I’m hoping to get put on an (NHS) ablation list of the EP I am seeing in a couple of weeks, if he thinks I am eligible. I am paroxysmal AF and my last episode was November when I came off bisoprolol, which I’d been taking daily since diagnosis. I went back on bisoprolol, which is all I take ( approx 1.6 mg) The bisoprolol so far has stopped further attacks. I want to try and get off this drug as I can’t tolerate it, but I remain on it for now.
One of the main reasons I want an ablation would be to eventually take no medication, including blood thinners. I did read that this can be possible. I have problems with medication in that I take another med for a condition that interacts with so many heart meds, that I fear if my paroxysmal AF does get worse my choices of medication will become limited in the future. I can only take warfarin in the future if I get put on blood thinners. I’m 56 and CHADS 0 at the moment.
I see a lot if posts where people have had successful ablations yet they remain on blood thinners.
Plea see can I ask if anyone has had a succcessful ablation and doesn’t take any medications for their heart afterwards, including blood thinners? And, what type of AF you had before hand and how long it took to be free if the drugs afterwards?
Thankyou,
Teresa
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Hi, I had an ablation for Paroxysmal Af in January. the plan is for me to stop flecainide and bisoprolol aftaer 6 weeks, and continue on anticoagulant for 3 months then stop. I have a CHADsVAc of 1 as a woman..But that plan is not guaranteed. Depends on how things go and full effect isnt clear for a year sometimes as Im sure others will tell you.
My main hope is for better symptom control. id be happy if episides were once a month and managed by a PIP and lifestyle. . As that just wasnt working prior to ablation.
So it is possible and EP recomends this, but I cant say whether it will work.
If you are put on anticoagulation for the purpose of the ablation and recovery it may, and note may be possible to stop once recovery is complete. There is , however, no data to suggest that successful ablation removes any stroke risk which is why so many of us elect to remain anticoagulated for life.
Thankyou, I suppose I’m just a little tense ( or very tense) about having to stay on meds and especially warfarin, due to side effects of that and all meds….it’s a risk I know 😳
I just want my life back, like we all do I suppose….
I came off meds (bisoprolol) on day of ablation - except anticoagulant. I changed that from warfarin to Apixaban, sorry, gather that’s not appropriate for you. That was 2013.
It’s good to know your was successful and you’ve been AF free all this time 😊
Teresa
I’m not medically trained Teresa but like many here, I’ve been involved in a number discussions about AF and although some may disagree, I honestly do not think that trying to draw comparisons on how AF affects others is going to help you decide what’s going to be best for you. AF is such a mongrel condition, knowing what x,y and z do may be interesting and even helpful but whether or not it would help you if you did the same is, in my opinion, unlikely because we are all different and the variations in how AF impacts on people is enormous.
Most people share your view that finding a solution to manage their AF which doesn’t involve medication is their Holy Grail and some folk achieve that. However, the problem is that the majority who have pursued a successful treatment plan have bu***red off and are out there enjoying life and good luck to them.
It actually may not be that easy to get on the list. From what you say, your AF burden is (at the moment), relatively low. You are taking low doses of a beta blocker and they seem to be keeping your AF well controlled. With the current pressures on the NHS, they may be focusing on patients with more debilitating symptoms. Although you have problems with Bisoprolol, their are many alternatives so be prepared if your EP says he wants to explore these alternatives. As far as anticoagulants are concerned, at the moment, if someone is diagnosed with AF, the increased risk of having a stroke remains regardless of any treatment or frequency of episodes so your CHADS score will continue to be monitored and at some stage, I think it is inevitable that you will be advised to take an anticoagulant.
Personally, I am pro ablation therapy having had two and largely AF free and I share your reasons for wanting to avoid or minimise the need to take potent medication for the many years to come. I think you need to be very clear about your concerns about long term medication when you talk to your EP. Hope this helps and good luck……..
Thankyou so much for your reply. I do understand what you’re saying and appreciate all your advice. I, pleased your ablations were largely successful, that great. I know it’s a risk, if I ever get accepted onto a list. I am just hoping that if I’m “caught’ whilst it’s paroxysmal I might have a better chance of success, though I know it’s not guaranteed and I do have a large fear it could become worse afterwards. I also worry that my Afib will become persistent or permanent if I don’t at least try. I just want a normal life, like we all do.
