not worked. He stays in Afib-flutter and is on a load of medication. He had a toxicity to amiodarone (the main one) so he had to be converted to steroids because the amiodarone caused him to have pulmonary hypertension. He more recently had a quadruple bypass and a maze procedure which, the maze procedure, did not work either. So, he is getting over the bypass surgery and has been scheduled for another ablation in the very near future. His incisions from the quadruple bypass are not healed yet because he is diabetic (and slow in healing) but when they are healed, he must undergo another ablation.

I have a friend who has had Afib for many years. She is on medication, infrequently has runs of Afib and her doctor does not see cause to do anything else (she and my husband have the same caridologist, incidentally).

@Nonametoday, your poor husband has really been through the wringer! Maybe it's time to look for another cardiologist?

Re: Afib anyone?

MoJoV — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:10:59 GMT

@Nonametoday Thank you for your reply. I wish your husband the best,I can't imagine the awful feeling of Afib being constant Not to mention all the other things he's going through. The poor man. And you going through it all right with him. Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon. I'll keep you in my good thoughts.

Re: Afib anyone?

Mary Bailey — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:14:05 GMT

DH had a stroke at 50 from afib. He had 6 hour surgery for atrial fibrillation. He's 65 now. He takes a baby asprin, no blood thinners.

Re: Afib anyone?

MoJoV — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:18:37 GMT

@sgraham30 Thank you for replying. Did your Dr. put you on a blood thinner or aspirin regimin? It's a frightening thing when your heart goes out of control,pretty hard "to learn to live with it" isn't it? The worse thing is you never know when it's going to happen. Or why.

Re: Afib anyone?

Nonametoday — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:20:45 GMT

@sgraham30 wrote:
@Nonametoday wrote:
My husband, not me, has had Afib for several years. He was never able to convert with medications and had 4 cardioversions, then he underwent a pacemaker which ended in his having pericarditis and it was removed, and he had another pacemaker installed, and subsequently he has had two ablations, and they have not worked. He stays in Afib-flutter and is on a load of medication. He had a toxicity to amiodarone (the main one) so he had to be converted to steroids because the amiodarone caused him to have pulmonary hypertension. He more recently had a quadruple bypass and a maze procedure which, the maze procedure, did not work either. So, he is getting over the bypass surgery and has been scheduled for another ablation in the very near future. His incisions from the quadruple bypass are not healed yet because he is diabetic (and slow in healing) but when they are healed, he must undergo another ablation.

I have a friend who has had Afib for many years. She is on medication, infrequently has runs of Afib and her doctor does not see cause to do anything else (she and my husband have the same caridologist, incidentally).

@Nonametoday, your poor husband has really been through the wringer! Maybe it's time to look for another cardiologist?

He has had 5 cardiologists' opinions and treatments. He has had some of the best that we can get. He has been to two teaching universities and they all agree with the treatment he is getting from his primary cardiologist. He has one who does the pacemaker, one who does the catheterizations, one who does the ablations and then the cardiothoracic surgeon. He is in his second practice of doctors because one relocated to another university and we changed when he left. But he has had good treatment. It is just that he is one of those unusual cases. Being a diabetic does not help.

Re: Afib anyone?

Full of it — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:21:02 GMT

I experienced Afib last month when I was in the hospital. I was on a monitor and awakened by the nurses as my heart rate was 170. I was asymtomatic...felt nothing. This happened 3 nights in a row...same time each night. Many tests were performed, including an echocardiogram. Everything looked perfectly normal. I am now on meds and blood thinner to help prevent a stroke. I am also wearing a monitor for another 3 weeks.

I am currently undergoing chemo treatments and have 2 more to go. The cardiologist and electrophysiologist told me it could be due to the stress my body is incurring from the chemo. Personally, I don't think this was an issue with me anytime before I started On chemo. I was always very active and never short of breath. Now I find myself getting winded, more often than not.

I hope my Afib will magically stop once my body has healed itself from chemo and future radiation. But, I have my doubts.

I wish you well.

Re: Afib anyone?

Nonametoday — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:23:03 GMT

@Mary Bailey wrote:
DH had a stroke at 50 from afib. He had 6 hour surgery for atrial fibrillation. He's 65 now. He takes a baby asprin, no blood thinners.

@Mary Bailey My husband had two strokes from Afib when he was in his early 50s. He subsequently had two heart attacks. He was both an aspirin and Plavix failure and then failed Coumadin. He is on 2 blood thinners daily, aspirin and steroids now.

