Has anyone been "cured" of AF?

Stop worrying about what may never happen and enjoy today. There are hundreds of people who would love to be in your shoes right now I suspect. Cure is not a word often used about AF as it is a condition rather than a disease.but take what you have for now.and if things go whatsiits up one day in the future then you deal with that when or if it happens. With what is in the news right now the world could end next week so live every day as if it were your ;last and one day you will be right.

Bob

Actually in my case A.F. has taught me to live in the moment. Previously I would rush through everything without pausing for thought! At the moment my A.F. is totally controlled by flecanide and I can't believe my luck. After 12 years out of rhythm every day in rhythm is amazing. I don't know how long it will last so I'm making the most of every moment. I could be run over by a bus tomorrow anyway or get some other illness so it's not a bad attitude to develop. Good luck and I hope you continue to enjoy good times x

Hi again. I really do understand how you feel. It would be great if the docs could tell us how long a particular med would work for. The best I could get out of my E.P. was that he would check on me again in 2 years unless It came back again in the meantime.However I know of people who have been A.F. free for 15 years while taking the same meds as me so that's reassuring. I think we just have to accept that everyone seems to have different experiences of this thing and if one drug stops working there are others to try and ablation to consider. Sounds like you have had a rough ride with your health so I hope you get a good long break from A.F. x

hi v624, The medical profession does not know what causes a fib , so it is up to the patient to find out what individual triggers they have. In my case , post ablation , i have found that excess sugar in my diet has triggered ectopic beats. I suspect that the modern day diet is a contributory factor in the increased incidence of a fib.

I think you are rightly being optimistic , but do take it as your own responsibility to find individual triggers for your own condition.

good luck

phil

It's wear and tear really. Buy a new car and run it for the time we all have been running around and it will act up.

Hi v624jbb

I don't know whether someone can have AF once and then never again, but would guess it's possible but we'd probably not hear from them! Usually though, from what I know, it's a condition that you need to control. I've had it for probably 20 years, had a couple of ablations and now on drugs which are controlling my constant bundles of ectopics to perfection. But I've also had 8 years free of drugs and arrhythmia after my first ablation.

So it's more of a constant control rather than cure I feel. If you get to understand it, and how to manipulate your way through the medical profession, it will hopefully not be a problem. This forum has been invaluable for me, life-changing actually ( for the better, I should add ).

Regards

Koll

v624jbb,

I had an ablation last year, it has transformed my life, so far so good, I was reluctant at first to get it done but it got progressively worse, at first I tried vitamins, relaxation, diet, avoided this and that all of it was a waste of time and gave me false hope, in most cases I believe you can’t control it…if only it were that easy, I wish you luck it’s not an easy road to travel but hopefully you’ll get there

Hi

Having taken myself off the Bisoprolol and reduced Flex to night time only could go days feel symptom free and felt pretty much the same as yourself...

Then two weeks ago after visit with Registrar 're Ablation l came off all meds except Warfarin...Didn't last long after two days AF was back with a vengeance now reinstated Flecainide...

I think that's the only way to find out is AF is "cured" .

There are many people with AF who are also suffering from other conditions far more life threatening...I don't know what fate has in store for me neither does anyone else...AF l believe was my destiny and l try to embrace it just like an old friend...

Thank you for posting your question...It helped me knowing there is someone out there with the same thoughts...

Carol....

Hi, not sure if you really want to hear this, but my first diagnosed episode of AF seemed to be triggered by a combi of a virus, infection and stress so I hoped it was a one-off although my heart was still acting up in the form of ectopics and palpitations. However my genes and other health issues were against me, so later I was diagnosed with PAF and put on permanent meds which work very well. Coming to this forum has been very helpful as the info given to me by medics has been minimal, also I have realised how lucky I am! I really hope you continue well for a long time but as often posted by others, the better you look after yourself the more lucky you will be.

Hi - My Paroxysmal AF started with me having just one or two attacks a year and then it gradually got worse. It got to the point where everything I did exhausted me. I would go for my usual long walk and then flake out on the settee and fall asleep. Eventually anything that required effort was impossible for me to do, just bending down to pick up hedge clippings was exhausting I could only bend and scoop up about three times before having to give in.