I’ve tried two different beta blockers, and I just don’t want to try another as from what I’ve read they all do essentially the same thing with similar side effects or worse. I expect I will get offered to try other drugs. I think he will struggle. My other med, carbamazepine that I’ve been taking for 24 years ( tegretol) is such a strong med in itself and I’m lucky ( I don’t have any side effects that I’m aware of) from that, but I take a low dose. I can’t take any calcium channel blockers at all, tegretol interacts with all of them. Fleconaide is even debatable with tegretol and there are conflicting views on Google. As I’ve only ever taken it once as a PIP , I don’t know how I’d be long term on it with the tegretol. Everything will have side effects and that’s my trouble.
I’m really odd FlapJack, in that while I want to come off Bisoprolol as soon as poss, I take some small comfort in that I know the side effects it gives me and hate it, but it seems to control my Afib for now….it’s like a double edged sword. I do not want to be on it for life.
I know we are all wanting the same thing, a normal life…..I yearn for that so much. My life before my diagnosis. How I was as a person before my diagnosis….I’ve lost who I was 😞 I’ve been really struggling and searching for a way out….
All the best to you and thanks again,
Teresa
If you tell your EP everything you have just told me and if he feels reasonably confident that an ablation is the way to go for you then I’m sure he will do his best to fulfil your wishes. Having a positive attitude and outlook is half the battle…good luck and please let us know how you get on.
Hi Teresa, I had first ablation in November. Came off Flecainide after 4 weeks. It all seems to be settling down ok and due to come off Apixaban at week 12 (next week). My CHAD score is low, I’m otherwise fit and and I’m 53. So provided I don’t get AF recurring I’ll be completely off meds with the blessing of my EP next week. I can still feel ectopics coming through occasionally and normally there’s a trigger (feeling stressed). Every situation is different but yes it’s possible is the answer to your question! Good luck.
I was 49 when I had my ablation, that's nearly 5 years ago now.I was given the ablation as I could not tolerate the medications I was on to try and control the afib.
I stopped the anticoagulant about 6 months post ablation and the bisoprolol at about 9 months.
Bisoprolol should have been sooner imo because my HR was 31 BPM even on a very low dose. I also had a really rough time coming off it.
I know that I will bo back on the anticoagulant sooner rather than later, which I don't relish the thought of. But yes, you can be mef free after an ablation
Thankyou😊 another ray of hope 🤞 I really appreciate you sharing that with me. Having tried coming off bisop once and failing, I think I know exactly what you must have gone through at that time. Well done with the ablation and I hope you don’t have to go back on the anti coagulants.You must feel good not being on any meds.
Thankyou,
Teresa
In my NHS area AF is given priority and early ablation offered, so that list may be open to you sooner than you think. I had a very brief wait, made longer beckase I panicked when offered a date a month after seeing EP and delayed it! Ablation successful. I am sorry you are on warfarin rather than a newer AC. I’m still on Apixaban despite sex and age being my only scores, EP said for life. But of course I had the choice.
Talk it through with all the clinicians and good luck!
Hi FaberM,Wow, you got one quickly 😊 I’m not on warfarin yet as I’m under 65 ( I’m 56) and CHADS0 - I’m not on any blood thinners, but it’s the only one and I know I’ll have to take it at 65. I feel I’m just counting away the years unless I do something now. I might have felt differently if I could have taken a new one.
I had an ablation last September. I came off anticoagulants completely. I’m reducing my beta blockers slowly and hope to stop completely in March .I discussed coming off the meds with my EP at Barts and it was a discussion he supported. I’m at 2 on Chadsvac but what’s the point in taking anticoagulants “ just in case “. There is a risk from the medication. It’s a personal choice and you will get lots of advice saying remain on the meds.
I had decided before my ablation that if it was successful I would want to stop medication. I have anticoagulants available should AFIB return. I’m very aware of the symptoms.
It’s a personal choice and discuss it before your ablation with your EP .
That’s very reasonable and I totally am with you in what you’ve decided going forward and sounds like you’ve made the right decision, which, if I went the same way, I think I’d be similar.
I never realised that after ablation, that medication like beta blockers would continue past the 3 month blanking period, but I can understand why you have remained on it in your case.