Re: Afib anyone?

Nonametoday — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:25:14 GMT

I wish all of you who have, and your husbands have experienced Afib the very best. It can be difficult. Sometimes just medication works, sometimes it requires a pacemaker, sometimes the cardioversion works and sometimes the ablation. In my husband's case, he seems to be resistant. He also has the diabetes and pulmonary hypertension which probably contribute to the difficulties encountered. We are just happy for another day. I hope you all have a very quick resolution with no return of it.

Re: Afib anyone?

AuntG — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:26:19 GMT

A friend said hers tire her out - as if she'd been running for as long as they last. They started in this year. She'd been good for years, and now they frequently bother her.

Re: Afib anyone?

bmorechick — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 01:35:14 GMT

I have afib. Diagnosed three years ago at 61. Had no clue. I am largely asymptomatic, but it was detected by routine exam and comfirmed by ekg and holter monitor. I do high impact workouts and run. Cardiologist told me to keep all of it up. Do not stop. But I have been doing that for past 40 years. Played sports in high school as well.

I take Eliquis and Metropolol to control the HR. Low doses and apparently it works for me. I rarely know when I am in afib, but doc told me it’s constant 🤷🏻‍♀️. The only time I feel the HR go up is if I climb several flights of stairs. Then I have to pace myself.

Re: Afib anyone?

Nonametoday — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 02:05:49 GMT

The problem with my husband is that the atrial fibrillation caused strokes and now, congestive heart failure which is wearing his heart out. He also had a cardiac arrest related to the same when he was about to undergo another procedure. He has really had an awful lot. Our friends say he is the cat that had 9 lives.

Re: Afib anyone?

sgraham30 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 03:19:39 GMT

@MoJoV wrote:
@sgraham30 Thank you for replying. Did your Dr. put you on a blood thinner or aspirin regimin? It's a frightening thing when your heart goes out of control,pretty hard "to learn to live with it" isn't it? The worse thing is you never know when it's going to happen. Or why.

@MoJoV, currently I'm not taking anything. I was on Metropolol, 12.5 mcgs, which is half of the lowest dose tablet. I also have dysautonomia, which is autonomic nervous system dysfunction, in addition to the the arrythmias. The Metropolol was making some of the dysautonomia symptoms worse, so I've stopped it for the time being, with my cardiologist's knowledge. I'm having cardiac genetic testing done Feb 19 due to a heavy family history of deaths from heart disease & to try to find a medication that I can tolerate, with minimal side effects. I'm also scheduled for a cardiac MRI March 2nd to see if my heart has sustained additional damage from the failed ablations.

Re: Afib anyone?

sgraham30 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 03:17:47 GMT

@Nonametoday, you & your husband are obviously both very strong people, you have to be with what you're both going through. I wish you both well & hope that a successful course of treatment is found for your husband very soon......one that "sticks."

Re: Afib anyone?

Mom2Dogs — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 14:00:03 GMT

My dh has afib....it is mostly under control with medication. He does have episodes when he is in afib but does not last a long time.

I am sorry your husband has been thru so much....

Re: Afib anyone?

Jasmine19 — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 15:49:42 GMT

I have afib episodes once every 12-18 months. I am one of the fortunate people who can feel it immediately. It's not a pleasant sensation but if you feel it you can treat it. I take a medication called flecanide the minute I feel symptoms. So far, the afib has always resolved within 2 hours. I also take a daily beta blocker and an anticoagulant.

I'm curious if any of you pass a large volume of urine when you're in afib? I do. I've lost up to three pounds during an episode. Apparently this is caused by a hormone that triggers the kidneys to get rid of fluid to lessen the load on the heart.

Re: Afib anyone?

sophiamarie — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 17:28:43 GMT

My Cardiologist also has A-Fib.... He went to NY and got ablation therapy. He also had a minor stroke. He told me that some people don't even know they have it (no symptoms)...He was 70 when this happened and is still practicing, fortunately for me. He is now 75 and seems to be okay - still travels a lot when on vacation.

I also have a neighbor (87) who was diagnosed with AFib and was given Eloquis. She seems to be okay - I never hear her complain about anything but then again, she is not at all astute about anything medical and can't even pronounce her medication.... Maybe it's a good thing. The less, the better. I think she was diagnosed about 5 years ago.