Hello my name is Charles I am 25 and I was diagnosed with Afib and I was wondering how many people my age have this condition?

[CharlesT92]

I was just diagnosed with Afib and I am scared especially since the doctor's told me this is rare for someone to have at my age.

All I do is keep thinking I am gonna die

They also said it could be cured with management in certain areas idk.

[nbpa1234]

Hey Charles,

I know this is a very scary time right now for you. I was diagnosed last May with afib at the age of 38. You are not going to die from afib. It is a good thing that you have caught it early because it could lead to other things if not treated. The one thing I can’t stand the most about my whole diagnosis is how inconsiderate some medical staff personnel can be. To tell you this is rare for someone your age. Well some did say the same thing to me and it annoyed me to no end. As if I chose this to happen, they would say “but your so young”. Well just know that since my diagnosis i have met and found out so many people who have had afib young, even your exact age. One of my friends wife had it at your age. She was 24 when diagnosed. She dealt with it for 5 years even went through a pregnancy with afib before she finally went for the ablation. She is now afib free for over 5 years and does everything she wants with no restrictions what so ever. Don’t let these doctors and there staff get you down by making you think you are a unicorn because you have afib. There are a lot of other people out there your age that have it as well. I just had an ablation 3 weeks ago and I am hoping it is successful. You may have to make some different choices in your life at a early age then expected (eating healthier, drinking, excersing more, etc) but you are not going to die from afib. I wasn’t much of a reader but a good book that went through the basics that I got which helped answer a lot of questions was “Beat your A-fib”. The first few months is going to be tough but a lot of it is mental and just finding out how to manage a episode if you are symptomatic was the toughest for me. But I did feel that same way that I was going to die and my life is over, but it is not. No we’re near that. My grandfather had afib as well and lived to 86 and only died from an infection not the afib. Hang toughen these early stages, and do a little research and if you have any questions just ask.

[CharlesT92 in reply to nbpa1234]

Thank you Soo much

[wilsond in reply to CharlesT92]

Hi Charles,nothing to add to the excellent replies,already but wanted to add support.Always a friendly place and good advice here.

[CDreamer]

Hi Charles and welcome - not much to add except to say knowledge is power - go to AFA website to begin; read through threads here and ask any questions. You do need time to get your head around this and to learn how to manage episodes, evaluate treatments and decide what may be your best treatment option.

Main thing is to get referred to a specialist cardiologist known as an Electrophysiologist.

The 2 major groups that get AF at a young age tend to be endurance atheletes and fighter pilots. Of course it isn’t exclusive to those people and although not usual, neither is it that rare but you will find that the majority of AFers will be over 45.

Best wishes.

[rosyG]

Very good advice from everyone. Many feel scared when diagnosed because they are not given proper information

Wondering if you are an athlete of any sort- just that heart muscle gets big like other muscles in training and can be cause???

[CharlesT92 in reply to rosyG]

I used to work out but to be honest the doctors said it could be due to alcohol and smoking and due to me not being in the best shape like I used to and a stressful life I have high blood pressure.

Altho they reassured me if I stopped drinking and smoking and get back in shape the blood pressure shall go down aswell afib might go away if not other procedures can come into play

But they are very confident that if I do what they told me it will fix the problem.

My thing was they scared the crap out of me with the whole stroke thing they didn't even shock my heart because they were scared it could give me an immediate stroke but thankfully my rythm came back to normal on it's own.

[CharlesT92 in reply to CharlesT92]

I went to the ER about 3am I went there gave me ekg they noticed my heart bouncing all over the place they gave me Ativan to calm me down and a hour later I fell asleep and woke up around 9 am and my heart was normal on it's own mind you before I passed out they were discussing the shock thing they do to your heart but was hesitant and I ended up falling asleep.

[CharlesT92 in reply to CharlesT92]

I ended up walking out with a medicine called metropolol tartrate ?

[cuore in reply to CharlesT92]

Get yourself to an electrophysiologist right away. If you have vegal AF, metropolol tartrate is contraindicated with vegal AF.

[pottypete1 in reply to CharlesT92]

The reason they did not shock you (cardioversion) is more likely to be that you would not have been anticoagulated and not necessarily because you were a high risk stroke patient.

My AF started 26 years ago when I was 44. After the diagnosis they put me on Warfarin (an anticoagulant) and waited 5 weeks before they gave me a cardioversion which put me back into normal rhythm.

All that said you should heed the advice regarding stopping smoking, diet and drinking alcohol. This course of action will help enormously.

Pete

[CharlesT92 in reply to pottypete1]

Thank you for all the wisdom and advice I appreciate it and yea I need to get on the right track stress has finally took it's course and kicked my ass

[pottypete1 in reply to CharlesT92]

Sorry Charles

Forgot to tell you that stress is also not good for AF either.