I also know beta blockers alone without another heart med for rhythm control, don’t control everyone’s Afib, but in my case, they do (but only at the moment, this could change of course) . It is something I’d have to ask the EP. If I went back on bisop and stayed on it past the 3 months mark, I’d not know if mine was successful. I just wouldn’t want to start it up again after the ablation either because I know I’ll have to come off it again and that will be hard in itself for me 😳
It seems a very difficult balance to know what to do for the best. Thankyou so much for coming back to me and I wish you all the best.
Hi Teresa, yes I have been AF medication free following my second ablation Nov 2017, the first was Feb 2017, before it I was only on Flecainide PIP and afterwards put on Diltiazem for the blanking period, plus Flecainide which I was allowed to stop 9 months after. I am still lucky to be AF free and very thankful. Unfortunately I now also have Angina but that is from genetics and not AF related. Best of luck on your journey
Hi Legs,Thankyou for coming back to me. Sounds like you have had quite a journey, but glad you are free of the AF medications. Sorry to hear about your angina though.
I had an ablation about 15 months ago. I am 56 and I think I had a Chad's score of 1 because I'm a woman. I was told at my three month follow up I could come off all medication (the blood thinners I'd been taking since about six weeks before the op plus the pill-in-pocket metaprolol and flecanaide). They are still on my repeat prescription list though, as requested by me, in case symptoms come back. I had a few episodes of AF in the early recovery period but nothing but the odd short lived sensation since then but the Kardia I bought said was normal sinus rhythm. I'm still wary but definitely feel a lot better than before the ablation when I had episodes of AF about twice a week.
Thankyou for coming back to me. So pleased for you that it was successful. So you didn’t have any medication after the ablation? Just the blood thinners? You had the PIP only in case you had an attack? If so, this is ideally what I’d like. When you had your few episodes did you just take your PIP after, or did you revert back on your own?
I totally understand how you feel about wanting your life back; when I first was diagnosed with AF and had to start taking medication, I went through feelings of intense bereavement for my old carefree life. I was almost 65 and was quite smug that I considered that I was super healthy and needed no medication whatsoever. It took me many many months to come to terms with the new routine.
I can't give an advice about after an ablation as I have never had one and my burden is very low; three or four episodes a year terminated quickly with flecainide as a PiP. But I have had to continue with anti-coagulant and now I don't even think about it. Best of luck.
Yes it is like a bereavement - that’s a good way of describing it. The future worries me even more than the current situation and that’s bad enough 😞
It’s good that you can forget about it. The funny thing is I used to get attacks yearly or less for about 10 years, that were never ‘caught’ but I always wondered about them, but I’d forget about them after they happened and I had a life!
I now worry constantly every day and feel awful because of bisop 😞 even though the attacks are controlled by the beta blocker. I just wish I’d never taken this daily from the start, when A&E told me I had to. I didn’t even know about the PIP regime until Bisoprolol had its control over me, which happens when you take it daily 😞
Hi. I had 2 ablations last year. Cryo in June and RF in October. I was eligible as I met the NICE guidelines of having tried 2 different medications to manage attacks without success and had no quality of life as the medication side effects were unbearable. I started on Bisoprolol which made me ill and they kept increasing it up to 10mg a day which made me shake from head to foot. They reluctantly agreed to switch me to Diltiazem after I paid for a private cardiologist who recommended it. NHS were having none of it! but my GP prescribed on the private cardio instruction. My NHS arrhythmia nurses wouldn't review medication or refer me to an EP so you are doing better than I did already as you've been given access to an EP which is a deal changer in this illness. So I think that bodes well for you as EP's are far keener for you to have a good quality of life. The arrhythmia nurses told me to get counseling to help cope with how unbearable life was. Not helpful! So, winge over. After my 'tidy up' ablation on October 21 I was told to stop Diltiazem on the day of the ablation, and they said they would review my need for anticoagulants after a year. If the AF is gone next October I expect to be off the thinners. I started on apixaban which made me shake and buzz, they switched me to rivaroxaban which over time gave me chronic gastritis. I pretty much demanded to switch to Warfarin in December as I literally couldn't eat my stomach was so painfully and they eventually and reluctantly agreed so I'm now on Warfarin and trying desperately to heal my stomach. My AF is pretty much gone but I do still have a lot of palpitations and strange 'crunchy' heart beats which I'm hoping will ease as my fitness improves. I didn't have the smoothest pre and post ablation experience, but the arrhythmia nurses at the hospital who did the ablations say I've been really unlucky. That said, I have no regrets whatsoever about having the ablations as life is much better now. Pre ablation I was having constant intense arrhythmia and I was practically housebound. I can at least hop in the car and do some normal things now. Once my stomach recovers from 18 months of toxic meds I'm optimistic of a good quality of life again, and that's what its all about. FYI, my bad NHS experiences wherewith Swindon Great Western Hospital, my good/amazing NHS experiences were with Oxford John Radcliffe hospital. The difference in the two is beyond words. I hope your experience is more like my Oxford experience! Please update this post with how your consultation goes. I have everything crossed for you that it goes really well and gets you where you want to be without a fight 😀
Thanks for coming back and Wow, you’ve been through a lot with your meds.
