Well I dont really know where to begin, I'm 44 and I class myself as fit and healthy, I was diagnosed with PAF two months ago and I am finding it all quite daunting.
This forum has been invaluable for easing my fears but I still have a lot of anxiety about it all.
I have been admitted to A&E 4 times in the last 7 months and only two months ago did they finally diagnose, well I'm not convinced if I'm honest, I have been plagued with thyroid problems and have the antibodies ( hashimotos) the doctor in A&E said my thyroid has a lot to do with this problem??
I have worn a 48 and 24 hour holter which was done in march and only now getting results for that next Friday? Having an echo tomorrow and am worried about that, I'm on bisoprolol which after reading on here I'm one of the lucky ones who hasn't experienced any side effects!
Is this really AF as I seem to have been left and feel a little neglected if I am honest?
Sorry for my ramble🙄
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Loozy
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Yes thyroid problems are often a cause so you may find AF disappears once that has been treated properly- that would be the first thing to ensure. There are other treatments when you are young but i think they are likely to look at causes worst and deal with them. Bisoprolol will keep the rate down so that's good.
Don't worry about the egg ho- if there are minor things- valves etc- that need attention it will show that but I'm guessing it should be fine if you have AF because of your thyroid problem ( I'm not =medically qualified!!) let us know how you get on
You do not seem to have been treated very well so far do you? At least you do now have a diagnosis of paroxysmal AF and you do have one drug prescribed. I would expect you to have an echo cardiogram which is no worry at all unless you find somebody moving a cold gel coated device around your chest a problem. This will show if the heart is structurally normal and functioning mechanically correctly. Quite a normal test at this stage.
You should then I expect get to see a cardiologist who will assess the next move in your ongoing treatment for this condition.
Knowledge is power so go to AF Asoiciation website and read till you drop so that you can engage with your doctors for a position of some knowledge.
Thank you for your reply, I'm nervous I suppose at what they might find on the echo! But I suppose I have waited all this time and I'm still alive and kicking so nothing too serious!
Hospital weren't really concerned about AF but I am!!!!
It's taken such a long time to get some answers!
Love to walk with my dog and especially love climbing the Welsh mountains and am not willing to give that up so need this AF and thyroid sorting!
I am not a doctor (and I will say my ' piece' re. thyroid and then shush. Thyroid problems are notoriously ignored by the med. profession because, in my experience, they are clueless in treating them. I spent 2 years or more trying to reach a resolution. I guess you are in the uk? If so be very wary that all your thyroid blood tests are up to date and acc urate for your condition, that 's TSH,T4,T3,Hashimotos etc. I eventually sought a private doctor due to lack of the right care within the nhs.
Yes you guessed it I'm in the U.K.! I just feel totally lost if I'm honest😕
I thought being a certain age I could be perimenopauseal too🙄So many conditions have the same symptoms!
The hospital did start me on thyroxine when I was first admitted and then stopped when my tsh was 1, another episode and another A&E visit and my tsh was 3.5 so obviously something not right, I had to convince my gp to test my antibodies🙄Don't know where to go from here with it ?
Thyroxine sent my AF into overdrive and I was then told by my private doctor it should not be prescribed if you have AF.You will need an expert to sort all this out for you and I doubt from what you say you are going to find it within the nhs. Try looking at the Thyroid UK website .My whole life changed once I had been properly treated.
Well that's news to me. I've been on L- thyroxin for years and nobody said a thing about it before or after two successful ablations for persistent afib. Get on that, for sure, especially if having other symptoms, like hair falling out, etc.
In answer to your post. I quote my own experience.
I was identified as having an underactuve thyroid on my first admission with paf. They chose not to correct this as this would increase my thyroxine level and the common myth (even with my cardiologist) is that the more thyroxine the more af.
Whilst this is true for many people, I found an academic study that found af to be triggered for many people with low thyroxine (e.g. me).
So after years of low thyroxine levels and af episodes I finally was prescribed thyroxine, which made a big difference. However, if I take it to the 'target' level I then am into af again by having too much!
So I am finely balanced within a very specific range of thyroxine. 0.25mg too little and I'm in af. 0.25mg too much and off I go again.
So. 3 things I would say.
Thyroid function relates closely to af. Get it right and the af will benefit.
You can have the problem with too much thyroxine but also too little.
Thyroxine levels are personal to you. Average levels are misleading and have been shown to have been falsely calculated anyway (the reference group in that study was not filtered for thyroid problems, so many of the 'average' people studied will have had a thyroid imbalance themselves).
That makes so much sense. I was "borderline" on thyroid testing but was prescribed thyroxine anyway...hair grew back, weight loss, energy, etc. Not sure how my afib was effected, but it would make a lot of sense that balance would matter.
Sorry. 'Mg' should = mcg in the above. I'm not that much out of balance...
When you are fit and healthy and this happens it is so debilitating and you want answers! The trouble is when you dont have it you are fit and healthy! I know what you mean though about feeling abandoned. If its happening pretty frequently then you need to see an EP specialist and have the ablation done. i didnt, i kept putting it off until this year and my heart has been in and out of af every 2 weeks so i opted for the ablation as i didnt have much choice! Remember it is easier cure AF if its early days but a lot harder when it has got worse!
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