Shirley, when I responded to your original post I forget to mention previous advice on the forum to take bendy drinking straws and a bottle of water with a sports top. I filled a bottle with Welsh tap water and carted that to Liverpool only to remember that their water comes from Wales too.
They would not offer to do an ablation for you unless it was deemed necessary. Some people do so much moaning and others cope because they have to. After my pvi the EP said " Given your history we were surprised at what we found."
Yes, but she died some time ago. An Andrex -type retriever called Jennifer Juniper, Jenny Woolypup or Jennydog. I cannot remember passwords so resorted to this one in her memory.
Yes, you have made sense, and I too feel a bit of a fraud, because I don't suffer from many problems and even when I have AF it's never been very debilitating. This doesn't mean it doesn't mess up one's life big time with its unpredictability and the way it has of undermining one's ability to function as one would wish.
I'd just like to echo your sentiments Shirley. i've got an unrelated health issue going on at the moment which might turn out to be serious, but, even so, I often feel humbled when I read what some people are going through on here.
Shirley you made perfect sense. The difficulty with PAF and many other illnesses is that it is unseen - ie only you know what is going on by how you feel; that is is paroxysmal ie you are ok some of the time and not at others. This engenders uncertaintity and loss of confidence in ones' judgements and that in turn leaves one with a feeling of anxiety at times and denial at other times as mostly, we want to feel well and get on with our lives.
All that is compounded by friends, family and work colleagues because if we get confused, they certainly do and I believe this gets projected into our environment in an out of awareness way. 'Is she ill and need support or not?' 'Wish she would make up her mind?' Type of reaction.
At present I am really struggling with several relationships because certain friends can't get their heads around my illnesses. I find this very wearying as I now haven't the energy to look after their feelings and will probably end up losing at least 2 of them when I really need support . I don't believe I am the only one in this position. (For those who don't know I had AF, none since March ablation, but didn't recover my energies and was diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune disease which leaves my muscles very weak). On one level I can be the observer of this dynamic and on the other feel very bereft and rather abandoned when my close friends don't 'get' it.
I am of the view that we need to accept that this may be, how it will be and make the very best of the good times. Yesterday I went sailing for only the second time this year, I am paying today for it but it was worth it just for the memories of how good it was to be with people who did get it, feel the wind and sun on my skin and enjoy the beautiful wildlife and scenery on the south Devon coast.
Shirley does any of this strike any cord with you?
You make total sense. I am constantly having that same conversation with myself. I think it is one of the ways we a fibers get ourselves in trouble. Allowing afib to continue causes the heart to weaken, change shape, other heart issues to start. I try to just accept the fact that this afib thing is precocious and I have to manage it knowing that, and not let it manage me. A good medical staff is supportive of that and will not make you or allow you to feel like you are making a mountain out of a mole hill. Rather you are taking responsible actions for your health. I am 60 and I want to be a healthy active 70 year old. Thanks for the thread.
I have just posted on the afib site I think . You have echoed my thought re the suffer in silence , stop being soft , don't make a fuss , schools of thought and you are sooo right about the total horror of knowing " it's starting again " and from then on for me I know I have 5 or more hours of feeling drained hopeless and powerless in front if me ...
I wish I had called an ambulance the first time because getting the correct treatment that is the strong thing to do , not ' grin and bear it '
I have explained more on my post but just wanted to acknowledge your comments
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