My experience of living with Permanent Atrial Fibrillation: a piece of cake

After a failed second ablation, my EP said he couldn’t do anything more unless pace and ablate became necessary in the future. His colleague, recently appointed, suggested a third, which I thought about until my turn came 12 months later when I decided against.

After 2 years with permanent atrial fibrillation (AFib) I’m doing well. I would say that at 72, I have “slowed down” physically, but I can do anything that I want to do. My AFib is not a limiting factor.

I take Nebivolol 2.5 mgs twice a day and Apixaban, and my resting heart rate is 60. My BMI is 20

Initially, I was getting tired a lot and struggling on stairs and slopes. I figured that I needed to reduce the work my heart had to do. I’ve never been overweight, but losing a stone in weight has made a definite difference. And I’m aiming to get into the underweight range, perhaps 18, it just seems logical to give the heart an easy time.

Then I realised I needed to get back into cardio training. I’ve got a static bike which I use four or five times a week. Nothing strenuous, probably the equivalent of a slow jog for up to an hour. Netflix and some headphones relieve the monotony.

For me, getting my BMI to low normal, and regular modest exercise has made my permanent AFib something I don’t think about. I feel better now than when I had paroxysmal AFib.

I used to think that going permanent would be a disaster. It certainly hasn’t been for me so far. Knowing that, would have made 8 years of paroxysmal AFib a lot less stressful and I would probably still have a decent head of hair.

[meadfoot]

So good to hear you have reached a point of peace with your heart and found a regime which works for you. At a time when dealing with af can make us feel totally despondent and trapped its lovely to hear you now have your life back on track. Enjoy.

[Hidden]

Being underweight is something that is quite unusual today (67% of Americans and people in UK are overweight), but that can be beneficial in many ways. A man from Holland decided to deliberately keep underweight for decades and looked at about 55 like being 35. I am BMI 25 and do not consider myself to be "large". I can only imagine what you will look like when BMI 18. Fingers crossed!

[jeanjeannie50]

Snap, after 3 ablations (was told after 2 that I wouldn't be offered any more, but was), I'm now in the same position as you. My AF is now permanent, but at a fairly low rate - to be honest I don't give it much thought these days! I found that the more attention I paid to having AF/tachycardia the worse it would become. I now ignore any thumping that starts and it soon goes, before I would have been trying to grab a machine or stethoscope to find out what was going on and my anxiety would have made the condition far worse.

I too have lost a stone in weight and would echo your thoughts regarding that.

I think the main problem most of us have at the onset of having heart arrhythmias is stopping our anxiety from fuelling attacks.

Well done you, so good to hear such positive feedback.

[Hidden in reply to jeanjeannie50]

So glad you are back, Jeannie! Respect and love!

[bassets in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hi jeanjeannie, good to hear from you again, and thanks for such a positive comment. I think anxiety is one of my main problems at present.

[secondtry]

Thanks for posting. I am sure some weight loss is very good for not just the heart but joints etc. However at BMI 22 myself, I would say any more is ruled by the law of diminishing returns!

[The_Lord_is_with_Us]

Quite inspirational! I'm sure there is a 'population' on this forum just in your situation, or close to it, who will find your experience most comforting.

[bassets]

Thanks for such a positive comment . I've lost two stone since diagnosed with AF but I'm finding it hard to lose more now - I enjoy my food too much!

[Singwell]

Definitely a heartening read! I had BMI within normal range when I started get AF and decided to make dietary changes. I was pretty sure my triggers were digestive and stress induced. I didn't eat less, I are differently and my BMI is now just above 21. I definitely feel better - more energy, more positive, more able to enjoy the stretches between episodes. I do think a lot of our management strategy is about state of mind. This forum has helped me hugely in that aspect.

[Hidden]

Thanks john6. I agree that we are advised to stay in the green or healthy zone for BMI. It’s just that I don’t really understand why that necessarily applies if you feel well, eat well and get the boost in morale and energy that comes with losing weight.

When I was a young lad playing on the bomb sites of southeast London and scrumping apples, we didn’t have a car and only used buses for journeys over a mile. We never had mars bars but counted ourselves lucky if we could lick a mars bar wrapper discarded n the street.

I never saw an overweight person in our area. But the men did smoke a lot and spittoons were common in men’s “conveniences” not least because of TB

Atrial fibrillation was unheard of round our way 😉