Out of the frying pan ........ - Atrial Fibrillati...

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Out of the frying pan ........

11 Replies

Hi all, wondering if anyone had a bit of info on this. Had my last CV (4th one and 2 ablations) 2 months ago and I was fine with an NSR of 65 resting, 2 weeks ago I started getting Tachycardias again but without the AFib, NSR of 120 resting. Went to see my GP and she put me back on Atenolol (horrible drug) but as usual I was ill so she took me off it and said to ring the Cardiologist. Got in to see him today and he's decided I've now got inappropriate sinus tachycardia , he said it's a rare form of arrythmia and he's put me on Corlanor (Ivabradine) twice a day. He said it should bring down my rate and then hopefully he'll be able to take me off it. Does anyone know anything about this? As usual many thanks for your help and insight, it's so appreciated.

stay well

Avril

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11 Replies
BobD profile image
BobDVolunteer

Sorry outside my sphere of knowledge. I occasionally get atrial tachycardia with a similar rate which has always been cardioverted in the past.

Bob

in reply to BobD

Hi Bob, according to the web it's a rare form of arrythmia but apart from that there seems to be very little known. At least when I was in permanent AFib I knew what to expect!! As usual time will tell won't it. thanks Bob

Regards

Avril

ILowe profile image
ILowe

This one has me stumped. But I have one question. Were you every prescribed "Pill in the pocket"? There is information about this on the web, but it is best to have it prescribed, since I do not know what meds you are on, and the danger of interactions is always high. So if you find this useful, ask your doctor about it.

I am not the same, but may have had something similar and enough to ask the question. My AF began with a supraventricular tachycardia ie fast heart that would not go down. Since I was anticoagulated anyway (artificial heart valve) I was not in danger, and the doctors eliminated obvious medical reasons and tried to gain control. It ended up into classical AF. After CV I took myself off Amiodarone, then stopped bisoprolol. Saw a British expert this summer, and she prescribed a version of Pill in the pocket for me that I had never heard of. It works for me whenever I feel things are beginning to go wrong, such as resting heart rate of 100 instead of 80 and not calming down within 30 minutes or so. I then take 50mg Flecainide, and 50mg bisoprolol, and it seems to reset the heart within an hour. I have been advised to act promptly -- ie not wait too long to see if the body manages to calm down naturally. When I asked why this version --one normal version is 100mg Flec only, she told me, most people who take Pill in the pocket are usually already on bisoprolol or similar, therefore only need Flec. Also, the lower dose because I seem to work best at low doses of drugs.

I may be completely off track on this.

in reply to ILowe

Hi there ILowe, I haven't been offered PIP , I don't even know if it's ever offered here (Madrid). I've had permanent AF for 2 years, I had a cv and was fine for 6 months, then went back into permanent afib, had an ablation (that went wrong, ended up in bed for 2 months on morphine due to a "nicking " of the vein and subsequent haematoma). Back in afib after 4 days, another Cv didn't work, another ablation (in July) didn't work, another cv ..didn't work, yet again another cv 2 months ago and up to now I'm not in afib! Meds, well, had Atenolol, propafenone (Rythmol), another one that I can't remember, and these made me terribly ill so no more antiarrythmimics or beta blockers for me! About 3 weeks ago I started having Tachycardias but no afib, resting HR 120, went to my docs who put me immediately back on Antenolol (I think she panicked and didn't know what to put me on) she then took me off them on Wednesday and said to ring the Cardiologist, I did and he saw me yesterday. He put me on Corlanor and said this will work.....okay ...I've taken 2, one last night and one this morning, I've got a resting HR of 77, I'm pleased with that , early days I know but at the moment............he also said that my heart is extremely resistant to a normal beat and is desperate to go back into afib and that we have to "train" it to beat properly. So.. Here I am with fingers crossed, I've never heard of Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia and to be honest I haven't gleaned an awful lot from the web either. Fingers X it works itself out.

Stay well

Avril

in reply to

Forgot to mention I'm obviously on Warfarin.

ILowe profile image
ILowe in reply to

My sympathies. PIP I think is for people who are not in AF, who feel something is starting (no need to do an ECG etc, no need for identification of the problem, you just know things are pushing the wrong way). In this case then prompt action with an anti- rhythm and anti-rate hopefully kicks the heart into normal. But even though I now feel pretty confident with heart medicines, I waited to use this until a specialist said I could. I actually emailed her a list of questions before I went to the consultation, and this was one of them. I am glad I asked because her variation was more sophisticated and adapted to me than the version I had seen on the web.

What I like about it is that it is a one off treatment, so even though I find beta blockers promote bronchitis for me, a one off is fine. All I can say, is ask.

in reply to ILowe

I think that's a good idea, I quite often feel that I'm on the edge of something happening, that my heart wants to race but I've almost convinced myself that it's psychological, it's so easy to become paranoid isn't it. My heart has been protesting this morning as it wants to go faster but the Corlanor won't let it .I have another Holter this month so when I go to see my Cardiologist I'll ask him about PIP .

Thank you for the advice and for taking the time to answer me.

Stay well

Avril

ILowe profile image
ILowe in reply to

Odd. A few minutes after posting, I started relaxing -- finished lecture preparation for next week, and getting nervous about something in the evening. Then, tachycardia, but this one is at 120, not the usual 140 which passes in 5-40 minutes. So, waited, tried vagal moves, then 15 minutes decided to get proactive. PIP + long siesta. After 30 minutes the rate came down to 86, and it happened over 2 minutes not almost instantly as in classical tachycardia. After 90 minutes the irregularities calmed. I am not bothered by irregularities on their own, but it felt like an internal battle.

I now think I need to be proactive every time. I cannot experiment on myself and just hope the tachycardia will stop spontaneously as in years past. I also know, the sooner I act the more likely the success.

Perhaps next week I will start a separate thread about the types of tachycardia -- I find the official descriptions do not fit features I notice.

in reply to ILowe

I think that's a great idea, to start a new thread about the types of Tachycardias that no one seems to know much about and with symptoms that don't mirror the "official " Tachycardias. Been looking again on the web and I've just found the same paragraph copied/pasted in all the info there is. It also seems that IST wasn't discovered till 1979 , which is when they put a name to it, before then it was thought to be psychological.

Yes I too find that being proactive helps, I tend to sit quietly or to lie down if possible, really deep breaths and total relaxation does something to calm it, it'll go when it wants and won't be hurried. I also think patience is the name of the game here.

Stay well

Avril

Kodaska profile image
Kodaska

Avril, was your ablation for a-fib? If so, I wonder if you might have developed atrial flutter. That involves a different electrical circuit. I don't know if it's a type of supraventricular tachycardia (i.e., above the ventricle, which is where the atrium is located) but it might make sense to ask about it.

My first experience with arrhythmia was a sudden introduction to a-flutter, with a pulse of 120-150. An ablation cured that. Then a-fib and another successful ablation. Maybe you're going in the other direction? Good luck.

Hi Kodaska, yes my ablations and CV's were for permanent afib, they also had atrial flutter down on the report so I guess I had both although for the Cardiologist the most important thing seemed to be getting rid of the afib, very little was mentioned about the flutter and to be honest I didn't ask too many questions either as my main concern was to get into NSR. On my last report, yesterday, there was no mention of atrial flutter only the IST. It's early days so I'll be monitoring it closely.

Thank you for you reply and good luck to you too.

Stay well

Avril

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