After my first ablation in June 2011 my energy levels soared and I felt so much more alive, but the AF episodes increased. Last June I had a second ablation and now I have periods of feeling really well and then month long episodes with my heart racing constantly. My resting rate has been around 118bpm for the last 5 weeks, next week I have yet another cardoversion (had one last November and one a year before).

My ex boss had two ablations and claimed for many years that it had cured his AF, but I haven't spoken to him for a while now. I guess that people who have been cured have probably given up coming to this site.

I don't think you are being unrealistic in hoping you are cured. How do you feel in general now after taking beta blockers? Do they make you feel tired?

My personal view is you are being unrealistic ..... but dream on if you want to !

Make no mistake ..... this is a bloody mongrel condition ..... a hydraheaded monster ..... its all things to all people. I don't know how long you've been reading posts on here but I've been reading these posts on this and on the older (now defunct) Yahoo Groups site for 4 years. Causes of it, and triggers (and in my experience the cause of AF is quite a different issue to triggers) are so different that it is just about impossible to rationalise it - Cardio Consultants and EP's are on a hiding to nothing. And that doesn't even begin to touch on the quality of GP's, Consultants and EP's scattered around the country. But then these healthcare professionals are only concerned with fixing the thing and trying to restore a quality of life - not into defining a cause or a trigger. Its down to each individual to work it out for themselves. I believe that if you get an early diagnosis and treatment started then you have a chance of controlling the bloody mongrel, if you leave it and pretend it'll go away ( and it might) then that's your choice.If you have other medical conditions, even those that aren't cardiac related then in my view one could be in for an uphill battle.

I had led a relatively healthy lifestyle, in hospital once for a cartilidge removal, minor digestive issues in my thirties, the usual run of DIY carelessness putting me into A & E on occasions and that's all. Then after about 2 and half years of massive palpitations AF hit me. Why - I asked, nobody could tell me so I put it down to stress. Since then I've researched and have come to the view that in those 2 and half years I carried my mobile phone in my shirt pocket (over my heart) and looking at comments from posts on here I am now persuaded to the view that the cause of my AF may well have come from electrosensitivity arising from micro/ radiowaves emitted from my mobile phone. However, after about 15 months of regular AF events I linked the onset of an AF event to a trigger - a misbehaving digestive system. The digestive system and the heart are both controlled by the vagal (or vagus) nerve. I decided to consult a Nutrionist and treat the digestive system rather than the cardiac system and now after three years of a certain diet I hardly ever have an AF event. Palpitations yeah, sure, occasionally, but nothing else. But make no mistake - I don't trust this condition - it could give me a thrashing any time it chooses. But I'm ready for it !

So while apologising for the length of this my advice is (even if you don't contribute to posts) to read whats on here by a myriad of different people in different countries and inwardly digest their comments and opinions - you WILL learn lots and lots.

May the force be with you all.

Aussie John

Hello,

I had two episodes of afib 5 years ago. Originally treated with Rythmol, EP took me off and have been on Cardizem since then. I have worn a holtor event monitor because I am prone to palpitations, but nothing except a short burst of svt, less than 7 seconds, showed up in 30 days. I don't know if I'll ever have another episode or not, hopefully not, but will deal with that if it does happen. I am pretty optimistic and can see you have a positive outlook as well. I found certain triggers with palpitations, one being digestive issues. Seems if I have indigestion, I will get a few extra beats..my doctor said that is very common. Listen to your body and continue to enjoy life.

All the best to everyone here

Just a comment really. My husband had one episode of AF more than15 years ago after an episode of intense exertion!!! It lasted about four days and he was on his way to be started on warfarin when he went back into NSR so no action taken (already on beta blockers for hypertension ) Never had another episode till May 2012. Now in permanent AF. Tho new event was blamed on the fact that his silent MI affected an area of the heart near the sino atrial node.,

