Concerned and uncertain

[Franky51]

Had occasional, short (few minutes) experience of AF over past few years but have now had two 30 minutes and nearly 3 hours. The long one involved severe shoulder pain like I was carrying a heavyweight rucksack. Couldn’t walk more than a few paces without having to sit down and rest. (VERY unlike me as love walking, cycling...) All the time heart rate was very high and thready. Subsided but now feel quite scared an wondering if this will recur and if any damage is done during such an episode. Male aged 67.

[jeanjeannie50]

Three hours is not a long time for an AF attack, but what concerns me is your description of how it felt with the pain and heaviness in your shoulder. Have you reported this to your GP? If not I would do that as soon as possible as any heavy aching in the chest, or shoulder, area can be a sign of a heart attack.

If it was just AF it would have been unlikely to have damaged your heart.

Jean

[Franky51 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thanks, Jean - will get checked out ASAP!

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Franky51]

Please let us know how you get on.

[CDreamer]

Hi Frankby - AF always brings symptoms anxiety and worry and some people do experience pain during episodes however as Jean says this should always be checked out so when there is pain, if it happens again it’s a trip to A&E or call paramedics as there is a blood test they can perform to check whether or not there is any structural damage because sometimes AF is a symptom of other things going on so best to get checked out thoroughly - then you will have some peace of mind.

Please be advised that AF can be brought on by endurance sports such as cycling, that doesn’t stop a lot of people doing them but it is worth while reading up on it and knowing how to exercise safely so as not to put too much strain on your heart - which unfortunately is not as robust as we age so we need to take more care of it and moderate how far and hard we push exercise.

Over exercise stresses the body and any stress will have repercussions so learn and know your limits and listening to your body is the best way to learn - Breathlessness = stop and rest. Rule of thumb - if you can’t talk whilst you exercise, slow down until you can.

The man to read is cardiologist and AF sufferer and keen cyclist Dr John - drjohnm.org/2014/02/13-thin.... His book The Haywire Heart is worth a read.

[Franky51 in reply to CDreamer]

Thank you very much. I will get it checked out and look for that book. The AF is definitely associated for me with exercise so sounds like good advice for me to take.