It may seems strange question : do anyone feel normal again after being diagnosed of AF or other types of irrythemia ?

I agree with you Maitha in that if you were feeling totally normal, you wouldn't (most likely) be using this forum. After my first ablation 10 years ago, I felt totally normal. I didn't take drugs except anti-coags, and I didn't even think about AF.

When I started to get problems again, I looked for help online and found this place. If I still felt normal it wouldn't have crossed my mind to join.

Koll

For me, I thought I had other problems that where wrong with me. It was not until I found this forum that I realised it was af causing some of the strange symptoms. Oddly this has given me peace of mind and a realisation how we are let down due to lack of info from medical professionals. I hope you feel more at peace soon xx

Have not felt well since I went on warfarin, but told that this drug has no side affects so it must all be in my mind. Energy gone, appitite poor, no interest in doing wat I used to do up unil end of Feb this year. been in and out of hospital with chest pains and massive bleed from arm when bloods were 7.6. I need some energy and also have lost weight. I know I am 72 but have always been active and fit and could walk for miles. They do not really know what is wrong at hospital and put it down to AF. Since then all down hill.

Dot.

Hello Dot

Like you I had a few problems when I was on warfarin, I would get very breathless and tired. I had to take it before my ablation but once that was done I was more than happy to stop . My consultant didn't seem too surprised with my reaction. Perhaps you could try a new anticoagulant.

All the best

Jackie

Hi Dottlind

There are almost no reports of warfarion causing tiredness, breathlessness, energy loss of loss of appetite, it's a very benign drug to be honest, so whilst I would not say "it's all in your mind" I would ask what other drugs you were taking, as they are much more likely to be the culprits.

Plus of course all those symptoms are symptoms of AF itself not warfarin, but I do understand that with an INR of 7.6 that's too high, wondering how they got you that high that quickly, for most of us it's all we can do to drag ourselves over 2 or 2.5

Be well

Ian

Whoever told you that `Warfarin has no side effects` - knows nothing about pharmacology . It is riven with the most dangerous side effects. As an ex-cardiac nurse I have seen the effects that Warfarin has on `clients` & now as an A/F sufferer I have myself suffered the adverse side effects of Warfarin which included bruising & subcutaneous haemorrhages & acute intestinal haemorrhages which resulted in collapsing in the street.

I now have a `Watchmans` device fitted over my left atrial chamber & so no longer require warfarin

I have been offered a 3rd. ablation as I am now in atrial tachycardia & I have to recommence Warfarin again but I will also make sure I receive the PPI (proton pump inhibitor) Lansoprazole as well which offers some protection against many of the adverse side effects.

I suggest that you look Warfarin up on the web & note yourself the horrendous side effects of this drug & decide if some of your present symptoms result from these adverse effects.

Ol`timer

Oltimer it is sad to hear you have had difficulties with warfarin but if one looks at the statistics re warfarin users it has usually been that it s when one's INR is out of range that things go wrong. We should all be pressing for more frequent testing of INR where needed and education of patients and anti-coagulation teams to be more vigilant where bruising etc occurs.

Hope all goes well with you

I totally agree with LAN .

Please discuss with your doctor about the possible side effects about your other medication .

Maitha

Hi Maitha, how are things? I hope you're feeling better. Yes, I guess if we felt normal we'd be skipping about like spring lambs instead of being here! However, most of the time when I'm not in AF, I do, more or less - but I know I have to pace myself far more than I ever did, or I will bring on an attack. That means it's always there at the back of my mind, as is the possibility of having AF. The tablets also make me more tired than I used to be, but I am trying to live as normal a life as I can. I am darned if I'm going to let it rain on my parade...

Lis

Hi Maitha and my question back to you is "What is normal?" After my third ablation I was free of AF for some years but still have odd ectopics and short runs of tachycardia.. The problem is that most people get these and seldom if eve notice them We AF people seem to notice every little variation most of which are perfectly normal but become obsessed by what our hearts are doing. I don't mean that unkindly as I am sure we all do it without thinking and to me it is perfectly understandable. What we all have to do is to accept that we have had the condition and try to live as normal a life as possible. Nearly six years down the line I still hang around here not for personal support but TO support as I know how frightening it can be. Learning to live with that situation and making the most of this precious life is he first step to happiness. I may have said this before but I am thankful for my journey through AF since it prepared me to face head on and accept things when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago.

For me. "normal" is waking up every morning to a most wonderful world, taking loads of pills, three monthly blood tests, INR tests and having monthly implants etc but boy is it good to be alive! No I don't have the energy I did ten years ago but I'm 69 now not 59 and my arthritic knees stop me gallavanting like I used to do but I still build race car engines as a "hobby" , play skittles in the season and annoy the hell our of my wife if I even think about complaining about any health issues. Yes I do sometimes feel down for sure and often wonder how long I have but that is negative thinking. None of us know the answer to that question! I would love to be able to ski again, walk the fells in Cumbria or ride my mountain bike more than a mile or so but it aint gonna happen so I just dream about it.

