AF or not AF that, is the question

[Sherrill]

I am very confused. I was diagnosed with AF and on my warning book it says that AF is the reason I'm on it. I saw a different doctor ( not cardiologist) when I was admitted due to upper respiratory infection that it's not AF. Reading symptoms of AF on here mine seems different. When I go into an episode my heart does a mixture of slow and fast and lots of what I call tremors when it's not quite a beat but I can feel it. It is so erratic it's difficult to measure the heart rate.I must mention I have a pacemaker due to total heart block which is set at 60 bpm when my heart rate is erratic I feel unwell shaky and nauseous. Is this af or eptopic? It can go on for several hours. Apparently I don't look at all well when it is happening.

[Hidden]

Sorry think predictive txt may of got you warning book? Is that for anticoagulant? If so AF may be the reason you are on it hope that helps. You symptoms sound like they could be AF but I'm not a doc has ECG confirmed anything

[Sherrill in reply to Hidden]

Yes should be Wafarin. As far as I'm aware the ecg diagnosed left bundle branch which developed into total heart block. Not sure if they used the ecg to diagnose AF. I was in and out of A& E multiple times with palpitations that lasted for quite a while. Once I was taken in by ambulance as it affected me so bad apparently I was slightly incoherent and very unsteady on my. Legs.

[Hidden]

Hi, you can go into and out of AF so maybe when your second doctor saw your ECG you were in a normal rhythm at the time.

[Polski]

Would this be the time to seek help from an EP perhaps? Someone should be able to help you understand what is happening.

[philologus]

I was initially diagnosed with AF but my own thoughts were that it wasn't AF but was a high rate of ectopics. When I questioned the original diagnosis I got strange looks -as though I'd just crawled out from under a rock!

Because of previous experiences I have very little faith in the NHS and so I bought an Alivecor device and used it three times a day to check my ECG readout.

I was able to take some print-outs on my next scheduled visit to the heart clinic and showed them that there was only one reading that might have been interpreted as being AF - but every one of the others showed multiple missed and extra beats. (25 - 30%)

Since then I have used the device once a day (last thing at night) and have very rarely seen anything that could be classed as true AF. Plenty of ectopics though.

My ticker would miss a beat or two and then hit me with a big one that would wake me from sleep and leave me feeling a bit "lost" for a while.

I should point out that I also have Heart Failure.

I realise that this might not be for everyone but: I read on here a couple of weeks ago about iodine being useful to regulate ectopics so I did some serious research first and then got some and started on one drop in water a day. After three days I increased this to two drops and then three - which is where I am now.

My nightly Alivecor readings have been showing no ectopics for the last five nights. This is significant for me because I had constant ectopics previously. None of the 30sec readings I've taken over the last two years has shown less than 20% ectopics.

I have not been awoken in the middle of the night by the "big thumps" this week either.

I have not made any other changes in my diet etc in the last month so I can only assume that the iodine is causing this effect.

I am very cautious about this so will be monitoring it carefully for some time before I feel completely sure about it but it looks promising.

WARNING

If anyone is considering taking iodine I would say do some research first as it is not for everybody and can cause harm if used inappropriately.

George

[Sherrill in reply to philologus]

This sounds very familiar, I have a pacemaker check every year and they talk about ectopics more than AF. That sudden thump is very familiar. I use the monitor on my phone and the heart trace is all over the place when I have an episode, but as usual its not picked up on the 24 hour monitor. They are talking about trying a different pacemaker but don't want to do it just yet due to my conditions and my age. They say because I am young to have this I will need several new pacemaker changes(hopefully) and they don't want to do to many ops. I know its not dangerous but it just makes me feel so unwell. And to be honest it gets me down a bit. I should mention I have other medical issues such as chronic back pain and numbness in my hands and feet so I am on multiple meds.

[EngMac]

I saw this website:

drsircus.com/iodine/main-re...