New to AF - not sure what happens next

[Riever]

Hi there everyone - I suddenly discovered I had AF nine days ago. My blood pressure was unusually high and when I checked my pulse it was very uneven so I took myself off to A&E who diagnosed Atrial Flutter .. or maybe AF. Either way, its the kind that's wonky all the time, not just occasionally. They said the treatment was the same for both - they increased my Bisoprolol from 1.25mg to 5mg a day and put me on blood thinners - apixaban. Now I'm waiting to be contacted by the Cardio department to find out if I'm a suitable case for cardioversion. I've also made a private appointment to see my old heart consultant who diagnosed my leaky heart valve which was repaired 7 years ago. How fast should I expect the NHS to move - and what's likely to be their next move?

[Bshersey]

I am not in the UK, I am in the US. So my experience might be different. My primary care doctor found my afib last fall during an initial physical. I had no idea. My HR was 130! He immediately put me on metoprolol and Eliquis and referred me to a cardiologist. But I couldn't get in to see her for a few weeks. So I finally took myself to the ER. I ended up getting admitted and having a cardioversion while I was in the hospital and starting on sotalol. The cardioversion last only a few weeks. So I had an ablation in late February. Except for some occasional palpitations, I have been afib free since the ablation. Hope it stays that way. Good luck to you in your journey.

[doodle68]

Hello Riever welcome, first here is some information from AFA on A Flutter...

heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

there are fact sheets down the left side of the page too.

Next step if you haven't had one is probably an echocardiogram which is like ultrasound for the heart .

I can't say how long you will have to wait, a lot seems to depend where you live.

[Riever in reply to doodle68]

Thanks for that reply. The consultant I’m seeing privately in mid-July will certainly do an Echo and I’ll hopefully find out whether the valve repair done 7 years ago is still working ok.

[Vonnieruth]

Hi Welcome to our AF Friendly site I am due to see someone at hospital on 19th July I have a waiting time if 12Weeks for this from being diagnosed at my local hospital I think it depends on what is entailed in diagnosis as I was told by appointment clerk they had a 12 time span to get me on the system with a appointment or I would disappear Wish AF would do that lol I kept phoning appointment department every week sometimes twice pushing them so don't be bothered about doing it also Firmness sometimes works in these cases if you get concerned about waiting

[Riever in reply to Vonnieruth]

Thanks for that advice

[Vonnieruth in reply to Riever]

Your welcome We are all here to try to help each other make things easier if we can

[IanMK]

Hi Riever

Welcome to the club. 🙂

How ‘quickly’ the NHS moves for you probably depends on your postcode and other irrelevant factors. Unfortunately we all know the pressures the NHS is working under.

Since you have already made a decision to have a private consultation, I suggest that you see an electrophysiologist. An excellent place to begin your research is the Good Doctors Guide in the Daily Mail recently : pressreader.com/uk/daily-ma...

I hope this helps.

[rosyG]

Hi

Sorry to hear you have these problems. You need to have an echo done and also tests to rule out thyroid and other problems. The main thing is you are on Apixaban which will reduce the stroke risk which is the main concern with AF. Your cardiologist will advise about next steps and may refer you an EP (electrical specialist.) You can relax a bit until then and just keep ring up to see about appointments as someone suggested above. Often the cardio dept has an arrhythmia nurse who can help re the cardio version. They will want you to have been on the Apixaban for a little while first.

[Riever in reply to rosyG]

Hi RoyG

Yes the hospital doctor warned me that I’d have to be on Apixaban for at least 12 weeks before they’d consider Apixaban

[Riever]

Thanks for your reply. I am also hoping to be offered cardioversion

[momist]

As others have said, you need the plumbing checked out first, and that will be done with your cardio team, or your private consultation with your heart surgeon. If AF or Flutter are confirmed, then you need to see an EP. This is where you need to get pro-active. In my experience, the local hospital cardio team don't know a great deal about the electrical side, and I had to badger my GP to get myself a referral to an EP at the nearest heart specialist unit (for me that is Blackpool).

There's loads (and loads) of information on here, and the constant stream of personal experience on the forum is invaluable. Read as much as you can.

[Riever in reply to momist]

That’s very helpful thanks. I will start reading up about EPs so I can be better informed and have a good discussion about it with my specialist

[Hidden]

Hi Riever, lots of good advice so far and it sounds as though you are getting things well under control. When I was diagnosed with lone persistent AF the sequence of events followed closely to what seems to be planned for you. I had no health problems prior to the diagnosis therefore apart from the "fear" factor, I had little experience of how the treatment process would unroll. Like you, the important issues such as anticoagulation (blood thinners is a bit of a misnomer and is likely to bring on the pains for one of our esteemed volunteers!) were sorted very quickly as was being prescribed Bisoprolol. There was a long wait to see a cardiologist under the NHS so like you, I had a private consultation which was, without doubt, the best thing I could have done as this put me in touch with my local AF support group in Surrey.

The next priority was to have a cardioversion which is done for two main reasons. Firstly, to see if the heart can be returned to Normal Sinus Rhythm, and secondly, to determine how much better you actually feel when in rhythm. As you know, many people are not aware of any symptoms and this can influence treatment plans. In my case, I remained in rhythm for just over a year and felt significantly better so it was suggested that I should consider the ablation route. I saw an Electrophysiologist (EP) privately and decided to have an ablation and was put on his NHS waiting list. The wait seemed long, around six months and now I am waiting for a second to tidy up the loose ends and that wait will be 9 months, but for me, I believe it was the right route to take. The important thing is to seek professional advice from someone you have absolute confidence in and I was lucky because my support group exposed me to many specialists, for which I will be ever grateful! I must also mention the fantastic advice I received from this Forum too.

Good luck..........

[Riever in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Flapjack that’s really helpful. I have chosen to see the same heart specialist who first diagnosed my leaky heart valve ( now repaired) and who I’ve seen for annual checks ever since. I’ll see her in about two weeks. I’ve just got to be patient until then

[diannetrussell]

Hi Riever, can't really answer your question. But did they discover or even look for a cause of your AF? In my case it was caused by an infection from rats, that led to fluid and inflammation around my heart (pericarditis) diagnosed in an echo cardiogram. If they haven't already done this, it could be useful?