My partner had two brief, 10 second, faints recently. He has AF occasionally which has made him feel faint, but he never actually passed out. He started to take Bisoprolol daily 6 mknths ago - 2.5mg because the episodes were getting worse and more frequent. He also started Apixaban after the faints. But the faint feeling with the epsodes was there before he took either of those. He hasn't had any faints since, but he's understandably been told he can't drive, which is inconvenient!Testwise, a14 day monitor showed short bursts of AF occasionally, though he didn't feel those ones. Echo and Stress Echo tests show his heart is structurally fine. During his fainting episodes Kardia showed 55 bpm & NSR during and shortly after, though his BP dropped. He had just eaten and the room was warm - that was a common context. We are now awaiting a Tilt Test, which may, we're told, reveal vasovagal problems.
I wonder if anyone else has had this experience?
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Coco51
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Never experienced it, but fainting is a listed side effect.
What struck me, however, is that your partner is on the NOAC/Thinner Apixaban. If you haven't already, you should discuss with your doctor whether the rewards of being on it, outweigh the added risks of falls.
It's a consideration true, will do. Thank you. But in fact both times he fainted he was sitting down! He had just eaten and had a coffee though. Wondering if Bisoprolol played a part.
Yes, I had something similar. It would happen first thing in the morning and I'd feel faint and have to go and lie down for half an hour or so. It didn't seem connected to the AF but since I've had the ablation and am free of AF it hasn't happened once.
I think it was something to do with my blood pressure dropping.
One of my grandsons has PoTS, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. That what the tilt test is for. You could look it up. A couple of years ago it was worse and he was fainting quite a lot. He fell on the stairs and so they installed a stair lift. I sent them Dr Sanjay Gupta's video and he seems a bit better now.
There seem to be a lot more videos on this than there were.
Basically, it's where you stand up and the blood pools in your lower limbs leading to lightheadedness.
Yes, that's right. Although I didn't faint, I would have done if I hadn't gone to lie down. For half an hour or forever long it lasted, I simply couldn't get up. I'm sure now it was due to my blood pressure being low. At the time, and it didn't happen that often, I wondered if it was dehydration, low blood sugar but it wasn't.
My grandson also fainted when he was sitting down.
Right! I too have a PM for when my heartrate drops below a certain level. I hadn't thought of the pauses till you mentioned it. Maybe we'll be a two pacemaker family....
Has happened to me once. Trigger was almost certainly a very large pub lunch in a warm restaurant. I fainted completely sitting down for almost a minute.
After some investigation the doctors agreed it's a well known issue and not necessarily anything to do with AFib.
I was off driving 2 months until the doctors had the results of a 72 hour ambulatory heart monitor.
It's called Postprandial Hypotension which if it leads to fainting is called Postprandial Syncope. You can Google for lots more information. It's really common, especially in older adults. All the best
My elderly friend first found out about his AF after falling to his kitchen floor. He's fainted only a few times since. He's been told the cause is the reduced blood pressure AF can bring on, a kind of postural hypotension.
Had similar myself, but never actually fainted. Sitting at the table, reading the paper having just finished my breakfast and everything went woozy and grey. Managed to get upstairs to tell my husband and to lie down. Pulse and BP were high when I took it. Saw GP, who sent me through the TIA route at the hospital, but all tests - ECG, holter test, carotid artery scan came back fine, except HR tended to run fast.
Saw cardiologist privately who was concerned re AF, but nothing has shown up. I have a KardiaMobile so I checked frequently then and occasionally now. Consultant thought that it may well have been dehydration, so I start the morning slowly and make sure I am hydrated before I get up and start the day!
Exactly the same thing happened to me in a breast biopsy! They even have a chair that flattens out to a bed, so we're obviously not alone! Glad to hear your cancer has been clear for five years. Mine now clear for 13🤞
fainting for a few seconds was the very first sign I had that I had a heart problem. I got a premonition of about 5 seconds and then down I would go. I didn’t drive for about 6 months. For me it was diagnosed as supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in the right atrium. I was admitted with a heart rate of 230 plus. It was easily fixed with an ablation in July 2017 and has never happened since.
However, it was apparently leading up to, or indeed masking, full blown Afib which needed two further much longer ablations to control .
IMO I don’t think STV can be controlled with drugs. They tried me on all the usual culprits but I was like a zombie. The bisoprolol caused my heart rate to plummet to the point where the nurses switched off the alarms on the ECG because the noise irritated them so much!
