I suspect that my husband Rob has silent af. (I have paroxysmal af, looking at a second ablation) but I’m more worried about Rob.
A and E yesterday gave no clue and didn’t mention silent af. They vaguely thought it would stop on its own. It didn’t, and looking back we think he has had it for a while. He will be seeing gp this week.
Has anyone had this diagnosis or knows anything about it? I’ve googled it ( of course) and find it rather scary. I can’t remember it being mentioned on this forum, but then, I do tend to drop in and out so I could have missed it. I would be grateful for any input. Thank you for listening. Jan
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Jan this is just another name for asympomatic AF. Very common as lots of people only discover they have AF when the stroke hits so at least now he knows and can be protected by anticoagulants.
thank you Bob, that is very encouraging. (I thought I had responded to this, but I can’t see my reply.) luckily Rob is already on apixaban, for several years now. Hope you are well. Happy new year!
thank you carneuny. Do you take any meds to control the heart rate? Rob was given 2.5 mg bisoprolol, in hospital, and that was it. I feel he should have some sort of ongoing treatment to control his fast af, and I’m hoping our gp will do that. Or is asymptomatic af just left to go it’s own way? It’sa bit worrying!
I was first diagnosed in Jan 2010, nearly 13 years ago. Admitted to hospital, Cardio King prescribed Warfarin and 5 mg Bisoprolol for HR control. It did just that. I was told Bisoprolol was for rate control. Over the years I have learned it is also used for BP control. In Feb 2021 my GP increased the Bisoprolol dose to 7.5mg.
By Feb 2022 Bisoprolol was making me feel like the Zombie from the land of the living dead.
My GP proved as much use as a chocolate fireguard so I reduced my Bisoprolol back to 5mg. Been fine ever since.
Food is always my trigger. I watch my diet which along with meds keeps everything ok.
For me I ignore being asymptomatic .... if I feel AF ...kool ... if I don't I got no idea anyway so I don't care. But, yep, I take your point, it can be a bit worrying.
I use a Kardia deviçe to monitor how I am. Sometimes I feel mysteriously unwell, nothing specific, so I use Kardia and take an ECG.
Bisoprolol keeps my HR at around 64 to 67 bpm. I am still on 5mg. What is not always appreciated with Bisoprolol is the time of day it is taken. I take it wiv all my night time meds. The other thing is it takes time to take effect. From memory, Bisoprolol comes in doses in multiples of 1.25 mg. Maybe Rob should have his GP experiment and increase dose from 2.5 to 3.75 mg. and monitor outcomes.
I was diagnosed in October 2022 with persistent AF which they reckon I’ve had for some time if not years. Put on 2.5mg Bisoprolol and told to get on with life
thank you p444ete. I think that is the overall feeling we got after A and E, tho they didn’t actually say that. Rob saw the gp yesterday, and she was very kind and sympathetic. She said that with asymptomatic af, you could go in and out of af without knowing it. That makes sense. So we are keeping a record daily, using Kardia , to see how it goes. She gave him 1.25mg bisoprolol, one a day. Tbh I thought that’ s a small dose and may not be enough, but at least he has treatment! He will see her again in a month. That makes us both feel a lot better. Along with all you lovely people who are keeping our spirits up! X
I would call my husbands AF silent. I caught it by chance on my Kardia about 4 years ago. We followed up with his GP, he was put on Rivaroxaban and has been in AF ever since with no apparent symptoms . His heart rate was about 60s prior to this and now hovers around 70/90s when we check.
I would mention also that GP referred him to Cardiology who initially requested copy if my Kardia reading and then arranged echo. Nothing remarkable so quite happy to stay on anticoagulants
thank you so much for responding Jalia. That is very encouraging, as Rob is already on apixaban and has been for years! He is going to keep a record of his Kardia tests every day for a while, just to confirm to ourselves that his af is either persistent or permanent. It would be great if it turned out to be paroxysmal, but we don’t think it is.
I started off like that, last February. My Apple Watch alerted me. I had got it in November, and it didn’t detect anything until Valentine’s Day. What a day to get a heart warning 😂
I hadn’t been aware - but had felt a bit dizzy in the shower that morning. I didn’t really go to the GP properly (had phoned and also stopped the amytriptiline that I had just started using for back pain). Then decided that I really should go for an appointment, and was quickly sent for checks that day, with a HR jumping up to 170. Looking back I was silly - two sisters having had strokes had made me decide that the watch was a good idea, and there I was thinking it wasn’t urgent, because felt ok.
Anyway, I am glad of the anticoagulant. I was tending to come out of it after a few days, until it set in as persistent in October. I’m now more aware of it, and realise what the palpitations are. Though they don’t bother me too much, and I don’t get very breathless. The dizziness and tired legs walking upstairs and uphill really does though.
Then I feel really down in the mornings for some reason. Had an ablation two weeks ago, but have been back in persistent A Fib since two days after it. So I just need to be patient and see what they suggest. I really had convinced myself that it would work first time - unlike the antiarrhythmic drugs, which have done very little except lower the rate.
Hope your husband gets it sorted. I also ended up putting two and two together about things that had happened over a couple of years.
thank you gumbie cat, for your reply. I have written quite a long reply to your post, but I can’t see it now. ( Re. My own af, I also had an ablation, last year, but it wasn’t successful, and may have another soon. Disappointing, isn’t it? )
Rob is already on apixaban, thank goodness and now, a low dose of bisoprolol . Checking in a month with gp, also blood test for thyroid, first time ever. We feel a lot more confident about things now . X
Good luck with your own AF too. It is disappointing as you say, I’ve felt a bit low since it reverted back so quickly. Though I need to be patient until the 3 month check.
Crossing fingers for that second ablation for you. At least I’m not as scared of the procedure any more, if that’s in my future.
I think it might even be quite a common form of AF, Jan. The reason I was thinking this is partly as an elderly friend has had it for many years, but also in a study I read a while back, where they checked on patients admitted for other heart issues, 16% developed "silent" (i.e. non symptomatic) AF which was three times the number who developed symptomatic AF.
that is amazing Steve! After all these years of my own afib (20) , I’m learning new stuff. I am now hugely grateful for my Kardia , such a miraculous little gadget, our overworked and underpaid, wonderful NHS. and all you lovely people who take time to share your expertise and knowledge with folks who are nervous, frightened, and dealing with scary symptoms. Rob is very impressed and reassured with this correspondence. Thank you.
I use the Kardia much less now as my symptoms are more ectopics these days and I find it isn't much use except for showing up pure AF, even with the £10.00 a month extra payment.
All my family have AF, so it was really a matter of time before I was diagnosed -( there are certain genes that are responsible for familial AF), this happened when I was prescribed Augmentin which made me vomit and vomit until I was vomiting flecks of blood. I phoned my Dr's surgery, told to go at once HR was 140, ECG showed I was in AF - GP I saw was concerned about the blood (which was not much) gave me an injection for the nausea, phoned around to find a cardiologist (it was a Friday afternoon). who was some distance away - wouldn't let me drive, eventually located my son who took me to the hospital where I was admitted, By the time the cardio saw me, I was back in NSR - he kept me over the weekend and I was released with medication. That was 5 years ago - I still do not know when I am in AF unless I check my HR and rhythm - . Since the initial findings and a visit when I was given a cardioversion, I have been in NSR on every annual check up with the Cardiologist. I tend to take my pulse too often, just in case !
Thank you pusillanimous. It is so good to know that people have this condition, and for years, without drama! The vital thing is to get diagnosed and that is the problem of course, with asymptomatic af. We were lucky to get things sorted so quickly, considering it all happened over Christmas and the new year. Thanks again.
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