By the way, , I’m paying privately to see an EP. If I’d waited for the cardiology unit to refer me under the NHS I’d still be waiting next year I think. That’s the only reason I’m quicker 😊
Please can I ask, What is an RF ?
It sounds like you had really bad issues with your meds. I can’t tolerate 1.25 mg of Bisoprolol and cannot imagine what it must have been like to be on 10 mg. My arrhythmia nurses haven’t been helpful either. They were pleasant to begin with when I was first diagnosed in Sep last year, but when I’ve gone to them for additional help and advice now they just refer me back to my GP - who hasn’t a clue about Afib. Like you, I was in a similar boat when they just kept blaming anxiety and rather than counselling, they told me to go on an antidepressant.
It’s good to know that warfarin suits you though….I suppose I’m scared of it long term because of all the blood tests to check my levels…and I’ll need those a lot due to my other med as it still interacts with blood thinners, even warfarin. I do hope you get off it.
I’m going to make a list of all my questions for the EP and make sure I put all my points across. My Afib wasn’t/isn’t as bad as yours, but last year progressing to once every 3 weeks for a few months ( and they’d last for at least 10 hrs), when it used to be once a year, worried me, I’d rather get it done soon, rather than wait for it to get worse.
Not sure if you got a response about RF. There are two type of ablation, Cryoablation is when they use an inflatable balloon to freeze the tissue around the entrance to the 4 pulmonary veins. If the tissue is irregular, the balloon might miss sections and the rogue impulses which cause AF could break through. This doesn’t always happen, but if it does patients are usually offered a second RF (radio frequency) ablation which burns the tissue to create scars that block the impulses, often referred to as a “touch up” process. They also use RF ablation to treat break through areas other than the pulmonary veins.
Thankyou so much - and for spotting I asked the question 😊 I couldn’t think what RF meant. I knew that they either froze or used heat, but didn’t know the different terms which you have beautifully explained to me 😊
Hi Teresa, Sorry for the delay in replying. I don't get on the PC much now it's in an upstairs room and stairs are still tricky for me. Ablation recovery has been slow for me. I should probably do them more and they would get easier.
FlapJack explained the ablation types much better than I could anyway so great that he picked up the slack!
I'm sorry to see you've had a similar experience with the arrhythmia nurses as me. They started off really helpful and reassuring, but because I wasn't doing as I was told and getting better and living a completely normal life like they said I could. I became a chore to them, and I wasn't even bugging them. I was in and out of A and E and they kept telling me there to get a plan in place with the arrhythmia team and my GP. As you've found, although that would be the expectation, its not the reality.
I'm part of a study being performed by one of the senior arrhythmia nurses in Oxford, and as part of that I did an interview with her and gave her an honest account of my experience with the nurses in Swindon and she was genuinely upset by it and apologised sincerely for how I'd been treated. It just shows that there are some lovely ones. I know they have a tough job, but its not as tough as living with a heart that doesn't work properly and makes your life a bloody misery. Shame they can't experience living with this for a few weeks to see how it feels. My mum used to work for Scope and as part of her role, she had to spend a day in town in a wheelchair to experience first hand the challenges the service users experienced. I think some arrhythmia nurses could do with a similar experience.