Hi, thank you for asking the original question. It's a question I have long wondered about and a question I very persistently ask medical people here (in the US). And here you get as much face time as you care to pay for with the specialist -- lived in the UK for 16 years and met many fine doctors, but they were really overworked and hence hard to really advise much I felt. The advice I got is that a single episode of AF in your life is unlikely because your heart has to have the ability to 'misfire' and cause the very rapid beats. As your heart ages, you are more likely to have it again ... I had lone afib (about 16 hours only) after emergency gallbladder surgery 18 months ago, I had a bad infection and was very dehydrated from throwing up a lot prior to surgery. I have looked up a lot of the medical literature and I totally agree with other comments -- basically no one knows because there isn't any constant measurement of people. Some people could easily have afib and never know, they might be more prone to strokes (my mother's afib was diagnosed only after she had a stroke) or maybe not. They only look at the hearts that are 'caught' in afib so we only get a partial picture. I agree completely that aggressive management, questions, as much evaluation as you can get, is really important. It's a pain because who wants to push to wear at Holter. I agree though that it changed my outlook on things, I am grateful for health and I hope -- unlike my mother -- that I can avoid strokes. Afib is a condition that demands a lot of choice from the patient because there are important choices to be made -- if you had Afib once for 16 hours would you go on blood thinners? I have not, although my GP thought I should (my cardiologist does not think so, I am on calcium channel blockers instead). I share the frustration that it's a sort of all or nothing thing ...

Hi v624jbb,

Your history mirrors mine. I was diagnosed just over a year ago and had several unpleasant episodes between Feb and April until the Bisopralol kicked in. I then just had some ectopics and a few pips and squeaks especially on lying down at night. I was optimistic but realistic, did what I could to keep AF at bay and just got on with life including continuing with a fantastic holiday to Namibia, which all my friends thought I should cancel!! 8 months later, last December, I had another 5 hour episode, starting at 3 am and stopping when I ate my bowl of porridge at 8am. I was disappointed but not surprised as such is the nature of the beast.

We are all so different but some of us share similarities. I'm one of the vagally mediated group, can't lie on my left side at night, must eat early in the evening and a small amount, must avoid wind producing foods such as cabbage, don't do well with foods containing tyramine, one of the worst offenders being red wine, and alcohol in general. I've just started following a modified version of Aussie John's diet and I'm going to try acupuncture.

I read everything I can and choose the path that feels right for me, after all knowledge is power. I have recently seen an EP who gave me loads of time and answered all my questions, and who has offered me an ablation. I would trust him with my heart and I know that sooner is better than later for this procedure, however my instinct tells me that the time is not quite right for me yet.

This is my journey, in brief, good luck with yours and I sincerely hope you do manage to stay in NSR.

Liz

Hi v624jbb. There almost certainly isn't a cure for AF as, once you have had it, it is inherent and can crop up again. However, 'cure' is an ambiguous term and doesn't necessarily mean permanence. My first AF happened when I was 34 and at that age I wasn't ready to settle for a quiet life. Anyway, it was 3 years before it happened again and then at intervals of 9 years and 22 years. I was 68 by then and every one of those AF free periods was a cure for me and I achieved, by my standards, an awful lot in that time. So I guess, stay cured until, when or if, AF comes back - and if it does, just roll with it until you're cured again! Take care and enjoy life!.

David

Hi- new to this site although I've had AF for a few years. It's really great to hear everyone's experiences and views. I've had 2 ablations- the second one worked really well. Stopped most Meds except heavy duty aspirin, and am relatively symptom free. I would go out of rhythm perhaps once every few months for a few hours. Not enough, I thought, to mention to my doc. Then last week I had an acute ischemic stroke. Sheesh! Couldn't speak and was totally out of it. Husband rushed me to ER... anyway, I am perfectly fine now, was in the hospital for only 2 days. But I am now on a regular blood thinner. Sounds like most of you are already on something, but for anyone who is only taking heavy duty aspirin- if you have only one episode, you are in danger of stroke. Much as I don't like taking Meds, (way to strong for that, don't ya know!) I now admit AF is stronger than me! I (and especially my husband) are resting a little easier now.

I was hit with the news I had af feb 2013 I started off on warfarin and flecanide 100mg a day. Slowly but surely my cardio as taken me off warfarin and I now only take 50 mg of flecanide now, in november this year I will be off all meds if everything stays the same. My cardio reckons the term af is too broadly use .

There can be cures to atrial fibrillation, but only through some type of invasive procedure. You have to interrupt the chaotic impulses or re-entry circuits of the upper chambers or to destroy the cells that emit irregular signals that starts the afib

I have been cured for 16 years after being a afib sufferer for most of my life until age 64, when I was cured by the full Cox maze procedure.

The maze procedure forms scar tissue in a maze type pattern of the upper chambers that prevents any fibrillation to continue. The electric impulse of the heart cannot cross scar tissue, so this maze pattern routs the impulse in a uniform path through the upper chambers causing them to contract, and then on to the AV node.