One day you will find a balance but in the mean time concentrate on having that next ablation and pray that this time you will have some relief..

Bob

More wise words from Bob. Much as we can feel our ailments may take us away from being what we perceive as normal, they can have a positive effect. I think life is a little bit sweeter for the sensation that we are lucky to be where we are now. We have at our disposal today a wealth of technological advances and medical and surgical skills - and medication that may not be perfect but nonetheless moves us forwards.

People who sail through life may be normal, but lack the difficult experiences that, when overcome, can impart strength, wisdom, optimism and a sense of achievement.

I appreciate you wisdom where we all need such feedback to get us back to actual life path.

Thanks a lot , god bless you

Wish you well all the time

Regards

Very interesting post Maitha, personally I don't believe too much in logic and rely far more on my senses which are much more reliable. There is a view that illness is also an opportunity for learning and that healing is also about the spirit. Caroline Myss, amongst others, has written extensively about this. I don't think there is anything 'normal' just difference in how we judge our norms. If feeling well is normal for us, we probably will suffer more than someone for whom feeling well is not their norm.

I can totally resonate with the sense of my being needing to be 'rebooted' as it were. This has varied throughout my life and there have been some times when I have felt completely whole.

I think it is a fair question to ask because I know that some people in this world seem to spend a good deal of their lives 'chasing the pain'. In other words as soon as one thing seems to settle, another illness arises. I want to be quite clear I do NOT subscribe to the view that we cause our illness! It is more about things feeling non aligned which is precursor for change or illness. I think this can also be about picking up a dis-ease in our greater environment which we pick up energetically.

I always felt geographically challenged, I was born in the north of England, and from early childhood always felt I was in the wrong place?! Even more odd was that people who didn't know me thought WAS a 'southerner'. Very odd, that sense disappeared when I moved to the south and so did the ulcerative colitis I had suffered with since childhood, no explanation and no treatment and as I was going through divorce at the time which was the most stressful time of my life which should have made things worse ??

I know I am not the only one to feel this and work with others knowing that the times we are living through are very difficult ones worldwide and we are all battling with things we don't really understand but most of us don't know about it. These influences have a physical effect on our bodies, minds and spirit. The medics can help ease our symptoms and sometimes can make huge differences in peoples lives but they don't look at the whole and are still basing a lot of their knowledge on mechanistic science. Hence all the talk on this site about food triggers, differences in how medicines affect us etc. There is still so much still out of our awareness.

This may strike a chord with you Maitha or you may think I am just completely mad, whatever, I wish and send you peace and healing from my heart to yours.

As a young thing was dancing with a psychiatrist and said to him in an alcoholically challenged way "Why am I dancing with you - I don't need a psychiatrist" reply "Whoever told you that?!!"

In the last three years I have felt healthier than in the two before that when I was having weird feelings of exhaustion, nausea, bloat, and panic. Since being diagnosed - yes the first year I felt uneasy sometimes and mind was full of what ifs, but now this warfarinised body, taking a drug people ( including GP) think is difficult - flecainide , is the normal me. I feel safer and happier knowing I am one of the lucky ones who has been diagnosed and treated appropriately.

Yeah welcome to my world Martha!! (Just been to GP told her that despite coming off bisoprolol ( which made me weak tired and dizzy ) I am still dizzy a LOT of the time and headaches, she said it a anxiety and gave me antidepressants !, feels like my whole world has changed in the 5 wks since diagnosed with PAF , lost my confidence too , and people just don't understand ,best wishes , Lynn

Wow a lot of replies for you Maitha, which could mean we might have asked ourselves the same question, I feel abnormally normal! I don't take Warfarin, so for me its a freakish condition, I can't blame on any one particular thing, but I think we are all trying to understand and convey this to others with a small measure of success at times.

Thank you all for feedback , yes we are all in the same boat sharing same trip.

What I meant by normal was not being tired or weak which I can understand as side effects or symptoms , I meant stop thinking about heart rythem most the time , stop being obsessed .

My question was not as complain , i just want to know that I'm not weird and what I'm feeling and thinking is normal in other similar cases

Sharing me same concern made me feel I'm not alone , and what I'm feeling is ok .

I'm not blaming any medication , since I'm on warfarin only long time back before being diagnosed with any type of Irrethemis .

I think AF experience changes the way we think , then we will trapped in that infinity cycle full of anxiety and worries.

I'm reading all your feedback all the day and I deeply think that we should change mainly the way we think.

Bob said the right words full of wisdom , I will try my best to enjoy my life as much as possible , everyday of it , not to expect the worse , to feel sorry for myself anymore .

At least we have a cure even ablation or medication.

Wish you all the best

Thank you for giving me support whenever I need it.

Happy Easter to all of you

Maitha

Normal for me is speeding heart and adrenaline pumping. I have got used to it. Full time job round it and full medication including wafarin which has never been an issue to me. But then I think no one is really 'normal'"!