AFib came back after a year and a half...then stopped..but the symptoms didn't..

[KevJenn]

Hello folks,

I was diagnosed with afib in June 2017. My symptoms were lightheadedness (more after eating or drinking)..chest soreness and feeling short of breath. I also had some feelings indigestion I had cardioversion in August 2017 and my symptoms all resolved almost immediately. It was wonderful. I had a follow up echocardiogram December 2017 which showed heart looked great (no structural problems...nothing). A year passes.. At Christmas 2018 I had some ice cream after dinner and my heart started racing..I looked at my wife and went uh-oh. I know my body pretty well and sure enough I was in afib. Three days after I went to the ER and it was confirmed by ECG in Afib. My heart monitor at home showed Afib. Soooo..9 days later I go to the gym (while waiting for cardioversion) and notice that my heart seems to have settled down a bit. As of after the gym. Sure enough I use my monitor and no afib. I go for a follow up and ecg and it doesn't show Afib. The problem is that those symptoms have not gone away ...the lightheadness , sore chest (not pain just sore chest same as before cardioversion). They were not there (symptoms) before the episode at Christmas 2018. I am still taking the Pradaxa the ER gave me just in case and I see my cardiologist next Tuesday. This really sucks. Could I still have an irregular rhythm of some sort? I am 53.

Appreciate your time.

Kevin

[Hidden]

It is quite common for ice cold drinks and food such as ice cream to bring on as episode of AF. It has happened to me, and I believe, also one of the forums volunteers.

[KevJenn in reply to Hidden]

Hi thank you for responding. Yes I found out the hard way since I never eat ice cream and have it like once a year LOL..

I was reading a post by JonathanPittsCreek where he mentioned just because the afib went back into rhythm doesn't mean the heart has corrected itself...hence why I still have symptoms where as cardioversion seemed to eliminate them last time? Hope he doen't mind me quoting him but though it was interesting ...

"The attacks of AF happen for a reason (a viral illness, stress, high blood pressure, alcohol, a slow natural pulse rate, thyroid disease, fluid overload and others we don't know about). Spontaneous cardioversions mean that the cause has gone away – but even when it has, the heart may not be able to sort itself out without help. Electrical and chemical cardioversions work fine in this situation but are much less likely to be successful if the underlying cause for the attack is still there. "

[Hidden in reply to KevJenn]

Just in case you are not aware, John Pitts-Creek is an EP Cardiologist and I believe he has AF so anything he says is well worth listening too!

[KevJenn in reply to Hidden]

I saw that. That explains the detail in his comments. ☺️

[Buffafly]

Unless you are able to check your pulse 24/7 you don't know that you are not having short runs of AF without noticing or while you are asleep. Some of us have had monitors which showed episodes we were unaware of but caused other symptoms.

[KevJenn in reply to Buffafly]

Agreed. I think I need a Holter Monitor so we can get a clearer picture of what's happening. ☺️

[Hidden]

It could be worth considering that the Pradaxa is causing your symptoms. I know that when I was on Rivaoxaban I was terribly tired all the time, Pradaxa nearly killed me with an allergic reaction, I finally ended up taking Edoxaban which suited me much better.

I know that the medical profession seem to think that these NOACs are a wonder pill and no one ever has side effects with them, but I do, and I know several others that have horrible side effects from them.

Fortunately my EP believed me and agreed to a 10 day period of not taking Rivaoxaban to see if my side effect went away, they did!

[KevJenn]

Thanks for the reply and existence it. I hate the Pradaxa but have to hang on I guess till I see my cardiologist next Tuesday...My symptoms are identical to last year which disappeared right after cardioversion so who knows?? My chest feeling sore is identical to last year and disappeared after cardioversion.

[JonathanPittsCrick]

Hi and sorry to be late in responding. One possibility is that your heart went into a different arrhythmia called atrial flutter which can go at a regular rate of 75 bpm and mimic sinus (normal) rhythm at rest but jump up to 150 bpm as soon as you are active. The rhythm can flip back and forth between flutter and fibrillation. I think the best thing is to get an AliveCor phone-ECG device (about £95 online) which you can use to check your heart rhythm when you don't feel right.

If you are back in continuous AF (or flutter) then it's worth going for another cardioversion. If you are definitely in sinus rhythm (even when you have the symptoms) then obviously you need to look for another cause, including a side-effect of medication – possibly the Pradaxa (dabigatran) but more likely a beta blocker (e.g. bisoprolol) if you are taking one.