I have been diagnosed with atrial fibrillation back in February and this evening I have noticed a slight jumping feeling in my throat which is now un noticeable but my husband has put his head on my chest and my heart is beating faster then slower then faster and so on......nothing major though. My question is should I take my pill in the pocket (flecainide) or is this not AF? Thanks
The reason I ask is my first episode I felt quite ill where as I havent this time?! If this is the case it worries me that I could be in AF quite regularly without noticing!
Yes you could-- some people are asymptomatic. AF is not a nice tidy easy to judge condition so it is probably all part of it. In answer to your question, if you feel unwell then flec may help but if not then why take it? You can always try and see if things settle down. I presume and hope that you are properly anti-coagulated or at the very least have had your stroke risk assessed. Are you under a cardiologist or just your GP? GPs are not too good at prescribing warfarin or NOACs.
Hello Anna: Number one, you should have a blood pressure machine with you to take you BP and pulse. Also, you should have a finger mounted pulse and oxygen meter. The finger meter will show your pulse instantly, and when in AF it will fluxuate from second to second. Mine will show from 100 to 135 within a matter of several seconds. The BP machine will show the average pulse rate within the time it takes to show your systolic and diastolic blood pressure. I don't take any medicines, I just pray. My attacks last from 24 hours to 72 hours each time, which happens once or twice within ten days usually. I take lots of vitamins, minerals, herbs and spices to help keep me alive and functioning. God is number one in my life, and I trust Jesus every minute. God bless you.
Thank you cafeman! I have actually just been looking at pulse monitors....any recommendations?
I've been down that route, and the despite warnings from BobD and others on this and the older forum, I did not listen.
I bought a quite expensive BP monitor and HR Monitor (and that's one of the problems, none of them work well with AF and only the expensive ones get even close to accurate) and for several months religiously took my BP and pulse twice a day, lovely charts and goodness knows what else.
Know what? My AF was worse, and that's because twice a day, every day, I focussed on it, obsessed about it, reminded myself about it.
Bob told me, you only start getting better when you stop measuring, and like the stubborn old fool I am, I thought him wrong, he was not, he was right in every particular.
Please learn from me, don't buy a monitor, unless you have a firm request to do so from your doctor usually for BP reasons (Not AF) don't keep pulse and BP records, by all means note dates and lengths of any attacks, but in between GET ON WITH YOUR LIFE.
I don't think personal heart rate monitors work when in AF, unless maybe it's very mild. I have two completely different ones (and a finger one) and they give different, and incorrect readings. An EP explained at the Patients Day last year why they don't work (when in AF). Something to do with them not knowing what is a beat and what isn't. You may get a reading, but is it right? I've been on big machines in hospital and even they struggled. The EP said just go with how you feel, or if you really want to hear what your heart is doing, best way is to use a stethoscope.
I agree with Koll, very often the HR monitors don't work, I used a BP monitor and used it daily because I had ( please note now past tense, YEAH) and need to check as if it went below 70/30, which it frequently did, it was the que to ask for medical monitoring. And if it was a particularly bad episode of AF and pulse and BP were very erratic then BP monitors frequently don't work either.
The only monitor that registers any reasonable data seems to be the AliveCor ECG monitor which then clearly showed when in AF.
Personally I think it's advisable to use monitors if you know or even think you have things going on that cannot be caught in hospital tests and therefore you are going undiagnosed and untreated.
'Getting on with your life' is great advice if you have your condition nailed and are having whatever treatment you can for it, then it's probably best to ignore what's going on as best you can.
BP monitors are handy for you knowing your own proper BP away from a Dr's surgery but they won't record if you're in AF or certainly not fast AF.
Is ignorance bliss, or is knowledge power? As we all differ, some of us feel reassured by monitors (that's me with my Alivecor ; )).
I think that this can be the case. I think I am often in AF without realising. I am glad about that. I'm on an anti-coag so there's nothing else I can do except exercise and eat healthily which I do. The less I experience the AF's the better!
When I was having tests some hospital technicians were talking about apps that some patients have saying they were good but also saying people were coming in saying they had AF when they had a palpitation.I thought about getting one but think it would make me anxious.I sometimes check my pulse as its slow with beta blockers but having read up about it I am less concerned.
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