My cardioversion did not work Tuesday And all I have are sore ribs etc. from the three shocks. However, I will take sunshine when I can get it. I was put on the Digoxen Tuesday afternoon at the hospital. My heart rate has dropped since then and just now it was 70. I have not seen 70 this entire year. For the most part it was in the 150s best since then was 105 for a little while. I called my EPs nurse who told me it should plateau. I wanted to check to see what I should consider time to get help. After all it’s a holiday weekend coming and tomorrow is Friday anyway. She told me she is in tomorrow call if I need her and back on Tuesday. If I get near 60 or dizzy before that time to go to the ER. Right now except for the body soreness I’m feeling pretty good. She said my heart is exhausted from where it has been so lower is some thing I will definitely fill. But I like it so far. Maybe it’s a blessing I did not get tested on that other drug in the ICU all week. They couldn’t do it because they couldn’t reset my rhythm. One thing I can definitely say is that when my heart rate lowers I can feel happiness it’s not just some thing because of the low number but I think it’s my brain getting oxygen again like it should.
One day at a time 1 foot step in front of the other and with all of you supporting me it’s that much easier to do. Thank you all for being here and to others feeling down right now trust me I know the feeling I cried on Tuesday. We have to find something good we have to keep going if you’re not sure you can keep it up reach out for one of us to hold your hand just like I have done. It really helps
Written by
DawnTX
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Sorry that the cardioversion didn’t work, but really glad that your heart rate has lowered.
I went back into A fib just two days after my ablation, and it’s stayed like that all week. Trying not to feel too down hearted as it’s just at the beginning, but it’s the way it’s clinging on.
Luckily not the high rates you’ve been stuck with, except when I go for a (short) walk. Even then it’s around 110 - high for me, but ok. Mainly in 70s and 80s, though my watch is saying a resting rate of 54.
Anyway, early days and at least the massive bruise is beginning to fade! Plus the itching from the shocks is easing,
Sorry it didn’t work out for you but you sound more accepting now and it’s seems a bit more manageable for you. Your EP/nurse sounds very caring and I think that always helps!
Wishing you all the best for the festive season.
We shall be travelling tomorrow so just hope all the chaos doesn’t raise our HR too high!
Just want to send you all my best and thoughts for a stable heart and controlled HR - read all your posts and always appreciate the depth of your sharing. Warmly
thank you so much I know I tend to write a novel but I really want others to understand how a fib is and if they are feeling it they are not alone. It’s very hard to convey to someone without a fib or a newbie. I see people complaining that they had a blip or two especially after an ablation etc. I think the majority of us know now that’s not gonna be the least of it. For the people that are lucky enough to just have it lightly I am happy for them. My first year and a half I really did not have much to complain about it wasn’t until a year ago that it really started going downhill. I have a feeling the stress of things in Florida along with packing up and selling my home and moving to another state finding new doctors etc. has contributed. Stress does not cause a fib but it sure doesn’t help it. That’s all I really want is a peaceful heart. I am still thumpity thumping away in there even writing this. That being said though it is nothing like it was earlier this week I will take it gladly.
I have come to realize that the way I answer things to people may come from my law-enforcement career. I was never a person that just said because I said so and we try to make people understand what was going on and why things were not turning out in the way that they want it.
Hi Dawn, sorry to hear your cardioversion didn't work. However, it sounds like the Digoxin is. A friend keeps well by taking it too. My normal heart rate used to be 62. My GP said he would only be concerned if my pulse rate dropped below 50. I hope you stay well now.
thank you hon I am amazed at how quickly it worked and I can feel the difference. If I behave I am not breathless and it is so nice to have a break from that it has been so long. To see my heart rate 76 yesterday was exciting. Except for after the cardioversion in the 80s I have not seen anything below 105 but it has been steadily climbing and was in the 130s this week. I peaked at 199 in the hospital just while they were prepping me. I wonder if the fact that I had no medication‘s since the day before may have caused that. I am going to enjoy the relief I am feeling even as I write to you. Thank you for writing
Digoxin was a wonder drug for me, Dawn, when nothing else would help. Along with bisoprolol it often dropped my rate into the 40s, but that never caused me any issues. If your rate has been sky high for a long time, I'd guess your ejection fraction has been reduced as I gather the heart can't pump efficiently when it's that fast at rest. That should now improve and you should start to feel a whole lot better - maybe even in time for Christmas!
An ex nurse told me that they taught to remember the effect of digoxin as SSS - slow, strong and stable! Not used so much nowadays but got me out of a 6 day episode of fast AF.
When I was struggling to know where to turn with my fast Afl, a kindly contributor here told me about digoxin and my GP agreed to give it a try. It worked quickly with no apparent side effects.
thank you for sharing that. Yes they gave me one on Tuesday in the hospital that was my first. I seem to be staying in the low 80s. That’s actually where I landed with the cardioversion in October so I am excited with that number. I am definitely still feeling my flutter which is atypical. It doesn’t seem quite as invasive though. Mentally I feel better I’m guessing it’s because there’s a little bit of oxygen up in my brain now as I am not as foggy.
I love to read a success story so thank you again. It also makes me feel right about liking my new EP. Have a merry Christmas it’s almost here I can’t believe it. ❤️🙏🏻
Sometimes the old ways are the best ways. I knew it was an older drug. It has not bothered me in anyway and definitely has made me feel better in just three days. I have had tachycardia constantly since the end of April. Nothing had been working. The 150s finally stopped when I had the cardioversion in October and had a break for 3 1/2 weeks. Then I went right back to 105 and climbing and hit a rate of 199 in the hospital the other day before the second cardioversion. To see digoxin work before bedtime that same day was such a good thing 😊
Wife also had a failed cardioversion in hospital and put on Bisoprolol and Digoxin. In her case her HR was just below 90 on discharge from hospital. She self reverted back into normal rhythm later and her GP took her of Digoxin. Her Bisoprolol dose has been adjusted over the years to balance between frequency of her AF attacks and keeping her resting heart rate out of the 40s.