I have only felt taint twice. Once when I was first diagnosed with AF and then soon after my ablation when I had lost blood after my wound seriously bled. It does sound like low blood pressure
Yes. Thank you. He has had an ambulatory BP monitor so we'll see what that revealed. The Bisoprolol - which is helping with the AF and anxiety - may have a negative effect too.
In AF, heart rates can go up or down and a lot of reports talk about palpitations and racing HR but I saw the other side of the coin.
I too had a strong and working heart ( normal HR = 60) when examined following an AF diagnosis. When I started reporting faints and dizziness (hot shower contributed on occasion but totally random) I went through the 24 hour Holter routine (nothing seen) then 1xweek Holter (nothing seen) and then had a loop recorder implanted. Long story short - the recorder confirmed syncope incidents with heart stopping for up to 14 seconds including blackouts. So pacemaker installed (2016) that cuts in when HR drops below 45. I am still going strong and AF consistently now at 96% so no more marathons but life goes on despite a TIA in 2020. Finally retired at 75 and now hitting 80 and biggest problem is finding things to do, but look at the alternative - its great to wake up every day ready to go.....
What a great note to end on! Thank you for your story. If that applied to my husband it would make sense. The idea of pauses has been mentioned above and I have had them at times but never more than 3-4 secs and feeling like a jolt. 14 secs is long. Maybe this is the answer. I also had a PM, fitted when my heart went down to 36bpm a few times ( though I felt fine!) I feel it kick in at times and wonder if it's the AF, but Kardia shows it's not and it settles. Do you get that? Also when you say AF is 96% what does that mean? Thank you.
Hi - I do not have a Kardia but see a trace on my O2 sensor if I slip it on my finger- very little sign of a regular beat!. My PM is checked regularly by Clinical Physiology Dept (currently 6 monthly though as my battery level lowers it will be 3 monthly) on their reports my Atrial Burden is consistently 96% of the time (i.e. in AF) I am totally unaware of this and have never felt the PM 'kick in'. Yes I am slower (especially on up gradients) than I once was and some days walk faster than others (around 3 miles a day) and get a bit breathless on humid/wet days (especially bending over) but apart from dog walking I mostly work on the allotment or DIY so as I said - life goes on ....
I feel like a surge coming then a strange sensation that make me want to grip something or get low. It's normally converting back to nsr. It happens in any position standing, sitting and even lying down although not normally quite as bad lying. Since my AF has become so frequent often daily my neck and back is so stiff and tense
That sounds familiar. When my AF was bad the pauses came when it was going back into NSR. Almost like a natural cardioversion. I wonder if this is happening to my husband. Personally, I never actually fainted though.
I often had blackouts or near blackouts so basically had to stay prone when in AF otherwise my HR would shoot up and BP down but mine was caused mainly from very low BP caused by Autonomic Dysfunction ie: vaso vagal. Since my Pacemaker implant in 2018 I’ve not experienced anything like that although still have relatively low BP and occasional AF.
You cannot afford to become dehydrated with low BP & Autonomic Dysfunction and ensure electrolytes good.
Thank you. From what you say it's beginning to look as if a pacemaker might be a good thing. I also think he doesn't drink enough water in the mornings and both these episodes have been around1pm. Is there a diagnostic test for autonomic disfunction? Would the tilt test reveal it?
I was diagnosed as I passed out when my dentist tilted me back in the dentist’s chair very early on in my AF journey but it took years to get onto my NHS record - until I had to be hospitalised as I couldn’t even take my head off the pillow. A lot more awareness these days and a lot more Tilt Test Tables around!
So interesting to hear your story and follow this very good link. In fact my husband has been referred to Boon Lim at the Hammersmith so that is good to know. We wait....obviously there's a shortage of tilt tables....anyway thank you.
But worth the wait as he is the foremost expert in UK.
I use sea salt, rock salt or Pink Salt rather than table salt and yes getting the electrolyte balance is important. Trouble is that we were so conditioned from the 70's onwards to avoid salt because of high salt content in processed foods. If you don't eat ultra processed and processed foods you are more likely to not have enough salt in the diet. The recommended level for this condition is at least 6g per day whereas the general recommendation for the majority of the population is no more than 6g/day.
Looking at the emphasis placed on electrolytes, I'm starting to wonder if I may have provoked this by switching briefly to Lo Salt which is high in Potassium. I've stopped now... and so have his faints 🙈
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