Atrial fibrillation is a progressive ailment that increases with age. Some medications work for patients for a time, but usually decrease in efficiency with time.

Hope this helps some.

Jack

Bob I don't post usually but I think you do a great job and without the likes of you the site wouldn't exist. Fortunately I am one of those with no symptoms but appreciate it was found in a routine preop. We'll done keep up

the good work.

Wow. I bet you didn't expect such an incredible response to your question! It shows that the same question has lurked at the back of most of our minds at some point in our A.F. journeys. It is how we have all dealt with it in different ways that is so interesting.x

You present a really interesting question. About 60% of AF is chromosome DNA genetically specific and the other was 40% environmental. A lot of what causes AF and how it sustains the damage to the atria tissue is still not known. The atria is a high energy tissue and there are also mitochondria related disorders which affect the atria which are even less known about.

The treatment of AF has come on leaps and bounds. 20 years ago there was no ablation and those with non symptomatic AF who were treated promptly might go on to continue to be symptom free. Those of us like me who have endured the problem since late teens are just thankful that management and understanding of the condition has in recent years been come on a long way.

In my long experience the idea of a cure has been replaced with the best management of AF to allow as normal a life as you can get. Optimism for the future and optimum mangement of the AF until the identify the cause of the changes to at the atria tissue which causes the fibrillation is the best next thing.

This has been a fantastic thread of responses to read. So many experiences of one condition. My AF was diagnosed in December and after a brief flirtation with bisoprolol which didn't work, I started on flecanide and warfarin. The warfarin is fine and I am already regarding it as my friend. Flecanide - not so good. The episodes of AF continued with the same frequency as before I started medication (fortnightly on average) and I felt ghastly all the time - extra palpitations at night that kept me awake and that I hadn't had pre flecanide, constantly tired, low, no energy or enthusiasm and still having AF.

Saw the cardiologist last week and he is referring me on to an EP. He also said I could stop the fleccanide and just take it if I have an episode of AF. But he thought I should take bisoprolol again as well. I haven't got round to getting the prescription yet but, is it coincidence? I come off the daily flecanide and have had some good sleep, reduced the extra palpitations and, as my husband said at the weekend, I am more 'my old self'. I know the AF has not been cured, and that I have not found a way of managing it yet so that I still have good quality of life. Talk of ablation is hovering in the wings and so I find the posts on this forum really helpful. But what really strikes me is the vast knowledge and expertise we are all acquiring as we navigate through this thing - as a relative newbie, I am glad I found the forum! I hope the EPs and GPs look at this forum: I'm sure they could learn alot.

Thanks for posting the question v624jbb.

I posted this on another part of this site but thought some of the ones in this thread may miss it. See what Howie Mandel says about A-Fib. Apparently Ellen Degeneres has A-Fib as well. Look at this site:

fibsorfacts.com/about.aspx

If you wish to know your heart rate, check out:

iheartrhythm.com/

This is in the USA but they will ship worldwide. Two electrical engineers designed this for their father who is a cardiologist. I purchased one and it works. It is a way to know what your heart is doing when it is in A-Fib. Taking or sending a chart to your doctor is sometimes helpful and it can avoid going to the ER. Should you decide to purchase one, when you order, if you tell them, Neil from Canada, referred you, they will give you a small discount. Or just order it at the regular price. This is not meant to be an advertisement. I just started having A-Fib and my wife found the iHeartRhythm site on the internet. I have to run right now but will return with comments about my situation. This site is very helpful and I wish I knew about it several months ago. Cheers!

Hi

i am new to this site having only joined earlier this week, i would say that a cure is possible if 15 years free of episodes of af count.

I had a focal piont ablation of the lower left pulmonary vein in 1999 and up until last year had no discernable af attacks - just the occaisional ectopics.

My quality of life changed considerably and i enjoyed riding fast motorbikes on racetrscks etc and took no medications of any type.

Unfortunately it turned out not to be a complete cure as ghe palpitations returned last year. pretty mild as i was not even sure it was af.

Just had a pvi ablation on monday and hoping this time for permanent solution but you never can be sure.

I think we need to remember everybody is different and we deal withth this demon in our own individual ways.

Sites like this are fantastic. in 1999 there was nothing available you were on your own

best wishes to all

dave