I’m so glad she’s self reverted. I had one in October it only lasted 3 1/2 weeks. They shocked me three times the other day with no luck. It was actually my flutter that came back but it is in my left not right. It had been gone since April though a fib remained. I guess I should not say the cardioversion the first time failed because it’s not the a fib they are saying it is the atypical flutter. Just the break that I’m having right now with my heart rate probably still in the 80s, I feel much better except for all the soreness from them trying to jumpstart me lol
Thank you again and happy holidays to you and your wife
I was put on digoxin at an appointment with a consultant after a stroke ( did not get onto warfarin fast enough, thankfully no lasting damage though memory is a little worse) I was still in afib and waiting for a cardioversion.
I was very nervous about starting it, took it before going to bed and in the morning felt properly awake for the first time in ages.
It made a huge difference to me even though I still felt exhausted after the stroke, I had to stop it three days before I had a successful cardioversion and I could really tell the difference for those few days.
I started mine this past Tuesday in the hospital and yes even the next morning I could tell the difference I am so amazed and happy. I am sorry about the stroke and so thankful that my doctor had put me immediately on Xarelto even before they had the full diagnosis of afib. I have had no problem with the digoxin I take it at night and I am amazed at how much happier I feel again and more clearheaded. Thank you for sharing I think I’m on the right track at least right now. My heart rate is 80 right now it has been staying well below 100 all week. We don’t realize how much a high heart rate of affects us until it settles down a little bit. The only thing I find strange is that even if they lay here with a lower heart rate my heart is pounding away as if I had been running. I don’t care how it works I’m just glad I feel as good as I do right at the moment I can ignore the thumping. Thank you for sharing I am very glad he tried me on this and hope he keeps me on it until whatever he plans on next Merry Christmas when I wrote to Santa I asked him to bring everyone good health
I believe it’s not for everyone but it’s great stuff if it suits for people like you and me. That cardioversion lasted me going on five years with a couple of breakthrough episodes ( I never went back on the digoxin after it) then I got stuck in the most dreadful symptomatic afib and waited ages again for another cardioversion.
I felt utterly wretched with horrible trapped wind feeling in the chest that I could not get rid of, a very frightening feeling.
A cardiologist at a&e put me on amiodarone while I waited, I told him I got on well with digoxin and had thyroid nodules but he knew best. It did absolutely nothing for me, my rate would shoot between 40 and 160 back and to, constantly, in one 30 second Kardia reading.
I had another successful cardioversion and asked my gp for blood tests for the amiodarone that I should have had. She ended up taking me off it as my thyroid results were bad. For me I would never touch it again but everyone is different.
I’m now on flecainade, through an EP, hoping to stop me getting stuck in afib again, Im not suitable for ablation, if I get a breakthrough episode I take an extra flec, (with permission ) and it usually knocks it back pretty quickly, I look on it as my best mate lol.
The pounding from ectopics and when I first go into afib is horrible, no matter what the rate, I know just what you mean.
Sorry for the essay but I love reading different experiences on here, I’m so glad digoxin is helping you.
Have a fab Christmas and new year and onwards and upwards for you, let’s hope Santa delivers 😀!!
We can do our novels as a chat if you prefer lol I do the same thing if you haven’t noticed not sure how you could miss it ha ha. I started amiodorone after my first ablatement two years ago I was on it for four months of hell it made me so sick and in pain. Because I was staying NSR they did not want me to stop it but it ended up I had to. Shortly after stopping the ablation stopped working. I ended up with an RF ablation and was on Multaq and Metropolol That one lasted about a year and a half and I have suffered with constant afib and tachycardia since then. I have been on Xarelto almost from day one even before it was fully diagnosed to prevent stroke. They were pretty sure it was a fib but it is sneaky as you know and does not always show itself. They wanted to take no chances they ended up putting in a loop recorder and within two weeks it was showing. I did well until last fall. The problem was I moved to Texas from Florida and until I got settled with a doctor I was in limbo. It took three months and at that point I was really not doing well. The EP/Cardiologist set me up for a Vein of Marshall and more which was done the end of April. It was done at one of the best hospitals in the world by a high rated EP. Unfortunately that did not work. I never got any relief although I was told my flutter had stopped I had had both flutter and regular. It didn’t matter I couldn’t breathe I could barely shuffle to walk and my heart rate stayed in the 150s for over five months until I found a new doctor. That was the end of October and thankfully within that week we met, he did an echo and cardioversion. It was successful for 3 1/2 weeks which to me was heaven. I went from 158 that morning to an 82 heart rate and being able to walk out to the car instead of being in a wheelchair. Unfortunately it only lasted that long. Tuesday I was put into the hospital for another echo/cardioversion and I was to be kept at least three days for a new medication. Unfortunately the cardioversion did not work they shocked me three times. I got sent home the meds could not be taken without a successful cardioversion. That is where the digoxin has come in I started taking it Tuesday this week. My HR Has been mainly in the 80s nothing higher😊 I feel such a difference and it feels good
Thank you again lol I started falling asleep so I’m saying good night
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Anyone else have a Resting Heart Rate of 50 bpm?
I spoke to soon
Afib help
Beta blockers making me feel awful after 13 yrs ? 
Working out after AFIB 
