Hi everyone, I am in the middle of a Covid Infection at the moment and feeling quite poorly. I haven't had an A Fib attack for ages, but am now in the middle of one that has gone on for four hours so far.
My question is, have any other members found that Covid has affected their A Fib.
Thank you, Jenny
This is well known I'm afraid. Any infection or inflamation will do it.
I had covid and pneumonia at the same time late last year and my heart rate went berserk . Sadly I think you may just have to sit it out. I was in hospital and my beta blockers were increased. Feel for you.
Jean
Hi Jean, what were your symptoms of Pneumonia. My cough is so vicious that I can't even lay down and have not slept for two nights. No wonder the old Ticker isn't happy.Jenny
It's difficult to say with having them both at the same time, but on Thursday September 1st I had an episode of chest pain and rang 999, paramedics gave me morphine and took me to hospital and was diagnosed with an infection, they didn't know where. The next day I was sent home with antibiotics feeling dreadful and then slept lots every day.
Saw my doc re how dreadful I felt the following Wednesday 7th and she did a blood test. It came back next day and my CPR level was 49 (should be 5) she did an urgent prescription which I received that day. After another blood test on the 12th different antibiotics were prescribed. I was feeling very breathless and on Saturday 17th when I went to bed that night severe breathlessness struck and I was gasping to breathe, dialled 999 and they took me to hospital giving me oxygen on the way which eventually helped. Had never had oxygen before in my life. At hospital an x-ray showed fluid in one of my lungs.
Went to see my doc on the 21st and she was fuming that I'd been sent home from hospital when she looked at my A&E results. She rang the hospital and immediately got me into an emergency section. They did lots of tests, then said I had pneumonia. I was sent home with new meds and told to go back the following Saturday 25th if not feeling better. Feeling dreadful that day that's what I did, further tests showed I now had covid as well and I was admitted to a covid ward. By this time my heart was also in fast AF - oh the joys of life! Coughing was painful, but I came out the following Wednesday 28th. I was then poorly until the end of October by which time I'd lost a stone in weight.
Can you identify with any of those symptoms?
Covid made my sense of taste go and I had an upset stomach.
Jean
I am so sorry to hear how sick you are. Please feel better.
Thank you Dawn, but this was last year.
Oh good I was wondering why so many people were getting it again there although it has cropped up here again. The thing is you’re not hearing about it that much yet because so many people are not going to the hospital this time and it’s a different strain. You can tell. Anytime now, it will be in the news though because they now have a new vaccine for Covid, some type of virus doesn’t seem to have a name yet and also for the flu for this year’s strain. I do get the flu shot. I am not getting the other stuff. I refuse boosters. I am so tired of this stuff. I’m very happy to know you’re not sick.
So sorry you had this,Jean
Hmm I think you should be checked for pneumonia, or at least ask a doctors advice. Are you on any medication?
Yes Apixaban and Bisoprolol. I am not anywhere near as ill as you sounded, thank goodness, but have lost my sens e of taste completely. I am also wheezing a lot.
Jenny
Loosing your sense of taste is usually a sign of Covid. It wouldn't hurt to just check with your doctor, especially since you haven't had an Afib attack in ages. Hope you get well soon!! “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Same here Covid and pneumonia awful feels like elephant is sitting on you.
Yes, I had a nasty bout of Covid the last week of July. I was feeling absolutely awful for about a week, running a fever, horrendous sore throat and AF on and off for the whole week. As soon as I got my fever under control it stopped and I've been in NSR since then.
Keep taking Paracetamol every 4 hrs or whatever the recommended dose is, drink plenty of fluids and know that this too will pass. x
Oh no, so very sorry you’ve been hit by this. As others have said, take it easy, rest, hydrate. Hope your heart settles soon.
Yes, my husband & I are also in the middle of COVID and both had episodes but mine thankfully didn’t last long. I had similar in 2021 with COVID but I was much iller then. No lasting affects thankfully and AF cleared when the infection cleared.
Any infection, especially chest infection will start the beast.
I wasn’t badly ill when I had Covid last year, and at the time my AFib didn’t seem to kick off at all, and I stayed in sinus rhythm. However, 18 days after the start I went into AFib and have never come out of it.
I was on the ablation waiting list and had that two months later, but got less than 48 hours of NSR. Have been told there is too much fibrosis in the left atrium to make more ablations, or even cardioversions, feasible.
Of course it could be that my AFib was just caught late - only diagnosed last year despite me worrying. There is a very strong family history. So I tended to get it for a few days at a time (2 - 8), about one a month, but would have 3 weeks clear in between.
I can’t help feeling that Covid hastened things along.
Yes covid put me into persitant afib & aflutter (3 days in hospital) and continued for over 6 months 😔
Yes it gave me it. My ep/cardiologist says it's well known for it. The jab can cause it too, according to him and I have no reason to doubt him
not surprising really as both covid and the jab produce the same spike protein that appears so heart inflammatory for some.
I’ve been OK with Covid Attic- no AF after each of my jabs or when testing positive for a week about a year ago! However, had my last AF episode in Oct last year - same day I had my flu jab…so dubious re a flu jab this year!!
Seems all jabs are responsible! I had a short bout after my booster pneumococcal last year !!!
Thanks for that - are you going to risk another booster this year?
I had my flu jab, with no problem, I will be due another pneumonia booster in 4 years (the type of vaccine we have here in South Africa is boosted every five years). Covid? I've had the initial 2 and a booster, but the government seems to have forgotten it exists, the uptake was poor initially, has not improved, places that were giving it have closed down and it just is never mentioned anymore!
Thanks for that
More info on dealing with Covid covid19criticalcare.com/tre...
