AF and Covid

[Hannibal1948]

Not, I'm sure the first to ask....

I have been following all the rules and stayed safe. My question is, if I catch the virus, am I at a greater risk of survival/long Covid?

There, I asked!

[Hidden]

It’s probably me Hannibal, but I’m not sure I understand your question. Unfortunately, AF will not improve your risk of survival from Covid, we only wished it did because there are precious little benefits in having AF but that one would be a game changer!

If you are asking if you are more vulnerable to catching the virus then we are being told the answer is generally no. I say generally because it depends very much on your overall condition. If you have lone AF you should be no better or worse off than anyone else. If however, it is accompanied with high blood pressure, diabetes or other heart problems and you catch the virus then the risk of complications is higher.

[Bawdy in reply to Hidden]

I think Hannibal is referring to long covid, really in the news in Aust regarding long health problems resulting from covid. On the news tonight and can be pretty devastating. Similar to chronic fatigue, maybe worse.

[Hidden in reply to Bawdy]

We are hearing quite a bit about it in the UK and it seems quite prevalent. Having heard from Hannibal, I think he’s OK with the responses and has promised to type more slowly 😉

[BobD Volunteer]

Great theory John but I would worry that if you are that ill then you would be in hospital and they may not be giving you the anticoagulation! They may well be pumping all sorts of things in to try and save you and not have room . lol 😁 Hard to swallow pills when you are on a ventilator.

[baba in reply to BobD]

The hospitals are well aware of the risks of clotting for any seriously ill bed bound patients, as well as AF patients, and would be giving anticoagulants either intravenously or subcutaneously.

[BobD Volunteer]

Lone AF is not considered to cause greater risk of catching Covid or suffering long term effects but reading what reliable data is available it appears that genetics play a strong part in how badly one may get symptoms./side effects. Either that or there are seriously random things at work.

[Hidden]

Not sure it would be termed as a “risk” of survival but it is true that folk taking anticoagulants are less likely to suffer from blood clots sometimes associated with the coronavirus....

[Hannibal1948 in reply to Hidden]

Sorry. I must learn to type more slowly....

[Hidden in reply to Hannibal1948]

No problem, I need to learn to read more slowly. Hope you find the responses to your question helpful....

[BobD Volunteer]

Know it well John. Sorry my gallows humour again.

[Tako2009]

Hi. I will just add my experience - I have had Covid and I also have AF - and lived to tell the tale!! I have now reached the washed out / wrung out post virus stage of recovery and have been told by my GP it could last a couple of months more. The impact for me was that the Covid kicked off my AF big style - normally controlled by a low dose of Flecainide/Bisoprolol I do get the occasional breakthrough episode maybe 3 or 4 times per year - with Covid in the early days I was getting daily episodes of fast AF When you are already feeling sh** due to the virus it is no joke having to deal with AF on top of everything else 😂🥴. I don’t think AF made me any more susceptible to the virus - I caught it from a close family member - and for me it was just like very bad flu with a high temperature for 4 or 5 days, no cough or breathing problems. I do think if the AF episodes had continued any longer I might have ended up in hospital but they stopped at day 5 when my temp started coming down. Having AF definitely made things worse for me - Not an experience I want to repeat certainly!!

[baba in reply to Tako2009]

I hope the “long covid” stage don't last too long. Glad you are over the a acute stage.

[Hannibal1948 in reply to Tako2009]

Hi,That sounds like me in March.

Same thing. Desperately bad Flu knocked me for six and kicked off the AF big style. It took a week to shake it off and a month to get back to normal!

And I got it from my son....

[Hidden]

What are you buying the close family member for Christmas? I jest, I’m sure they were mortified. Please to hear that you are on the mend.

[TracyAdmin Partner]

We offer advice and information regarding Covid and AF on our website, please feel free to visit A F Association. Keep well. Tracy

[Shcldavies]

Covid can effect the efficiency of the lungs to oxygenate your blood, your heart may have to work harder to get the oxygen to your organs, your heart working harder can start your arrhythmia. A whole lot of "cans" but that tells you there are just so many variables.

Catching Covid in the first place has nothing at all to do with any arrhythmia directly, indirectly the way you breath may have an effect on the dose but that is completely arbitrary.

[Vonnegut]

My husband and I both had covid in early February- having had all the jabs previously - we didn’t feel much different and only tested after our daughter who we’d seen on my birthday the previous day, had found she had tested positive . I did have more episodes of AF at the start but no temperature- my husband didn’t test positive for another five days. His lasted five days to my fifteen and it hasn’t changed either of us as I already seem to have chronic fatigue! As we know, we are all different