I’m new to the group and feeling like I’m going mad so any advice greatly appreciated. I have felt racing heartbeat, momentarily, for a few weeks now, intermittent and slight. Also breathlessness and clicking sound in my upper chest intermittently. My first choice gp suspected Paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and helpfully ordered ecg, blood tests and X-ray. I have had to see another gp for results which show nothing, yet I still have symptoms. Waiting for a longer- test of heartbeat (not sure the name or how long I’ll wait). Has anyone else found it difficult to get a diagnosis of atrial fibrillation, and advice on lifestyle etc? Serum Cholesterol 5.7 mil/L and I’m 59, lifetime migraine, suffering from anxiety - is anxiety the cause I’m wondering? Thanks all.
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Fellini
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AF is a mongrel condition and affects us all differently. It can be a devil to catch on diagnosis. There is no known single cause though lots of things can contribute . Ibruprofen is about the only thing research has shown to be an actual cause rather than trigger.
May I suggest you go to our main website Atrial Fibrilation Asscociation and read till you drop as knowledge is power. I must say your GP is unusual and on the ball. Far too many ladies are fobbed off with " your age" or anxiety!
Have you considered a kardia machine. Anytime I get afib it records it for my arythmia nurses. If I'd had one 10 years ago I would have been diagnosed then. If not afib then the resale of it is almost the same money back. For me anxiety may not be the actual cause but it sure triggers and feeds episodes. Like Bob say's everyone is different sometimes I just have to look at something the wrong way and away I go. Joining this group was the most reassuring thing I've done since diagnosis. Bob's always on call to give sound advice.
hi and thanks for your reply. I started using an app called FibriCheck a couple of years ago after feeling breathlessness with my migraine and what I thought were palpitations and recorded irregularities but my gp had no knowledge of it and mentioned it possibly bring an inaccurate way to measure. I’ve never heard of a kardia machines so any links/further info appreciated, Thanks again.
The Kardia actually does a 30 second ECG that you can download and print out to show your GP. Many cardiologists accept them including my own who was very excited by it the first time I showed him mine a few years ago. He'd never seen one before .
giftshop.bhf.org.uk/aliveco... can get it off Amazon or the British heart Foundation website. Actually seen an advert on channel 5 for it yesterday. It's 99 pounds for basic one. Seem tiny when you get it but you're glad you did after a week or so
Many Thanks for the link, I’ve just noticed the different devices available and think I’ll talk to my first (supportive) gp about them, especially if I have to wait months for NHS option, Thanks again.
The kardia is very accurate and recognised by arythmia team as historical evidence. I know when I'm in afib as I'm very symptomatic unfortunately. Good luck. Just a thought my afib was finally picked up when the GP said just come in next time you feel it and got an ECG from a nurse right away. My episodes do last up to 24 hours though.
It’s good to know there are options, and good to talk to other people about it 🙂 I’ve started the Atrial Fibrillation (AF) and You course on here now so hope I don’t have to bother people with the basics too much! Thanks again for your advice.
Fellini,Hard to get evidence of AF when it is paroxysmal( comes and goes on its own accord)A holter monitor,device worn for set periods can do this,but also a Kardia( Alivecor in US) is really useful.
Id like to add that AF can be frightening but dont be frightened of it,it can be controlled .
I think before buying anything you want a proper diagnosis. You need a 48 hr holter monitor which your GP should organise for you to pick up at your nearest hospital. It should catch whatever it is that is causing you problems and then take it from there. If it is AF you will probably start off on medication to see how you get on.
Even a 48 hour monitor might not pick it up . Hearts have a pesky habit of behaving whilst wearing a monitor. Also how long is the wait for a 48 hr Holter these days? Probably a lot longer than getting your Kardia in the post despite postal strikes. The simple Kardia is very good value for money .
My PAF successfully eluded 3 rounds of 3 day Holters. PAF has a way of doing that! My Kardia printout provided the only definitive evidence of my PAF, and when the cardioguy saw it the diagnosis was instant and treatment started. Kardia = best investment ever!
For it to be AF your heartbeat would need to be *irregular*. AF isn’t always fast although more often than not it is. Some people get breathlessness, others don’t. It’s possible you could have a different arrhythmia- there’s a whole family of them. If it’s paroxysmal AF you need to do an ECG during an episode for a diagnosis or wear a Holter monitor for a few days (but this could take a long while to set up). As others have suggested, a Kardia would be a good preliminary way to determine whether you have PAF with a high degree of confidence; you could take a reading during an actual episode. I’m not medically qualified to say whether anxiety could cause the sort of symptoms you are describing - of course, anxiety often contributes to episodes of AF.
Hi, I hope you aren't getting too anxious as this will definitely bring on migraine and af. You need a good diagnosis from a cardiologist, preferably an E P to sort everything out.
I was diagnosed when I ended up on a resus. ward thinking i had had a heart attack.
