Heart rates for those in permanent/persistent AF?

[AndyFoz]

Dear all,

I was wondering what are typical heart rates for those of us who are in permanent/persistent AF? I have been suffering a lot of long attacks (40 hours) of atrial flutter recently, at a rate of 140bpm and worry if this is doing lasting damage to my heart.

Many thanks, Andy

[Hidden]

Hi Andy

Is your problem PAF or Persistent?

Sustained tachycardia of any type is damaging, in proportion to rate and duration. This is the rationale for rate control meds.

Are you going ahead with ablation at JR?

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Hi Andy I did this 'jumpinr around' for a while and the diagnosis was "Tachy-Brady syndrome" I was having trouble finding an effective rate control heart med for me. I did have an ablation and pacemaker insertion Nov 2016. This has worked well for me. But we are all different. Ask your doctor what solutions might be out there for you. Good luck. Forme, episodes like yours out of the blue were so anxiety-producing for me but I haven't had any since the surgery. BTW the ablation was much less traumatic that I thought. No pain afterward. The hardest part was having to lie still and not move my legs for 4 ours after the procedure. If you'e already had it, I'd be interested to hear how it went and are you glad you did it. I'm an advocate but I know it's not for everyone. irina1975

[AndyFoz in reply to Hidden]

Hi Badger25 and irina1975,

Thank you for answering. I have paroxysmal fibrillation and flutter. Unfortunately, it's got a lot worse in the last month. With the fibrillation, I seem to convert back reasonably quickly, after a few hours, but when it goes into flutter, I seem to be stuck for a long time, 40 hours is typical. I was on Sotalol 40mg twice a day, I've been taking an extra 40mg during these long episodes, but it doesn't seem to touch it. I'll probably try 80mg and 80mg next, have been told I can do that.

Yes, I am, now, definitely going for the ablation, I'm now under Dr Mike Griffith at the QE, Birmingham. It sounds as though it may happen in April, if I'm lucky. It's just coping with these long episodes in the meantime which is worrying me.

I was just trying to see what rates people have who are in AF most of the time.

Cheers, Andy

[Hidden in reply to AndyFoz]

Andy

My situation is different but similar, and outlined in my post this morning. Sotalol 240mgs daily has not touched my AFlutter which followed Cryo/RF which gave me 4 largely AF free years

EP yesterday switched me to Biso while waiting for RF touch up.

[Wightbaby]

I think mine is around 80.......been on Metoprolol for over 4 years now,

[beardy_chris]

I think the aim is to control the rate to between 60 and 100 bpm. There may, of course, be exceptions.

[AndyFoz in reply to beardy_chris]

Thanks Chris,

Yes, as you say, 60-100 is considered the "normal" range. I find, when I get flutter, I'm pretty much stuck at 140bpm until it converts back. It's a very regular rhythm. Unfortunately, my 80mg, or even 120mg of Sotalol, doesn't seem to touch the rate. I am going to ask my Dr if there any alternative drugs but I have a feeling, flutter is difficult to treat with medication? I'm on the list for ablation now, so keeping my fingers crossed that gets rid of it. As I understand it, flutter is much easier to treat with ablation than fibrillation.

Cheers, Andy