Is it possible to feel exhausted most of the time even when not in af but because of af? Hope that makes sense!
Exhaustion and af : Is it possible to... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Exhaustion and af
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Tilly1957
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When my Afib with RVR was poorly controlled, I’d often find I was pretty exhausted for about a day after each episode. I figured my heart was maybe tired from beating so fast, and my body was tired from being somewhat oxygen-deprived.
Hi Crankymidlife,What is RVR, please? X
Oh, sorry, rapid ventricular response- fast heart rate.
Thank you. Is that separate to the af stuff?
Sometimes AF comes with rapid heartbeat (RVR), but in some folks, their heart rate is pretty normal in AF. I haven’t experienced the latter personally, but I’ve read that folks with AF with normal heart rate may tend to feel less symptomatic, less fatigued, etc- but everyone is different.
Ah, thank you. My heart rate and blood pressure go crazy when in af, all over the place ! X
Thank you. That’s so interesting. I can’t help you exactly, but what you wrote does help me understand why my AF with very fast heart rate hit me so hard. I could only manage two stairs at home. Two and then rest, then another two.🥲 Every third day I slept all day and then all night for months. It also explains in part why my GP told me that many people live very happily with AF and I had to push for further treatments! 🤨
Hi Tilly, as Cranky says, I certainly feel exhausted for several days following an episode of AF, presumably because my heart’s been beating hard for hours. It’s had a workout even if I haven’t! Otherwise, it might be worth having a review of any meds you’re on with your GP , I know the Bisoprolol wipes me out, for sure.
One last thing that might be worth looking into, if you haven’t already, is whether you might have sleep apnoea. Feeling exhausted when you get up, even though you’ve apparently slept all night, could be an indicator.
It’s rotten feeling exhausted all the time, so I do hope you manage to find an answer soon.
Hi Threecats,Yes, can certainly take me a day or two to recover after an episode. I stopped Bisoprolol around two months ago, saw an improvement but not enough. I will look into the sleep apnea - when I saw my first cardiologist, he asked about it and I sort of poo poohed it (with hindsight, probably not sensible!) xx
Hi Tilly, yes having AF can certainly make you feel tired most of the time. Add the effects of medication on top and we don't stand much chance of having energy. I used to feel drained all the time, but then a blood test showed I had an under-active thyroid. Medication to right this has given me my life back.
Another thing I've noticed is the less body strengthening exercise I have the more tired I can feel. So I try to get out for a walk as often as I can.
Jean
Yes, the exercise issue is like a vicious circle- the Lest you do, the less you can do, but the fatigue stops me trying in the first place. I know people say just start with something small, build up. Some days it’s exhausting just to get up and dressed! X
See your GP, explain how you are feeling and ask outright for a thyroid and full blood test.
Jean
As Jean says start with your GP but be prepared to get tough with him/her and if still no success get tests done privately, which may have to be done through an Alternative Practitioner. There are some excellent GPs but (as in my case) I have had a DVT mis-diagnosis and then with AF a negative response to test requests. I have also had two exceptionally good GPs but both disappeared to Australia/NZ 😤
If in persistent AF or have frequent bouts ie: 2-3 days a week then chronic fatigue is something that you live with. If you have AF and don’t have frequent episodes and have chronic fatigue then I would look for other causes. Start with bloods, sleep apnea is possibility, thyroid also are obvious ones and often partner with AF.
Have you talked to your GP recently about this? Sometimes you need to keep going back to get to the cause.
One thing I’ve had to learn since AF is how to pace myself, not an easy skill to learn at my age when I was a full on or off type of person.
Hi C Dreamer. I was discovered with thyroid cancer and A.F after stroke. But I had loss of energy prior to Embolic Stroke.2 years later, thyroidectomy 4 mths after stroke no one was listening to Exertions = Stop and rest.
Even under Head of Dept of Cardiology specialist.
She left me without control of A.F
Now on Calcium Channel Blocker 120mg and Bisoprolol reduced to 2.5 at night.
Energy restoring and I am able to do things again.
Diltiazem ask specialist to try it.
I take my Synthroid under the tongue every 5am - 6am sip of water and piece of banana and go back to sleep most times. Via stomach no food for an hour.
Keep safe. Joy
Very often the side effects of AF medication are very similar to the symptoms of AF and it’s very difficult to distinguish which is causing what. Are you taking regular medication?
Tilly1957 in reply to
I stopped Bisoprolol for this very reason, around 2 months ago, seeing gp again Tuesday x
Tilly1957 in reply to
I take riveroxaban since the start of the year (changed from warfarin - it made a slight difference to aches and pains and my overall mood, strangely) and now benfroflumethiazide, low dose.
Thank you everyone. I Don’t seem to get af very often at the moment, it was 2 or 3 times a month, for about 8-12 hours and I would just sit it out. I have been off the lovely Bisoprolol for about 2 months now. Thyroid has been checked, came back ‘Fine’, only meds I am currently on are rivaroxaban and benroflumethiazide (lowest dose). Symptoms have all improved dramatically since stopping betablockers, but not as much as I expected. I also have pains in my joints, plus some stiffness. I see the gp for a follow up for my blood pressure next Tuesday. I will discuss these things with him As he wanted to get my BP stable first - even though I argued about the bp medication I wanted, I hope he will still listen to me! 🤣 Thank you for all the advice and information, it is appreciated xx
Ditto the others. Get the numbers . I was told thyroid "fine" by a GP years ago. When I got the numbers 7!!!! years later I could see that it was not fine at all and I had been suffering needlessly all that time including putting on a shed load of weight that I have never been able to shift since.