I think if you're only getting attacks every 3 weeks or so you will have a better outcome than I have. by the time I got ablated I was in AF around 80% of the time, from a few minutes here and there a year before. It moved in fast on me.
I hope your EP visit is successful and gives you the answers you need. And if you decide to go down the ablation route, you don't have to wait too long to get it behind you. I was quoted 4 months but they did it in 2 because my GP asked for it to be done urgently.
Thanks for coming back and pleased don’t apologise, I know we are all trying to have a life and not think about this miserable condition.
I totally agree with what you say about some Arrythmia nurses. One of mine has an answer phone, but she never answers the messages as she says she doesn’t go ‘into it’ . I did leave a message for her on the general number twice just after Christmas asking about a pill in the pocket regime as I and my GP didn’tknow what to do and I know they answer those messages, but I never got a call back. I find them really dismissive now and I can almost see them roll their eyes, when I have called them in the past, especially when I went straight into Afib for trying to come off bisop last November. I experienced a few side effects with the flec as a PIP and I wanted to check it was ok, but all I got was to speak to my GP. She also kept saying that I should speak to the cardiologist with all my concerns as I was ‘not her case’. She was really dismissive. I haven’t a clue how I’m to do that when I can’t even speak to a cardiologist, I think the same as you, if they had this condition, I think they’d be very different.
I am sorry you’ve had all these issues, but hopefully you will be in the way up now.
Had Paroxysmal Afib for 3 years with a total of about 20 episodes within that timeframe that continued to increase. Along with it I had many ectopics, mainly PAC's. Was otherwise healthy with a CHAD of 0, no comorbidity's. Did not take blood thinners at all but was never in AFIB for more than 2 hours. Used Flecainide Pill in Pocket when things got bad. Was on constant beta blocker therapy for the ectopics though. Came off beta blocker for the PVI CryoAblation last October. Also started blood thinning specifically for the procedure. Had one afib episode afterwards at day 5 but none since (4 months). Went back on beta blockers at one week only to suppress symptoms of constant PAC's. These resolved at month two and I came entirely off beta blockers and EP approved coming off blood thinning as well. No episodes and no medication at all now for over 2 months. Fingers crossed this lasts for a while. It is possible, but a certain few criteria have to be in place. EP supports minimal treatment and you are otherwise healthy and free of any compounding factors, etc.
Hi Bennera,Thanks for coming back and sharing your story, which sounds really good and has given me hope.
I think the only differences with our Afib, are yours were a bit shorter ( mine were increasing in length and the last one I had last year before diagnosis & before meds was 12 hrs) but yours were more frequent. I’ve been having them for a longer time length but almost forgot about them they were so infrequent. How I long for those days back.
I’m so pleased yours was successful and thanks for letting me know your timeline for recovery too as it gives an idea of best case scenario of what to expect, though I do know we are all very different.
I’m hoping that I can be in a similar position to you and that I get accepted onto the waitlist.
I had PAF for about 5 years and used PIP treatment that included bisoprolol and flecainide. During this time I was NOT on blood thinner despite my doctor recommending apixaban. My choice to accept the additional risk. I had ablation last year and after the procedure was on amiodarone, bisoprolol, and apixaban for 90 days. At 90 day follow-up my doctor took me off of all drugs except bisoprolol. I don’t like meds, but tolerate the low dose of bisoprolol (extended release) well enough.
Thanks for coming back and glad you are off most meds, how often were your episodes over those 5 years? please can I ask why you have to stay on Bisoprolol?
I am struggling with it as a really low dose ( approx 1.6 mg at the moment). I have had PAF for about 10 years, 9 years of those were undiagnosed.
Hi My friend had an Ablation last October. Free at last but has Feccin... in his pocket.
At 52 he has a low enough score not to have his PRADAXA.
Good thing about PRADAXA it is reversible. Twice a day.
Folks with high blood pressure take a blood thinner but latest is to work out the risk.
My AF caused by undiagnosed caused alittle blood clot. I hav been told PRADAXA for life. At 73 years I take 110mg x twice a day.
Remember there are risks with Ablation. More research on centring the Ablation is important. It can do damage to surrounding veins, arteries , tissue. It needs much attention good and bad.
My friend had had episodal AF 7 years.