Absolutely. I had Covid a year ago March and I actually appear to have had it again about two months ago according to my EP he is not surprised. I have a pacemaker but can still feel when it acts up. I also had my flutter going on. It just adds to the misery of covid although I just say it feels like. The flu. For me, the headache and the bodyaches I have are worst part. Nothing relieved the pain.
Exactly what Bob said. Covid is particularly unkind in my experience.
just getting over Covid too and my afib was out of control. Going from my usually 20% per week to 40%. This is day 9 and it finally back to my normal self.
Just to say that I had Covid for the first time last April after a holiday, but amazingly didn’t have an AF episode during the infection time. However, the infection kept me in bed for nearly a week and haven’t really regained previous health status, having had other infections with AF episodes since, but now on the mend. Thankfully it seems Covid is on the wane but will have the flu and Covid vaccine - Pfizer suiting me best, when it’s available.
Hi, covid gave me afib. Took a while to diagnose and heart consultant was not convinced until he went to a conference in America. Speaker there said around 10% of covid sufferers exhibited afib. He came back and agreed with me. Not had an episode since last April. Just had the new version of covid, eris, lucky no episodes this time. Been checking with my Kardia mobile. Good luck!
I got an AFib episode in February. — I’ve been told by Doctors, to go into A&E when I get one, as my BP and heart rate soar.— So I duly went down to Leicester Royal Infirmary and they did a Covid test and they decided to send me to Glenfield heart hospital. I’d not been at Glenfield long, when they told me the Covid test, they did at the Royal, had come back positive and they immediately moved me to an isolation room. The Doctor told me, that it was more than likely that the Covid started my AFib this time. I only had a slight cough, nothing else and didn’t feel ill, so couldn't believe I’d got Covid. I’d never had it before and was always worried, that if I did get it, it would start my AFib, which it seemed, had happened.
I don’t get AFib very often and I ‘m hoping when I have my catheter ablation, on 20th September, at Glenfield, that it works and prevents me getting any more episodes., that is if it’s not cancelled, as there’s another Doctors strike on that day, unfortunately, so I’m half expecting it not to go ahead the. I’ve been waiting over a year now for it.
Yep. No AF for 22 months post ablation. Then a 60 minute bout (Kardia confirmed) each day for 3 days during a covid infection. Stopped each day by one 80mg Sotalol tablet taken after 30 min AF.....and nothing since, for 12 months.
Definitely. I had a relatively easy time with Covid but towards its end I went into AFib which lasted for a long time. My advice is to speak to gp and ask for a referral to cardiology. At the time an appointment took a while to come through but when it did my meds were tweaked which helped. Any discussion with medics re Covid and AFib were met with maybes and maybe nots but I do think as Bob said, inflammation is at the root of making us susceptible to episodes.
Yes! I had an episode that started around the time I must have been infected with the covid but the episode didn’t last long after I’d taken a 100mg of Flecainide and fortunately, covid didn’t affect me much either- only knew I had it as I tested positive after our daughter who we’d seen the day before (my birthday!) let us know she had tested positive, the next day! My husband tested positive on my day 10 and we both tested negative on my day 15! Neither of us had a temperature throughout and, as we know, we are all different! Hope yours clears up soon. The craziest thing was we both reported our infections on the app and received notifications that we could go out on day 4!! We didn’t go out until we tested negative as we had more sense! Hope your AF episode is well over now and that your covid experience is not too bad (and you have a good book too).
I've had two ( New to me) bouts of arrhythmia since my covid booster. Told by the BHF nurses that it's one of the known side effect s. Mine isn't AF but is called "extra systolic arrhythmia". If the vaccine can set it off, I'm sure the illness can.
I had Covid last December, and was sick for almost a month. Although I had all the symptoms, cough, aches and pains, a mild fever ( and loss of taste and smell for almost two months.) It did not affect my Afib. I had no outbreaks during my illness
Yes. 48hrs after Covid in March 2022 I got AF. I had episodes of AF in blocks of 10 days or so with periods of quiet in between. Nov to end of Jan it was episodic all the time. All the while I had extreme exhaustion brain fog depression disturbed sleep high stress levels etc etc. In mid Feb I came down with Covid and all the unpleasant side effects evaporated at which time Dr and I decided all the bad stuff was not AF or reaction to the meds but long covid which went away. Apparently covid can increase the antibody response and help long covid be sorted. As to the AF I have had not episodes since about 10 days after Covid 2. Since the end of April I have stopped having serious ectopic episodes which were numerous previously and fairly consistent chest discomfort has gone as well. I love to hear from anyone who got AF as a result of covid and whether it retreats as a result increased immune response.
Yes, absolutely. I had Covid in Dec. 2020 and it gave me two a-fib episodes during the three-week period when I was ill. I had the original variant which was awfully potent. Maybe your Covid won't be as bad -- or your a-fib. I hope you feel better soon.
Yes. I was having very few episodes of AF ( 2 a year) until I caught Covid in 2022, when I started having episodes every 2 days.That never resolved.
Well I never had AFIB until I got the Covid vaccine so I truly believe that there is some correlation.
Yes, every time, and also with a similar flu type illness that didn’t test positive for covid. As others have said, in my experience any infection or inflammation can be a trigger.
Well it’s making me think if that s when my husbands problems started again as he had covid two months ago and we thought his fast heart rate was because he had a temp . He had a stroke recently caused by AF so I’m wondering if maybe it started again then .
Not in the slightest.
Thanks ever so much to everyone that replied to my post. It is nice to know that there is always someone to talk to on here.
Jenny
So sorry to hear this for you! I had covid the end of 2020 which sent me into a year of Afib woes until my ablation in January. My electrophsiologist said that Afib is showing in patients with covid as well as persons who took the injection. Inflammation of any kind is not good for affibers. God bless!!
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