Weight! Yes, doesn’t matter what I do, can’t shift it and it’s creeping up.
My experience too. Even when I finally got treated it didn't go down but I stopped gaining for a while. This was only due to the addition of T3 to my meds and when I stopped it after afib appeared the weight came back again. Many women do not lose any weight on T4 only treatment.
"Thyroid has been checked, came back ‘Fine’, "
'Fine' is an opinion not a result.
You need to know the levels and the range.
Mine was normal according to GP, but when I needed a minor operation the anesthetist insisted I get my thyroid sorted first.
I agree with Baba, you need to know the numbers from your thyroid test. My story is the same as hers, doctor said fine, but a consultant at the hospital said I needed medication right away and wrote to my GP saying that.
You could be having episodes at night and not be aware of them. A monitor showed I was in AF quite frequently and didn’t know it.
Just a thought, but when I was first diagnosed the cardio consultant made me stop bendroflumethiazide as it was leaching minerals out of my body - something you may want to mention to your doc?
Interesting. I have had a monitor for a week, which the diagnosis was made from, only showed one brief episode, which wasn’t at night. I will make a note on my list of GP questions, thank you
In that case your GP should be looking for another cause of your tiredness. It’s common for people to blame all symptoms on AF. A change to another anticoagulant might help - Rivaroxaban isn’t the best, Apixaban is usually tolerated better.
hi tilly i have paf and the fatigue is maybe the worst part ,i dont know if its the paf but my suspicions are that its playing its part.
I am fatigued all the time but have heart failure as well as a.f. so it might be the h.f. that is causing the fatigue. I am worse when l have had an attack of a.f. with tachycardia. That really takes it out of me.
I feel exhausted during an episode, and up to 48 hours afterwards. This is like an underlying fatigue, pervades everything all the time 😪 I have a feeling it started when I did a marathon (power walking) a year or so prior to af diagnosis (which I believe I have had for years) I hit the wall they talk about, thought I was going to die! (Nothing to do with af) I can’t have been like it before else I wouldn’t have been able to train. Fingers crossed can get to the bottom of it.
Hi Tilly, I would definitely say so, going on personal experience.
When in AF most definitely but even when not still present. Been told due to AF and effects of medication.
Now nearly 7weeks post Ablation, off of my beta blockers and feel so much better.
Bouts of breathlessness from time to time but nowhere near what it has been in the past.
Rob
Ablation has never been discussed. I guess I have just put up with it, ride it out. Beta blockers sort of make your brain feel like it’s full of cotton wool and trying to function through treacle 🤣🤣🤣 feel so. Ice better now am off them. X
Interesting that, though I suppose it differs for many for many reasons. If I may ask, how often do you have episodes of AF? High heart rate and blood pressure sounds very much when I was first diagnosed.
I was put on meds straight away and, if not for the pandemic, would have been Ablated last year.
I was diagnosed about 5 years ago, but I didn’t really keep track of what was happening with the af. This year I have paid attention and it was 2, occasionally 3 times a month, but now I can go for a couple of 2 months with no events (that I am aware of) I know certain foods, being too hot, over tired, dehydrated all can trigger an episode. But another time, those things can be happening and no af 🤣 I love Chinese takeaway, it was my weekly treat after cooking for everyone, but 9 times out of 10, along comes the dratted af.
I have paroxysmal AF was exhausted for a full year on meds (3 different ones) - could barely get through a day. My BP was going g very low…. Cardiologist said a small number of people react to Betas and calcium channel blockers that way.After a full year of exhaustion snd trying other meds I finally am off everything and feel quite normal again except when I overdo it or start to get a cold etc
However it’s not safe for everyone to be off meds. I would consult your family doctor as some suggested and try other medications.
Should my AF return. Will probably have to persist and try some others myself..
This happens in my case. When I Have AF my BP is normal
I feel tired most days whether Iv had Afib or I haven’t.!! I think the daily 10 mg bisoprolol doesn’t help though and my job has me getting called out at any hour. Having said that I had 3 weeks off work a few months ago first time in years and in the third week I felt great. Lots of energy, I was even interested in finishing off jobs that I’d left half done.!! I’m only 54 so god knows what I’m guna be like in another ten years I dread to think.?😳 sat in a rocking chair nodding off with my wife’s cat on my lap probably.?? It always wants petting from me and I can’t understand it because it must know I hate the mangey thing.😡
The meds and fast persistent AF made me tired all the time. I also got panicky with the AF and that made it faster so I got worse tiredness. Plus I couldn't sleep. Since having Ablations it's got better, but Bisoprolol makes me tired in the 3hrs after I take it, which improves through the day. But as you have stopped taking Bisoprolol it can't be be that. It is a tiring condition. Not sure if this helps you. Maybe a blood test is the answer.
Hi Tilly. Are you on Beta Blockers? They make you tired. Are you sure that you are not in A.F. I am most of day by exerting myself, up stairs, elevating of land. surface even simply making my bed. What do you take via meds to control your A.F? Souns like they aren't controlling A.F Take Care
Joy
Hi Joy, I was in beta blockers until recently, for 5 years, and had only just realised how much they were possibly affecting my quality of life. With gp’s advice, I cane off them (2months now) to see if it made a difference. Yes it has, a lot. But the exhaustion, although changed, isn’t shifting. I use my Kardia most days to check for af, and am keeping an eye on my blood pressure and rate too. Everything seems pretty stable at the moment. I will see the gp tomorrow for a review and the next steps x
Hi Tilly. I am on Diltiazem and xarelto. As well as other meds for lupus, gerd etc. feel tired a lot. And fun fact, my Dad used to call me Tilly when I was little!
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