Take care, JOY
It takes 3 mths to scar and take out the cells that make the electrical charges.
My friend's h.s found two firing at the same time.
I’m really glad for your friend and that he doesn’t have to take blood thinners. I do worry if I have to take warfarin when I’m either 65 or well after an ablation, as my husbands Dad had a bleed that wouldn’t stop on his hand and he had to be taken to ambulance to a hospital an hour away, as our local one which is a 5 minute drive from here don’t have the facility to stop it.
The risks are also what worries me. Some would think I e got paroxysmal Afib quite mild, but I’ve had it over 10 years now and if I do get an attack, they were becoming more frequent, lasting longer and my HR was increasing each time at its highest. For some reason a low dose of bisop seems to stop them, but I’m on edge and feel rotten in bisop.
It’s the risks that scare me and the fact it could get worse…but I think I’d take the risk if it could mean a normal life again.
Fortunately I don’t have high BP…another thing Bisop does is bring it down quite low 😳
Thanks . Unfortunately I have no other option of a blood thinner apart from warfarin, as I can only ever take warfarin, because of another med I take for a condition I’ve had for over 30 years, which interacts with all the new ones.I can’t change that other med as it prevents me from feinting. If I changed it I’m likely to make my other condition worse, as it controls it and has done for many years, this other med interacts with all calcium channel blockers as well….every single one.
Another reason, I want to be off meds and have a successful ablation if I can.
It’s the bisop and the anxiety over if I will have a breakthrough episode that makes me feel awful, both together.
I’m 56 and feel my life is over and I have no future.
This is why I asked the question to those who had had a successful ablation, was it possible to come of all meds.
Thankyou….I’d be prepared I think, to take the risk, rather than take warfarin. I suppose it really depends for me, if the procedure was successful….that’s my fear too as to make it worse would be devastating for me.
It’s all such a risk isn’t it?
I’d feel a bit more hopeful if I had more choice of heart medication that I could take, but as I can’t take any calcium channel blockers either, I feel so restricted and that’s why I put this post up as I already feel so hopeless.
I’ve been diagnosed with AF and flutter. I had a flutter ablation in 2018 and have been med free since. I’ve had a couple of episodes recently that have been rectified with a flecainide PiP. It is possible to be med free
Thankyou for coming back. I am pleased you are med free, but sorry you have had a couple of episodes recently where you had to take fleconaide. Are you planning on having it redone?
I think my episodes might have been related to some late nights and alcohol over Christmas.
I’m not planning on having anything redone unless it becomes persistent again.
No drugs at all. I did come off rivaroxiban before I was officially allowed because I’d had a few nose bleeds. The cardio nurse told the EP at my follow up appt after my ablation and he said it was ok.
Hi Teresa...I to am on a low dose of bisoprolol 2.5mg but did not start on it to nearly six months after it was prescribed as I thought I could treat my afib naturally as you see on the Internet on some sites...my only symptom is palpatations which last either a few seconds or minutes usually although a couple of times have lasted over an hour..i only used to get them every few months or so but started getting them.more regularly as the months went by...it then changed to only getting them if I layed down flat on my back or sat down relaxing ..the minute I got up or turned onto my side if lying down they went...so I decided to give the bisoprolol another go ..I started of on half a dose 1.2mg for 2 weeks then increased it up to the 2.5mg after four weeks and seem to be getting on really well with it at the moment...but I to like you worry about the future and feel at 54 my best part of my life is over...I am struggling mentally with it all but would love to think that I could just stay on meds for rest of my life and not have a n ablation if possible as surgery scares me...but I keep reading meds will only work for a short period of time and then fail ...I feel sorry for you as i know the mental side of this horrible condition takes its toll and the stress can make it worse....all the best though and I hope you get the ablation if that's what you favour....cheers andy
I read your post again and looked at your bio…I didn’t realise you were getting small amounts of palpitations every day. I was getting them every 3 weeks but mine lasted longer. It must be annoying. I feel for you too. Hope the Bisoprolol continues to work for you. You say you’ve tried to handle it with diet - have you had your magnesium etc checked? I was quite low in magnesium, though not quite below the scale, but they do say that if you are low in a blood test, you are prob deficient as it doesn’t detect it properly in blood ( or something like that) so I’m taking magnesium taurate and glycenate daily, plus some others. I’m also taking a probiotic. Also vitamin C and B12. Desperately trying to get my Vitamin D levels up ( but it takes 3 months 😳) after discovering I am insufficient very recently via a blood test. My other med depletes vitamin D, so I’m a bit annoyed it wasn’t picked up sooner for me as it’s a ‘known’ thing amongst medical professionals. I’m sure this all can’t help. I assume you’ve had all yours checked?