As everyone else has advised, a Kardia is a good idea. I've found it stops me panicking whenever I have dodgy symptoms.
Hi diagnosed myself and then went to the GP for confirmation. Are used a Kardia mobile. They are about £140 in the UK and if you can afford it this is probably the way forward.
Many Thanks to everyone for replies to my post. What with long waits for gp appointments and a problem that just comes and goes it is very easy to feel isolated so I’m really grateful to find this group 🙂 I’ll try to find out how long the holster monitor wait will take and whether my using a Kardia machine will do the same (or better and quicker) as far as my gp goes. I have had other symptoms - a ‘clicking’ sound in my upper chest/ a cold ‘open’ feeling which sounds ridiculous but I noticed it months ago so would be glad to have further investigation, if only so I knew to adjust my lifestyle to stay as healthy as possible. Thanks again 🙂
when I started with heart irregularities, like most, including you, I was terrified. The 48hr monitor I wore didn’t ‘catch’ anything but then I found this site! What a life saver it is. You cannot ask anything too silly and you quickly realise that these are real people on here and quite a few of them know a lot more than many doctors about AF. I was finally diagnosed by ‘catching’ episodes using a kardia. My GP was fascinated by me being able to do my own ecg and sent reading to cardiologist. Sometimes it takes a wee while to get on the right medication for you….we are all different. But as said above….ask anything. Nothing is too daft for this group. My very best wishes to you. Mary
The clicking sound made me think as I once had this moons ago in my late 20s. It was quite frightening (well... very) and was accompanied by chest pains and a fast heart rate. I went to my GP and he called in every partner to have a listen as none had heard such a thing. I was sent straight to hospital and a consultant interrupted his breakfast to come to see me. I can't imagine such a thing happening today.
What was it? Swallowed air and intestinal gasses were pushing my diaphragm against my heart, quite naturally, and setting off the clicking, tachycardia and ectopic beats. No AF back then!
Hi Fellini, I am in a slightly different situation to you as my paroxysmal afib has been diagnosed after going to A & E with racing heart 2 years ago. I did think I had this before though.What I would add is that I often get racing heart even though I am medicated, particularly waking me in the night. I am under a lot of stress at the moment so I would say stress is a major cause of pounding heart.
If you do buy a Kardia, I would recommend the Kardia 6L version £149, as it uses Bluetooth to communicate between the device and your phone App, and this has proved more reliable than earlier/cheaper models. Here's a link ...
someone had previously suggested a book Called the AFib cure by Dr. John Day. I found that very practical and helpful. Also Sanjay Gupta from York Cardiology does videos on the subject as well. Plus this group, I have learned more than all the doctors I have put together.
It took them almost 8 months and it was finally the implant of a loop recorder that nailed it. They were treating me for a fib with medication up until the record of us put in and within two weeks they had the answer. An EKG will only show what is going on at the time and as we know a fib does what afib wants to do. As soon as they had the answer I had a cryo-ablation that helped for six months. Have they done a monitor with you? I had the Holter monitor but that did not reveal it either. For me it took the implant which only took less than an hour for them to put in while I was awake. Yes it’s frustrating I hope they at least have you on a blood thinner. I don’t think anxiety is your only problem but it may be what keeps triggering it. I should not be surprised when I finally had a fib start with me because I was truly going through hell and anxiety doesn’t even begin to cover how I was feeling. Have you been tested for sleep apnea? I have the kit I’m about to do it sleep apnea can also trigger it. Best of luck as I said I hope they’re treating you at least with blood thinner right now that’s the first thing they put me on even before they had an answer. I had blacked out twice in one night that is what started my journey
Thank You so much for your reply Dawn. I suffer what I think is sleep paralysis (find myself semi-awake but unable to breathe until reflex kicks in.) Gp has just told me he’d refer me for Holter monitor, saying no idea how long to wait when I asked. I also asked about statin/or med to prevent stroke but he replied my Q risk doesn’t warrant it - this is my biggest fear at moment as I am recording irregular heart rate using FibriCheck app. I am a lifetime migraine sufferer, have passed out numerous times last couple of years, incl when I had Covid but it was put down to response to the virus. Does anyone know if you can you demand blood thinners? No surprise I am suffering anxiety, which doesn’t help, trying to control with lifestyle changes but on verge of asking for medication for this also.
Anticoagulants (blood thinners) are usually prescribed for people over 65 unless you have other conditions such as high BP. There is a scoring system which your GP should be aware of. By the way, if you are diagnosed with AF, one of the common medications (diltiazem) is also sometimes used to treat migraine.
The cardiologist can’t tell you much unless you’ve been diagnosed and had basic tests which would bump up the bill astronomically if you had all that privately.
I've had afib about 16 times in the last 2 years, and all were quickly diagnosed in the ER. Afib is fairly straightforward, not a complicated diagnosis. My hunch is you probably didn't have it. Not every fast heartrate is an arrhythmia. Probably a good idea to follow up with your regular doctor or cardiologist about this.
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