6.30am Monday morning,woke up.Heart Racing as usual With tightness in my chest,got up had a cuppa,feeling getting tighter...when I took a deep breath in it kinda made me stop abruptly ...thought to myself,here we go again...wife appeared,phone surgery when it opens at 8am she says for appt....eventually got appt for 9am by this time pain has spread to my back as well..breathing getting more difficult...Doc checked me over,def not a chest infection he said,seeing you have AF need to call an ambulance,in. The meantime gave me an aspirin,and sprayed under my tongue...onthe way up to hospital.paramedics done an ecg...unstable flutter she said showing up,bpm bout 100 she said breathing difficulty may be clot on the lung,but blood test will soon tell...anyway to cut a long story short,ended up in the cardiac ward...strapped to a 24 hr monitor which is relayed to the cardiac unit upstairs,blood tests and bp came back normal..they decide to keep me in overnight as heart rate is still over 100. Early tues morning nurse gave me 10 mg dispropolol...up 5mg from my normal...Cardiologist came to see me bout lunchtime,he said we have your heart rate normalised to about 70..how long have you been on Warfarin?...isaid iam on my fifth week,as a matter of fact I have my yellow book in my pocket...he said you have been in range...don't take lunch..I will do a cardioversion about 4 pm...I thought good on ya!...can't wait...before he started the cardioversion he explained my diagnosis..he said you have Atrial Flutter in one of your chambers..hence the feeling of the rapid heartbeat..I feel confident I can knock you back into normal rythmn...any questions before I start?..I asked why the pain in my chest..he said the small blood vessels round the lungs can't keep up with the erratic blood supply caused by the flutter...ok I said..have I got AFib?...he said at the minute no...but it can develop into A Fib,but as yet we really don't know how that happens...but hopefully with this and your medication upped you should get major relief....he said finding the right balance of medication goes a long way to making this condition and A Fib liveable for the patient...next minute woke up back in the ward sorted!....no rapid heartbeat...steady at 70 and back in rythmn...nice as well to have a cardiologist who takes the time to explain everything...which really helps,because as sufferers we all tend to think the worse scenario....Again thanks to all my friends on here who share their stories. And experiences,I hope this one can help someone along the way...Terry.
Heart Going Good Golly Miss Molly I E... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Heart Going Good Golly Miss Molly I End Up on A Trolley.
Thanks for sharing that Terry, it does help us.
So pleased you're back in nsr and feeling well.
All your symptoms did sound like those of a heart attack with the pain spreading and the tight chest.
You had some good fast treatment there and it makes all the difference to have it explained properly.
Long may your nsr last.
Pat
Thanks Pat..woke up this morning feeling normal..what a blessing!..thanks to the wonderful staff at Hairmyres Hospital nr Glasgow...All the best to you.
Very pleased to hear you are back to normal- your hospital sounds very good!!
Well that is very good news for you Terry as flutter is much easier to sort out than fibrillation.
Bob
Great news...and wonderful you have a good cardiologist. I too have a wonderful consultant who drew and showed me pictures of what happens in af and ablation and my hole in the heart on my echo. Much different to my previous consultant who told me after my cardioversion that I was fine and to stop being a drama queen!!! I was constantly going into paf and separate to that having syncope attacks that they couldn't catch on an event recorder but because I wasn't in constant af he felt I was 'cured'.
So grateful I went into prolonged paf and needed re admission to sort it and ended up with my new consultant who in my mind is God!!!!
Yes Gilly...getting it explained ,instead of coming home still worrying is great ..a good Cardio makes all the difference...best wishes ..Terry
Wonderfully helpful post. Many thanks.
Best wishes.
Hi Jenny...btw I meant to say in my original post,when we were talking about a possible clot in the lung with the Cardio...he said you would need to be very very unlucky to have a clot once you are on warfarin.......he said it has occured,but it is very very rare...so that info was helpful..best wishes Terry
Very helpful information, Terry - thank you. Keep well.
Good to hear the cardioversion worked and what a brilliant cardiologist to act so quickly.
Love your post title, it made me smile.
Keep well.
Jean
Thanks Jean....yes not only that,but took time to explain any questions you gave him...and knew what he was talking about...makes a big difference Best Wishes Jean
Pleased you are back in nsr whst a story interspersed with humour. Glad you are through it ok.
Mead foot.it was a stroll...anyone out there worried about a cardioversion...you can stop right now....enjoy it....it is the starting point of your recovery...I never realised just feeling "normal" can feel so good...health is wealth...what a true statement. All the best to you...Terry
That's good news Terry and great that you had a cardio who acted fast and explained things to you. I had a cardio, at another Glasgow Hospital that did nothing but echos and tried a few drugs for over 30 years. He did do a couple of cardioversions but had been persistent af too long and that didn't work. Now have CRT-D pacemaker fitted at Golden Jubilee last week. Hopefully that will improve things once it all settles down.
Don't appear to be too many on here from our neck of the woods.
Keep well and hope you remain in nsr for a long, long time.
Walter.
Hi Walter...yes I know where your coming from...but these younger registrars seem a lot more clued up to AF...I would say all the guys up in Hairmyres are in their early 30s....Tho in saying that the Golden Jubilee down in Clydebank has a really good reputation...so you are definitely in good hands there..so hopefully your pacemaker gives you a good quality of life..all the best to you...Terry
makes a change to have something acted on quickly. glad your feeling better. long may it continue.
Thanks Sapphy....Yes Cardio very helpful and quick...best wishes to you.
Cardioversion today didn’t work 
Thudding heart!
Cardioversion buying time till next ablation.
post cardioversion stuff
