Im 62 and have had 3 episodes of AF over the past year, at first I thought I had a cold coming as I just felt off, after a few days I visited my GP and got the diagnosis.
I was DC cardioverted afer 6 days, the next time I went strait to the Hospital, and was Cardiverted after 5 days of wait and see....
3rd time they did it after 3 days my meds changed to 200mg Flrcanide per day + 50 mg metopolol and 3 months on no AF.
My question is How many other Afibers revert back to sinus without medical intervention ?
also a lot of you seem to cope with it better than me, when I was in Hospital waiting for my Cardiovesion the Heart monitors would go crazy every time I got out of bed. The AF symptoms seem to hit some worse than others.
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hankk
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Hello Hank welcome .Although we all have a condition which has the same name it can affect us all differently.
Some of us are well controlled by medication but if medication fails as Mike says it is time to think about Ablation because you have uncontrolled debilitating symptoms which could put your heart under strain.
It is also important to see if you have any condition or lifestyle that is contributing to your AF and try to deal with that too.
I am posting a link to some information that may be of help to you
I've been raking my brain trying to pinpoint possible triggers for the AF and I live a fairly health lifestyle, given up alcohol, licorices but I like to go bushwalking so its a bit risky going to remote walks , i.m just doing daywalks till I get a better feel for this. Thaks for the link, Ill follow it up.
I take it that you are on anticoagulation as cardioversion without can be a recipe for a stroke. The norm is up to 24 hours from start of event and very occasionally 48 hours but anything longer needs anticoags for at least a month first. Chemical cardioversion with flecainide or maybe amiodarone is OK .
Regarding reverting to NSR naturally this is what paroxysmal AF is about. It comes and goes on its own (up to seven days to be pedantic.) It is termed persistent if it requires intervention .
As with all new members I suggest that you go to AF Association website and read till you drop as knowledge is power and may enable you to engage more fully with the team treating you.
Hi Bob, Yes I'm on 20mg rivoroxiban daily right from the first diagnosis by the GP
at the hospital they tried to revert me with drugs for several days before they used the DC cardio-reversion. I guess my question occurs because i wasn't going to revert naturally. I like to go bushwalking so its a bit risky going on overnight remote walks , i.m just doing daywalks till I get a better feel for this.
Interesting that it took me a year to get serious about getting more AFib info !! but ive been under a cardio for about 5 years due to bigeny and ventricular etopics so it is ongoing.
Welcome to the forum Hankk. You're very lucky to get cardioversions so quickly and I'm guessing you don't live in the UK? I have to have 4 clear weekly checks of my INR before my hospital will cardiovert me. I was once offered an immediate cardioversion when in A&E, but without a general anaesthetic! Well, the shock of being told that cardioverted me naturally, thank goodness.
People are affected by PAF in so many different ways. Some can feel dreadful with each episode and can feel washed out for several days after going back into normal sinus rhythm. Others can carry on with their normal day to day lives.
I used to revert back to normal sinus rhythm naturally after a few hours, then that grew to days, months and now I'm in constant AF. Have had three ablations.
I live in Australia, and I'm on 20mg rivoroxiban daily right from the first diagnosis by the GP so the stroke risk from cardioversion is minimised. I was very happy that they did it so soon, and I cant imagine this procedure without anaesthetic !!!
I have read that it is better to get back to NSR asap, so your 4 week wait is unacceptable.
Yes, you're right it's better to get back to NSR asap. I can't imagine a cardioversion without a general anaesthetic either and am extremely glad that after telling me in A&E that's what they were going to do I went back into sinus rhythm naturally within minutes - oh the power of the mind!
In some areas of the UK forum members talk of having immediate cardioversions and in others like where I live, unless your heart rate is sky high, you have to wait to be slotted in to have the procedure. Quite often people's hearts will revert naturally in that waiting time. I was told by my AF nurses that if I went on to one of the NOAC's I would need to have a TOE beforehand and that put me off it. I've had one of those, numerous cardioversions and three ablations. My EP has told me that some people aren't helped by ablations and I'm one of them.
With my heart as it is now, in AF and usually staying under 100 when I'm resting, I can live a fairly normal life. The only thing is hills are harder to climb now and I can tire quickly - days of shopping are out! I've always been a keen hiker and I miss walking the lovely (hilly) coastline where I live, but still make the most of what I can do.
I take 2 x 100mg Flecainide, 2 x 12.5 Metoprolol and 4mg Warfarin, so we are more or less on the same heart medication. Before taking Flec my AF episodes were totally disabling.
I find the hills are cunningly getting steeper as I get older and I try to follow a regular pattern of exercise so I can monitor how I am getting on. I find that if I stop walking for about a fortnight my ability to walk, in terms of when I get breathless, starts to decline. So my question is do you (or any one else) know of any research into maintaining muscle tone in your heart?
Hi Ian, well normal people without heart problems are told to do any exercises that bring the heartrate up and make them breathless. For us, who are like that even when we're not overly exerting ourselves - well I really don't know! It's certainly not good for us to sit around doing very little I'm sure. I live at the top of a hill and walk home when I feel able.
Good question and probably warrants a post of it's own so everyone can see and comment.
Jean
I have fast AF with SVT and I feel so ill I can't function have to call 999. But think it may depend on if you have fast AF. I said to paramedic how do people live with AF permanently he said they are not in fast AF. I don't know if tgats the case but I'm very unwell with it I couldn't manage and I don't revert to NSR on my own.
Hi Scoobisu, You condition sounds similar to mine, AF with rapid ventricular response, Thankfully the DC cardio-reversion worked well for me, but I wouldn't want to get hit while I'm travelling or in a remote area !! Thank for your reply.
I totally agree that it impacts all of us differently. I have very fast heartbeats while in AFIB and it has always resolved naturally. I've actually never thought of going to the doctor to get it reverted. I'm not saying that's a good thing but for the longest time I thought I was having anxiety attacks so didn't want to go to the doctor so they could tell me it was all in my head. This means I knew it would resolve eventually so just waited it out. Listen to your body. It will tell you what it needs.
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.Although we all have a condition which has the same name it can affect us all differently.
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