post cardioversion

[stuartw]

my wife had cardioversion last Wednesday and we were told it was a success but her heart rate is low and she is tired all the time and we have to use the wheelchair if we go anywhere and chair lift to go upstairs as she is very wobbly on her feet and her blood pressure is very low is this normal also she has worn a fitbit for the last 9 months but since the ablation it is not recording her heart rate

[Mickey16]

Hi stuartw,

Have you contacted your Dr as this is not normal?

[mjames1]

Her doctor should be made aware of what is going on. Has she been prescribed any new medications? If so, they may have to be adjusted. Personally, I've had several cardioversions and resumed normal activities the next day.

Jim

[jeanjeannie50]

Hi Stuart

No, it doesn't sound normal to need to use a chair-lift or wheelchair after a cardioversion. They are not the type of aids most people have in their house anyway. Has she needed to use them before?

I'm a little confused as at the start of your post you mention cardioversion, but at the end talk about an ablation. Has she had an earlier ablation?

If I were you I would definitely speak to her GP.

Jean

[stuartw in reply to jeanjeannie50]

thank you for your reply sorry for the confusion it is a cardioversion she has just been in the kitchen and made 2 sandwiches and she came and sat down in the room and is wiped out no energy and tired i will speak to her doctor she felt that bad sunday we went to a&e the doctor there said her heart was too slow but would not do anything as she did not want to mess up what had been done

[stuartw]

thank you for all the reply's

[LPE44]

After my first ablation, it was determined that I had sick sinus syndrome - essentially my heart rate was dropping too low and I needed a pacemaker to ensure I did not suffer another heart attack. In addition, the first ablation did not get all of my AFib fixed - thus why I just did a second ablation about two weeks ago.

But I know about the symptoms of being exhausted all the time, needing to rest after ten minutes in the kitchen, barely able to get through a shower without feeling nauseous, etc... they gradually, over years after my pacemaker was implanted, got somewhat better. Then last September, my Afib kicked into high gear with rates well over 100 all the time and my energy declined dramatically again.

If it were me, I'd be calling the EP that did the cardioversion and asking for immediate input. Plus it would be very helpful to record blood pressure and HR with an at home BP machine - at least three times a day - morning, afternoon and before bedtime. This will allow you to speak to the doc with actual info - and time of day may or may not be useful.

Please let us know how she is doing....

[Belle11]

Hi Stuart, What medication is your wife on? It might be she needs a lower dose now she's not in AF. Some drugs used for AF lower blood pressure and also slow the heart.

I was kept on 10mg bisoprolol after my successful cardioversion, and my heart rate dropped from in the 80s or 90s before the cardioversion to often just 44bpm afterwards. I also felt very quickly fatigued and short of breath on walking more than a short way, though nothing like as extreme as what your wife is experiencing. Eventually the doctors were persuaded to lower my dose, and my heart rate is now up to 50s - 60 ish and I get less fatigued on walking.

Definitely speak to the GP.

[MaryCa]

Sounds like me when I was on beta blockers. No energy, brain fog etc. My EP took me off beta blockers, just left me on Xarelto. Have you got a pulse oximeter and a bp machine? If not can you buy or borrow? Push the Fitbit slightly farther up her arm so that it's an inch away from the wrist bone.

[LPE44]

I also second what Belle11 said - my heart rate dropped dramatically after my ablation so I called the cardiologist (on-call) and asked if I could check HR at night and take 1/2 or full dose of diltiazem (slows the HR) depending on results. He checked with an EP and got back to me with a yes. I reconfirmed with my cardiac device doc this week.

So far, I am not getting any super low HR since I started doing this last week.

[stuartw]

hi i got in touch with the doctor yesterday afternoon and after telling him what was happening he told us to to stop one of her beta blockers she was on bisoprolol 2.5 and 1.25 twice a day we have stopped the 1.25 and the doctor will ring again monday to check how my wife is thank you for all your replys

[Desanthony in reply to stuartw]

I was just about to say that bisoprolol made me feel like that - it was worse than the AF so I stopped it.

[2learn]

Is she still taking anything like bisoprolol. I found after cardioversions that if I continued with it my pulse went down to 40 and I felt rough and likely to faint. As soon as I stopped talking it, with Docs permission, I was ok. good luck.

[Ellie-Ann]

I had a CV mid December last. My heart rate went low so after a week of feeling confused and unwell ( it did put me into normal sinus rhythm) I phoned the GP who immediately cut my bisoprolol down from 3.75 twice a day to 1.25 twice a day. Things much improved then. Have a chat with GP. Good luck.