I was harmlessly watching something on Egyptian tomb thieves when hubby rang (he's working away from home). 'You've got to watch Holby City!' he said. 'There's someone with your disease!'
'Condition', I said through gritted teeth, and turned over in time to see the doctor saying caringly 'You're going to have to have an operation - incisions into your chest. If you don't, you could have a stroke or even die.'
Oh, jolly fun! That's both horribly vague and vaguely horrible, and about as helpful to someone who has, or thinks they have AF, as a chocolate teapot. Well, that was my first thought.
Perhaps there was more to it that I missed while I was watching the tomb robbers... Like sensible information! Chest incisions forsooth! Wondering if I should write to the Beeb and have a whinge or just leave it, on account of not having seen the whole runup to this weird pronouncement...
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You didn't miss anything, that is was the so called cardiac consultant said, Very vague and not informative at all.
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Well that was really useless then, I'm very disappointed. So much for all these boasts about having medical experts on hand. Shame on the BBC.
When I was in a film about AF the script was rubbish and I argued a lot with the director about factual content. On the second day of filming a lady turned up from St Georges and put everything right and vindicated me. Smug bugger. Mind you that was for a drug company a few years ago now so they needed to have it correct.
This isn't the first time we have had such things on TV but I guess there is no such thing as bad publicity.
My wife who was in nursing says that it is always full of mistakes.
Having twice had a pneumo thorax I was surprised at the lack of preparation before it and the ease with which it was done and the seemingly quick relief. My last one was the most painful thing I have ever experienced and needed lots of morphine to get me through it.
A pneumo thorax sounds awful to me, but you're right, they just breeze through it at Holby. Sounds like for some conditions it's the hospital to be in but for AF, definitely avoid!
Recent episode of Doctors on lunchtime BBC had a woman fainting all over the place, sent her in and was in bed with serious illness of " irregular rhythm " of her heart. No more about her in next episode. More awareness anyway, still love Doctors!!
The trouble is when relations and friends see programmes like that contain wrong and misleading information they take the programme as fact over and above anything else we are saying or experiencing and think we are being melodramatic!!!!
I too watched Holby, and they exagerated the 'stress' that caused this woman's AF (looked like normal life to me) and it was certainly scare mongering but at least my family/friends who watched it won't be in any doubt that what I have isn't just a whim. I was told recently by a well meaning friend that if I stop thinking about it it will go away - oh right I'll try that then!!
Ha, stop thinking about it, what a good idea - and yes, I was thinking from what I saw, that's stress? I fear the programme might make some relatives over-worried, they might think we're trying to play down what we've got to make them happy - then we'll have to play it down to stop them panicking!
I do not watch it but my wife does. Strange that she did not comment on my serious condition later. I must ask her what it was about when she gets home from her swim or should I watch it on iPlayer?
I also watched Holby City last night. My ears pricked up when the doctor mentioned the patient may have AF.
They thought initially that it was stress induced then later concluded that is was something more serious causing the problem. They weren't too clear on what the real problem was nor what the chest incisions were for.
Not a well scripted episode especially when AF is so common, but then it is just a soap after all.
If only we all had doctors who could diagnose the exact cause of our AF in a day on the ward, eh? I thought the chest incisions sounded downright sinister, I'm sure that was for dramatic effect but my goodness... I guess soaps would argue they're not aiming for reality, but really the medical ones ought to at least aim in the right direction!
So would I and I would give them some better advice!!! However a few years ago I knew Doctor who used to advise them when it was filmed in Hertfordshire and he was ok with some of the writers but one writer he didn't get on with because they were more keen on being melodramatic. He quit.
Around the time I had my ablation 2 people had looked it up on the Internet and said it is only a minor procedure and the recovery period is only 48 hours and then you are perfectly / fully recovered and fit and back to work!!!! I wish all of that was true!!!! One of them was a nurse. I pointed out that my EP had said no driving for a minimum of a week and that the recovery period from the sedation is categorised as 48 hours recovery!!!!
Oh right, is that what happens in a Maze? Shows you how much I know! It did all sound a bit extreme, the Amiodarone does as well. I guess that's drama for you...
It should only be prescribed for life threatening arrhythmias. Last time I was prescribed it was after a registrar said that bisoprolol would be enough until I had a cardioversion. Then I got a very junior passing through one who said that if I did not take it I could not have the cardioversion.
I developed a tremor in my hands after a few days on it and had loss of equilibrium and could not make small turning movements and had to have one hand on the wall of the shower and wash with the other. I had to give up in the kitchen because of all the small turning movements you make there.
It went back to normal after a couple of weeks when stopping it but now any new problem that crops up makes one wonder if it has a connection.
I saw a friend approaching who was on it and was shocked at what appeared to be a huge greyish/blue birthmark on his face and neck that was caused by sun exposure when on it.
He had had a pacemaker fitted and had been told (mid 90's) that he now needed to be on amiodarone for life! He stopped it and had no problems without it but the statins did for him instead.
Oh goodness, that's awful. And your poor friend! One of the worst things about AF is having to take drugs of any sort and wondering what the heck the side effects might be down the line. Amiodarone sounds like a nightmare.
As one write up said if the Devil had wanted to invent a drug to do harm that one would have been quite good for his first attempt.
It also increases the effect of warfarin. When I was first prescribed both at the same time by the hospital that did my heart surgery I was given a low dosage of warfarin to begin with.
The next time I was a ready taking warfarin and when the junior fly by night trainee insisted I take amiodarone as well she did not reduce my warfarin dosage. My INR went up to 3.9 the INR nurse scratched her head for two weeks. I did the research and went to see my GP with the evidence.
He admitted that he did not know that and consulted his BNF that was vague and did not spell it out.
I asked the local pharmacist why she had not warned me and she said that everyone knew that they should reduced my warfarin.
Oh good grief. Sounds more like the patient is the guinea pig. How can doctors prescribe drugs when they're ignorant of the interactions? I mean, warfarin interacts with everything...
Did you have liver test(s) a year before that or anytime in between?
When was the last test you had before stopping amiodarone?
How much was your liver test out and when is your next one scheduled for?
As I understand it Amioderone can stay in the body for 6 months or more.
Amioderone can significantly affect the liver and the kidneys.
I had been prescribed Amioderone by my GP after EP said he wanted me to take it 1 month before and 3 months after ablation. As I didn't have the date for the ablation I had the prescription and collected the tablets but did not start taking them straight away (because I did not want to be on it longer than absolutely necessary - just as well!!!).
A few weeks later I had a set of blood tests (as recommended by my pharmacist). Then received numerous voicemails (mobile and landline) from the GP's receptionist telling me to stop amioderone straight away and not to take another tablet and to contact the surgery ASAP. When I was free I did that but however they did not realise that I hadn't started taking amioderone.
My liver results were over 4 times the maximum level. Anyway I held on for 5 mins whilst they waited to speak to my GP and then they said they would ring back. When they did they said that I was no longer to take Simavastatin as that was what was poisoning me. They have not put me back on any statins and won't do so (even this all happened a year ago).
Just Google Amiodarone and its side effects. That and later lung, eye and thyroid problems are evidently quite common. I had eye problems when taking it that may possibly have continued.
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