am still not sure if my AF will cause damage. I have a very irregular hb but never higher than 60 on a very few occasions it went up to 110 but I didn’t notice only detected on my fit bit. I suppose I am lucky not to have episodes. My energy level is low and I get breathless if walking fast or climbing stairs.
I take Apixaban, Perindopril and statins. Maybe someone has an answer for me.
Thank you in advance.
It is generally thought that well controlled AF does not increase your risk of "damage" as you put it. Very high rates for a long time can increase the chances of damage to the heart but yours sound well controlled.
Hi ,
My understanding is, there is a danger of an increased chance of a blood clot formation, with unpleasant consequences. A risk presumably controlled, in your case.
The above was a main reason for my decision to undergo an open-heart surgery, the Maze Procedure. I have been medication and AF free for over two years since.
Not a suggestion, just one personal experience
Best wishes J
If the Maze procedure is successful I wonder why everyone is not offered it.
Hi again,
The Maze may not always do the job, I opted for a highly invasive, to my understanding the most likely to succeed procedure – an open-heart surgery. Even so, the surgeon pointed out a few cases, when AF persisted or returned soon after. I assume, in those cases, MAZE did not address the underlying, electrophysiological problem.
The Maze can be done in a less invasive manner, albeit somewhat less likely to succeed. If you consider my option, please look for a knowledgeable, competent surgeon, ready to communicate. Their skill and competence are of paramount importance. You need to weigh the possible benefits and drawbacks. My case was somewhat unusual, since I had no underlying heart problems requiring a surgery. Only the ****** AF
J (-:
If you're using a Fitbit as a diagnostic tool for AFib you're making a dangerous mistake. After using several other of their models I currently have a Versa.
When I'm in AFib and my Kardia device tells me my heart rate is 160 the Versa will show 65 or so. If you go to the official Fitbit forum you will see hundreds of complaints about the heart rate meter being grossly inaccurate. I use my watch only to track my exercise and my sleep.
BTW, one time on their forum I tried to suggest to a user who had a heart arrhythmia that he should consider getting a Kardia but the site wouldn't allow me to use the brand name. It acted like I had tried to use a dirty word.
If you insist on using a watch as a diagnostic tool I understand the Apple watch will track heart arrhythmias or at least a fib. As I don't have an Apple phone I haven't tried theirs.
My Apple watch vibrates when I start having an episode and gives an accurate heart rate.
Hi Emsling
I have permanent AF. I had a mini maze after a valve repair - but to no effect. I find that regular steady exercise is a great help and that I can feel quite fit, as long as I don't slack off at all. I can even walk gently up hill but I have to keep at it.
Most of the time my AF is not apparent and doesn't really bother me much. If I lie on my left hand side before I sleep, I can feel it getting irregular, so I sleep on my right hand side.
I have had it for about 20 years, had a cardioversion and an ablation, and lots of different pills and potions and mysterious remedies. As long as I avoid the usual triggers it doesn't bother me too much, touch wood.
You might want to give this a try:
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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
PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:
Cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2840-7-28
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