I have had palpitations,skipped beats etc for over 30 years with no diagnosis until recently. My question is has it been AF all those years ?? My daughter and son ,in there 30s,has a lot of symptoms as well ..have they got AF??
I'm sorry to be asking so many questions but I am so confused and not getting answers from gp...I have had no energy for the past year..doing a little housework can wipe me out, I'm 57 but feel at least 20 years older energy wise...is this normal??
Thank you all In advance
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simon111
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AF can be hard to diagnose unless you happen to have an event whilst having an ECG. Paroxysmal AF whre it comes and goes often is not diagnosed for many years.
It is important to understand that AF is just one arrhythmia and also that "palpitations" medically just means that a person is aware of their heart. "Missed beats" are usually ectopic beats where one part of the heart gets out of phase with the other and these are quite a normal function of a healthy heart. Everybody gets up to 200 a day but few notice. When they become more frequent then they can become annoying and in turn cause anxiety which of course increases the likelyhood of them happening into a viscous circle.
AF is a very obvious arrhythmia as there is no rhythm, just a chaotic jumble of random fast beats usually but is very obvious on an ECG and unlike any other arrhythmia.
Is there a genetic link? Quite probably although this is no proof of this. Families often share heart shape and construction which may make AF more likely but there is no doubt that life style can also make it more likely. Stress, over exercise, alcohol and being overweight etc all increase the burden of AF and can be addressed without drugs or treatment if a patient so wishes.
Yes AF makes us fatigued because our blood flow is compromised. There is no cure as such and all treatment is for quality of life but most of us learn to live full and active lives, just maybe differently.
Why not go to AF Association website and read all the information there so you understand something about this mongrel condition.
I don’t know if this will help! My path to AF diagnosis started off, like you, with some odd palpitations, some missed beats which while worrying did not make me feel tired or ill. I got referred to a cardiologist had all the tests and was diagnosed with “ectopic heartbeat” also called benign arrhythmia. I carried on like that for several years until I felt that something had changed - the odd missed beat turned into longer episodes of missed and uneven heartbeats and I started to feel exhausted after an episode- back to the cardiologist and AF was diagnosed. So what I’m trying to say is you might not always have had AF, you might only have tipped over to AF more recently perhaps since you began to feel worse.
You don’t mention whether you have been referred to a specialist or whether you have been prescribed any medication. I would say seeing a specialist- preferably an Electrophysiologist - should be a priority. So you can understand what treatment options there are for you. And also be aware that tiredness can be a side effect of some medication used to treat AF.
Others more knowledgeable than me will give you more advice on how to get to grips with this condition we have and where to find the information you need. I wish you well, you have come to the right place for sound advice and empathy. I have learned more from the lovely people on this forum than from any of the doctors I have seen.
Bisoprolol 1.25mg made me really tired and I felt like I was walking in mud. My pulse was low (48) so cardiologist told me to stop taking this tablet. If you are advised to do the same, wean off this drug over a few weeks.......I didn’t and my heart was even more irregular and fast for about a week or more.
I agree with Clyde 12, my HR went as low as 38 & also lowered my BP, especially postural, on just 1.25 mg Bisoprolol a day. I was put on it after my AF diagnosis in A&E when I had a 5- 6 hour episode running at about 140 - 165.
Saw a cardiologist who told me never to take it again & put me on rhythm control (Flecainide 50mg twice daily) & anticoagulant (Apixaban 5 mg twice daily). I remained tired & dizzy, though not so extreme, for a few weeks & Cardiologist suggested a blood test for Vit D levels which were low. After taking a supplement of 1000i.u. daily, I was fine after a few weeks.
My cardiologist saw that I hadn’t an attack for 4 months so he told me to stop the 1.25 mg bisoprolol and two days later worse than ever! Don’t just stop😊
I have had ectopic beats for much of my adult life. While being treated for atrial flutter, I was told by my cardiologist that ectopic beats are very common indeed and do arise in the same area of the heart as atrial fibrillation, close to the pulmonary veins. He said that it was thought that one can eventually occasionally lead to the other but that most people with ectopic beats don’t get atrial fibrillation.
So, it seems more likely that you’ve been unlucky and that your children needn’t worry.
Hi , I am 59 and always had a few palpitations & jumpy heart but nothing to cause concern.
My AF did not start till the menopause. I took myself off HRT and went into rebound menopause. Crazy hot flushes etc. Heart beat up to 200 for a couple of hours while having ECG in A & E. This happened a few times, though I did not go to A & E , just sat it out at home. Back on HRT, which is not ideal, but everything has calmed down again now. Cardiologist agreed it was 'probably' due to changing hormone levels. Now only happens when on long walks ie 10 miles or more while going up hill and does not last for long.
Though I am a HRT junky better than the AF and hopefuly the menopause will end one day. This may or may not be relevant, but lots of women suffer palpitations etc due to menopause .
Hi. A Fib can and does run in families. My mom and grandmother both had issues with heart palpitations. I would say that as long as they haven't gotten notably worse recently, then you're probably OK, but im not a doctor. Best thing to do if you are concerned is to just push for all the tests to be done if they haven't been done yet.
Give yourself a lifestyle audit, look at all the usual suspects, blood pressure, weight as in waist half your height, sugar levels, cloresterol levels, exercise capabilities, and think about an exercise stress test.
Sounds like AF but it could be another arrhythmia. It certainly needs attention.
The Doc will have to do an EKG on you to determine if you have Afib. In any case, you might want to try this to stop it:
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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt??
Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer
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