I'm Clive and I was finally diagnosed with Atrial fibrillation a couple of months ago after wondering what the hell was going on and then ending up in A+E after 6 crazy hours of missed beats, 160 bpm heartrate, so on, absolutely shat myself. Anyway, was put on apixaban and bisoprolol, still getting attacks lasting several hours and now bothered by a constant ectopic heartbeat- not bad for 60! I think fear is the biggest problem with this although the docs tell me "it's very common, don't worry"! Don't worry?! Oh well, nice to be a part of the community, cheers everyone!
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Bigbilldup
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Hi Padayn01, I'm still waiting for one of those 24 hour Ecg waist monitor things, let alone an ablation! Things move pretty slowly down here in deepest Dorset, but thanks for asking, I hope you're dealing with your situation well.!
Oh i hope things speed up for you my friend, yes still a long road for me 14 weeks post ablation and still getting skipped beats daily they are horrible
Cheers mate, I'm kind of new to this, still finding my way (stuff like sleeping on my right side helps) but those skipped heartbeats are scarier than the irregular rapid attacks (if possible!) Take care chum
Not as slow as down here in bloody Cornwall mate .... I just thank goodness I am with a modern progressive almost dynamic surgery. Mind you since coming down here from Surrey in 2012 I have already sacked one practice, complained to my MP about the performance of a local Trust and gone for the jugular over another NHS performance issue.
Nice one mate - seem's a shame the health service doesn't take this seriously enough, bit like the ruddy tinnitus I suffer - still, hope you're enjoying Cornwall, love the place myself!
Welcome to our forum, please feel free to ask any questions and bear in mind that we always say that there's no such thing as a daft one.
AF can be very scary to begin with. When my heart bounced around I used to think that I would surely die, but here I am 14 years later and still going fairly strong despite so many attacks, some lasting months and my heart needing to be bought back into normal sinus rhythm by an electrical cardioversion (shock to the heart).
Unfortunately, people like doctors generally have no idea whatsoever of the anxiety AF can cause, but we who suffer from it certainly do.
I’m similar to you, recently diagnosed. I’ve been in A&E 3 times and cardio version twice. Although the cardio version worked initially I ended up on Amiodarone via drip then tablets and I’m much more stable. I’m back to yoga and walking but not sure about tennis as others on here advise keeping heart steady in exercise. I’m on the list for an ablation so hope there’s an end.
Good luck as it’s very unnerving getting the right drug combination.
It would be ironic if I got a fairly quick appointment and it worked, having upset several on the forum with my comments on af causing cognitive impairment and dementia...
My main pleasure is non fiction books so cognitive impairment and dementia is not a pleasant thought.
If you’re having a fast AF episode you should call an ambulance due to stroke risk. A&E will use cardio version if need be but ideally you should be on anticoagulants for a number of weeks first.
I must admit I was struggling with what would normally come with ease on my PC at work (I assumed it was the Bisoprolol ). The Amiodarone has settled the AF and I feel back to my old self although a little tired at times.
2 weeks in anticoagulants isn’t long enough for the cardio version I’m not sure how long but it’s a good number of weeks. A preassessment is done if a it’s planned cardio version. But it was only about a month wait for the procedure. The cardio versions only lasted briefly for me though. It was the Amiodarone that seems is working.
Hi AfibofFleet, Harefield used to be local to me (an Uxbridge boy), my brother's actually waiting for a heart valve up there! You're in safe hands mate - for I remember the days when I used to dance with the local Morris ten round there, cheers!
It's very helpful to remember what Bob said - "AF will not kill you. It's the friends that it keeps that are the problem." The stroke risk is the main problem!
I question the value of the 24hr monitor when your AF comes & goes. You need it on for a week or more. Mine picked up AF during the night on day 4.
Absolutely horrifying. And if they can't get you out of af they can't stop you heading for dementia.
The only bit of good news is that the anticoagulants reduce the rate of damage. Also once you're out of af there is some recovery of cognitive impairment but not the whole lot.
So I personally have a very unpleasant time ahead trying the various methods of getting out of af knowing until I do I'm mentally deteriorating.
Hi Jennydog, agree with that about the monitor - I wore one just recently and nothing happened till I took it off.! This bloody ad is too unpredictable!
Totally agree with jennydog, I had three 24hr monitors and two 7 day ones initially and they showed nothing as I clearly wasn't having the AF ( PAF ) often enough but when they did come I certainly knew it. I changed doctors and he said the only real way is to call an ambulance when an episode is happening and that way you can get an ECG when you need one. I am guessing most of us wouldn't call an ambulance; I called a taxi first time and did get an ECG done in time in A& E, but no guarantees there. Good luck.
You could try taking magnesium taurate supplements . These are recommended by Dr Gupta whose excellent ( and reassuring) vids you can find on this site. I take 300mg a day split into 3 doses well spaced out and I have found this very helpful. Lots of people here have bought Kardia monitors. This is a handy device that will tell you if you are in afib and do a simple ECG. They work with tablets and mobile phones and you can save the trace , send it by email to yourself and print it out to show your doc.
Hi Auriculaire, I saw something about that supplement and have ordered some - good luck with it!
Give this a try - works for a lot of folks:
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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 (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). 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?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??
I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.
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:
I will never feel the same about life … I'm always kind of anxious … wondering when will it happen the next time … although it happens so rarely. Nonetheless, just when I start to forget about it … it happens!!! Mine is all about what I eat/drink … when and how much. I musn't overindulge in anything. Small meals, small drinks... anything overly salty … no no … anything overly sweet no no …!
Hi Janith, yeah it's the unpredictability of it that makes me climb the walls, though mine seems to happen early in the morning or if I lie on my left side.! Crap condition, keep your chin up, we're all in it together!
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New diagnosis aged 38
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