GP doesn’t think vitamin D insufficiency affects heart rhythms, but I’ve read differently on line and from forums…
Hi Teresa , thanks again for your reply...yes I had my magnesium , thyroid and a few other blood tests done last year and they were all normal ...but i take the magnesium taurate also with a vitamin c and d plus zinc as a just in case treatment....I've always kept myself fit and I know my symptoms the palpatations are a very mild one to have compared to others , but i find myself waiting for them to start half the time unless I'm kept busy...the anxiety and worrying over it all is what makes my life hard at times...the uncertainty of it all... it must be nice to just be one of them people that can just shrug it off and say whatever will be will be....I know there are all different treatments now for it and will continue to be more in future , but I'm.just a natural worrier , always have been , my doctor also has af and his advice is just get on with it...but I find it does help to talk about it , for a while anyway....people say it can only control your life if you let it , but it's hard not to let it at times ..although I have also read not everyone,s afib progresses to persistant fingers crossed....I hope you get your ablation sorted out Teresa and thanks for the chat...im new to this group and still haven't worked out how to post a chat for everyone to reply to yet lol... all the best andy
Thankyou for coming back and for sharing what you’ve been through. It is hard isn’t it? I sometimes think we know more about this than the professionals as we look into it so much on line and like you I have read our condition will get worse and the meds might not work as well. It’s all about our quality of life at the end of the day really. It’s funny, but when I wasn’t formally diagnosed, I had ‘attacks’ over ten years and never really worried about it….it wasn’t until I was in A&E and got out on their monitor last year that it hit me. Bisop does the job, I can’t deny it. The lower dose of 1.6 ( as I take that extra sliver 😊) is better for me than the 2.5 and I’m sure I’d be able to tolerate it on the 1.25 for a little while longer before I taper again, so I’ll drop to that soon I think. I don’t sleep well on the 2.5….but that’s just me and I know it’s fine for many others. I’ve onbeen on and off it since last September.
Sounds like your episodes are as frequent as mine without the bisop. I used to get them too when lying down and it was usually as soon as I lay down and always on a Saturday night after I’d eaten ( with a glass of Prosecco😊) though most Saturdays I’d be fine and I’d eaten the same things and drunk the same drinks - no rhyme nor reason as I couldn’t always pinpoint it to a certain food or drink. . Always in the evenings though , never during the day. Mine would last for over 8 hours though without meds.
I just want a way out and though it’s risky, I think I might take the risk….if I’m eligible. If I’m not eligible, I suppose I’ll have to wait until I am, but that won’t be easy….
Thankyou again and I do wish you all the best with your journey. I do understand 😊
Thankyou and I’m glad you’re all checked out with your bloods etc and are taking the vits. I can’t get in with it and my anxiety as you can tell, is through the roof. Bisop helps with anxiety a bit, but it still doesn’t help completely. Thoughts go into overdrive.
I feel like you do completely. My GP although he hadn’t got Afib, tells me similar to yours and to get on with my life, that I’m not a priority etc.
If you want to post by the way, not sure what you use, but I use an iPad. If you go into your home page, where you’ve got your picture…you will see that you have things like ‘my hub’, ‘my feed’ etc? If you click on ‘my feed’ ( I think my hub might also do it) your little picture should appear on the right side near the top and ‘what’s your question?’ is written there? If you click on that, you can write a question which the lovely people on here will respond to 😊 you can also save posts from others, as well for the future if you want to be able to find the posts again and they will appear in your saved posts, also in ‘my feed’ or ‘my hub’ ( can’t remember which one saved posts appear in but it’s one of those) .
Thanks Teresa for that and if you feel the need to talk with your worries and anxious thoughts to someone who's going through it like you , feel free anytime to post me thanks again take care andy
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