hi i have been diagnosed with AF but my heart rate is usually in the 50 or high 40s is this normal im really starting to worry

[jeelly40]

[BobD Volunteer]

It is possible to have slow AF as well as fast AF. The problem if your heart rate is slow would be that many of the drugs used to combat AF tend to slow down the heart which in your case would not be a good thing. You don't say if you have seen a cardiologist or Electrophysiologist or just your GP and what drugs you have been given.

Generally speaking normal heart rate is between 60 and 80 with any less being bradycardia (slow heart beat) and more being tachycardia (fast heart beat). I would not like to speculate on what treatment your doctors have in mind for you.

Bob

[Hidden in reply to BobD]

hi my varies from slow to fast i take beta blockers and an anti arrythmic drug to help with this

[rosyG]

Hi,

I am in the same position as you- I don't know what age you are but pulse can slow down if sinus node becomes fibrous as one gets older . As Bob answered, the tricky bit is the treatment. I was diagnosed 6 weeks ago and am waiting for appointment at Royal Brompton to see what will be needed. I have seen a general medical consultant ( not cardiologist) and one option mentioned was that a pacemaker might be needed , which will regulate heart rate, which then would mean medication or other treatment for AF possible. It is very individual and you do need to see

a cardiologist for proper opinion. It would be good to keep in touch- my appointment is not until early December - we could exchange notes on advice given? With regard to the slow pulse, I have only had symptons very recently since first attack of AF ( although pulse has been slow for some time) and these have included day time dizziness. The advice has been to go to A and E if feeling very ill or having fainting etc- not happened yet! The general medical consultant explained the reason I have felt less dizzy after steady, slow, walks is that it increases my heart rate which in turn helps to deal with irregular heart beats. Please don't take this to mean vigorous exercise!!

Your GP should be able to organise 24hr ECG to check what your heart rate is doing.

If anyone has had brachy tachy for long time if would be really good to hear what treatments have been possible for you.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to rosyG]

Give all the gang at Brompton my love Rosy. Jonathan Clague was my consultant there but there are many. Great place to be treated.

Bob

[rosyG in reply to BobD]

I will!! I don't know whether , because you answered the first post, you also have brady tachy AF , but if you do, do you know if having a pace maker precludes ablation if latter is appropriate? Local clinicians have been unable to answer and I can't find other info fromthe various cardiology journals online?

[BobD Volunteer in reply to rosyG]

Hi again Rosy. Firstly let me explain how a pacemaker works. It sends regular signals to the muscles of the left ventricle to make it contract in a regular timed manner. It does not affect the left atria. As such is can't stop AF although the symptoms of low blood flow leading to tiredness etc will be averted. You would still feel the atria fibrillating most likely but maintain a more normal ventricular rate and blood flow. I know several people who have had "pace and ablate" where the AV Node, the heart's natural pacemaker, is ablated and an electronic one fitted to manage the heart. Patients then become pace maker dependent.

I also know of people who have had pacemakers post ablation due to complications such as heart block resulting in bradycardia.

There seems little point in doing a PVI after pacemaker to me as the major problem of low blood flow will have been solved. I'm not a doctor mind you so there may be other thoughts here.

No I don't have BT syndrome.

Hope that helps.

Bob

[realdon in reply to rosyG]

Hello rosyG

I don't believe that having a pacemaker precludes subsequent ablation, because I am in that situation and the EPs are recommending that I have an ablation and I do have a pacemaker. I was diagnosed with AF in 2012 after suffering dizzy spells and two faints.Like Jeelly40 my resting pulse rate was in the 50s and sometimes low 40s. I was put on flecainide and bisoprolol but I had problems with the bisoprolol, no doubt due to the low heart rate. The echocardiograph was normal, but the 7 day tape revealed that when I was coming out of an AF episode and going back to sinus rhythm, my heart was pausing for between 3 and 10 seconds, which was clearly the cause of the fainting. So I was given a pacemaker in January this year. I have seen the EPs twice since, and they feel that they will want to ablate, but because I am doing fairly well on the medicines at the moment, I do not yet want to make that decision. But they certainly don't say anything about ablation not being appropriate for someone with a pacemaker like me. Incidentally, I now tolerate the beta blocker pretty well, no doubt due to the increased heart rate (they reset it at 60 bpm although it does of course go higher if and when I have an AF episode).

[rosyG in reply to realdon]

Thank you for your reply- this sounds very like the ECg results I have had. At the Brompton they use magnetic ablation equipment so I wonder if they remove the pacemaker while they ablate- I'll have to be patient but it is hard when we don't know all the options!1 Really appreciate your reply, thankyou

[flyfisher]

If of any help , I had a slightly slow heartbeat , generally around 50-60 , and recently had treatment.

Original symptoms were of heart rate racing and then normalising when fatigued and heart rate slowing whilst asleep and then jumping to fast as i became awake , with other symptoms of general fatigue. My doctor initially put it down to coffee / stress and told me not to worry , after a few trips to the doctors they did an ecg , which was normal bradycardia , eventually, as the symptoms developed i decided to go to a&e when it occurred . Several times I set off for a&e but half way there I felt my heart normalise , eventually I managed to get to hospital with it still happening and they did an ecg , the electrophysiologist diagnosed a fib and gave me options of treatment he commented that cardioversion is not too successfull with normally slow heartbeats and he put me on the list for an ablation .

Several months later I had a laser balloon ablation , the laser balloon method is considerably shorter duration and the e/p commented that they were initially having less re-does with this proceedure.

Four weeks after treatment , h/r has normalized at around 60/65 at breakfast , a little higher than previous and am feeling much better.

[rosyG in reply to flyfisher]

This is very heartening- I will look up this type of ablation- many thanks for your reply, much appreciated

[jeelly40]

Thankyou for all ur replies. I was diagnosed by my cardiologist at the royal brompton and am due for ablation next week. I also cant take any medication as like bobd says it lowers my heart low too low

[rosyG in reply to jeelly40]

Jeelly40 Have they mentioned anything about pacemakers as well as ablation? I'd very be grateful if you would let me know how you get on as it sounds very similar to me! I will let you know of any changes and information I get!!

[jeelly40 in reply to rosyG]

Nope no mention of a pacemarkervyet

[rosyG in reply to jeelly40]

I hope your ablation went well- be very interested to hear about it when your have recovered .

[tibetan36]

Hi!! I was diagnosed with AF in April 2012. Consequently a trip to the Cardiologist resulted in an emergency trip to hospital where they place two stents in the arteries. After Cardiac Rehab I was supposed to feel wonderful! well it didn't happen, I was having constant episodes of AF.....Bradycardia and Tachycardia.....low pulse 42 and high pulse of 257. Both low and high pulse readings are dangerous and at a high risk of a stroke. When in AF the heart is not pumping blood correctly. According to my Cardiologist the heart 'quivers' therefore blood can pool....therefore an ideal breeding ground for clots. My Cardio man recommended a pacemaker....so in went a pacemaker which has been set for 60bpm's., anything below this my cardio man says does not pump the blood around fast enough, Bradycardia problem solved. As pacemakers cannot control Tachycardia medication began, Sotolol controlled it for a while until my heart became used to it. Now I am on Amioderane and Warfarin until I can have an Ablation in Dec or early January. I have been on all the other meds including Digoxin, and Metropolol.I also have sleep Apnea which can also create problems of oxygen starvation to the brain whilst sleeping. Cpap and I now have a relationship every night lolol.

I hope this can be of help!

Namaste .)

Barry

[rosyG in reply to tibetan36]

many thanks for the information- very helpful!