I think you are thinking on the right track now.

Hope you can sort things out it is definitely not too late.

Pete

[meadfoot]

For inspiration while the Winter Olympics is on switch on to ice skating. British couple Nick Buckland and penny Coombes. Nick had an irregular heartbeat and had to drop out of competition about four years ago.

He had an ablation and was back on the ice quickly thereafter. A young man under thirty just look at him go on the ice, that should give you confidence about how your life can return to full strength. There is an Olympic runner too, name escapes me, with similar issue and returned to competition.

Look up Nick it will give you confidence. Best wishes.

[CharlesT92 in reply to meadfoot]

Thank you and I will definitely look into it

[Rdiehl01]

What’s up brother. I was diagnosed at 32....how are you doing with it?

[CharlesT92 in reply to Rdiehl01]

I'm just having alot anxiety always checking my pulse it's nerve wrecking

[Rdiehl01 in reply to CharlesT92]

Same here man but let’s not let it get the best of us....what do you do for work?

[Topae]

I was diagnosed with afib at age 14...I just had my first cardiac ablation three weeks ago. I’m now 38 and can totally understand what you are going through. I have had the worst anxiety over this for years.

[jondeanp]

Although the doc says it's rare at your age i certainly don't think it's uncommon. If that makes sense.

I was diagnosed at 44 but had symptoms that i had spoken to my GP about at least 10 years prior.

You aren't going to die. You may be wise to stop taking your pulse so often. Only take it if things feel particularly unusual from your current 'normal'. Pulse checking can increase the anxiety.

Stroke is one of the main concerns with the condition, which is why many AF'ers will be on anti-coagulation drugs at some point during the journey. They will only normally shock you if they are confident that your AF has only been present for a short period ie within 48 hours ( i think) or if you are already on anticoagulation

Ensure you get referred to your local cardiac arrhythmia specialists, sometimes referred to as EP's (electrophysiologist)

Useful info here also: heartrhythmalliance.org/afa/uk

[jazzu]

my first Atrial Flatter (pretty similar condition with Afib) attack occured when I was 26. it passed by itself after 30 minutes without medical assistance. i had no ideea what it was but never thought about it. no recurrence for 6 years. now i am 32 and i had an succesfull ablation 6 months ago. the anxiety made me feel miserable for this whole year since the diagnosis. it mimicked all sort of funny symptoms as i thought i was on dieing. anxiety made me so much worse, much more than af itself

for me anxiety is a serious issue. but unfortunately it was very hard to convince my gp that i need help because i can't cope with it. he finally made me a referral to a talking terapist for helping me to put myself on the right track again.

medical literature sais that af does not shorten the live expectancy, and is not as dangerous as it feels. my ep said af is a benign condition and i will not die because of it. it is just very scary and unpleasant. when i had the ablation i accepted to be part of some studies they made to underlaying the cause and determine a new treatment for af. i live optimistically that soon we will have new better solutions for this condition.

[EngMac]

There are new studies on risks of anticoagulants which you should also consider, especially at your age. Doctors don't tell you that medications, in the US at least, are the fourth leading cause of death. Which drugs will do it for you is always the unknown.

With only one attack, which disappeared on its own; and, from what you have said, seemingly very little actual knowledge about what your heart condition really is at present, taking medication may not be the best option. Doctors are quick to give out beta blockers and try to scare the daylights out of you even though they may not have sufficient knowledge about your heart to justify this diagnosis for you. And it seems this can happen more in some countries than in others. Had you been drinking when you had the attack? There could have been lots of things happening that caused it and if you improve your health, you may never have another one. People do have AF instances a few times and never have them again. No one tells you this though. Taking the drug could make attacks happen, or be worse, and then the doctors are right; you really do have AF. There are studies about this and studies about every conceivable aspect of AF to keep you confused. Do you spend a lot of time on a computer, phones, etc.? I know the condition of your neck and spine can have a major impact on the occurrence of AF, yet this is not considered by heart doctors. Don't be too hasty to get on the ablation/medication bandwagon is my advice, when you have only had one AF incident. If you consistently have more attacks, then you may need to worry. And you may want to stop the drug for now. You need to ask how to stop the drug, if anyone will tell you. And be prepared, most people will tell you not to do this. You did not have AF before that you know about, and one attack did not end your life; so likely, if you have another, it will not either. Taking the drug could be more risky than not taking it. You need to do a lot of research and be your own best advocate for a solution that is best for you. At least this is what I did, and for me, for 4.5 years, it was a far better choice than what the heart doctors recommended.

It is your life, and you are perhaps lucky, you now know you, and only you, need to be the champion of it.