Afib anyone?

MoJoV · ‎10-01-2010

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.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

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).

sgraham30 · ‎03-14-2010

@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.

blackhole99 · ‎08-22-2013

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.

sgraham30 · ‎03-14-2010

@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?

MoJoV · ‎10-01-2010

@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.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth

Mary Bailey · ‎03-09-2010

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.

MoJoV · ‎10-01-2010

@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.

Trees are the lungs of the Earth

Nonametoday · ‎03-09-2010

@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.

Full of it · ‎07-04-2016

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.