Hi Everyone. I have never had covid nor has my husband, and I finally got my heart rhythm problems fixed after two ablations. I just passed the six-month mark since my second ablation at Texas Cardiac Arrythmia. For the first time in 5 years since double pneumonia triggered the problem, I have been pvc and afib-free without medication. I stopped my Flecainide and Metoprolol six months ago, and today was told to stop taking the Eliquis I have also taken for five years, unless I develop afib for four hours, in which case I am to start taking it again and call Texas for instructions. I live in South Carolina. A week-long heart monitor confirmed what I have been feeling since the procedure, which is just a normal heart beating in NSR! I spoke to the physician's assistant about my test results today, not my EP. I asked her whether there was any concern about getting the RSV vaccine or my 6th covid vaccine in a few weeks when the new shot is ready, and she said that the doctor who did my surgery, and who is very well known and respected in this area, thinks that getting the covid vax is risky as it can cause afib. I had no problems after getting any of the other doses, including the bivalent vaccine which I took four or five months ago while off the heart medication. I know everyone's body is different and so are their circumstances, but I am wondering if there is actual scientific data that backs up statistically whether you are more likely to get heart rhythms from getting the vax or getting covid? And, is one vaccine or another the problem? And, is this a young person problem or an old person issue? I know that covid can be linked to everything from blood clots to brain ageing, chronic fatigue, and Parkinsonian symptoms and more. She said that my physician only took the first three vaccines and then stopped due to his concerns about the cardiac side effects of the vaccine. I know some people have stated that they had heart rhythm issues after getting the vaccine, but this association could be random and not actually caused by the vaccine. She stressed hand washing as prevention, not masking, though my understanding is that aerosol and droplets are the worry, much more so than hand to mouth contact. Nobody in Texas was masked at the hospital when my procedure was done. Now I am wondering if I am running into an American thing, where politics in Texas and the South color medical advice where everybody seems to hate vaccines and masking? Would the advice be the same from a Northern practice like the Cleveland Clinic I wonder? Or, whether the person I spoke to is anti-vax and mask, and has interpreted the physician's beliefs with her own? I would just be sick if I got the booster and put myself back into afib, but I would maybe be dead if I didn't get the vaccine and got a bad case of covid. At least now I could take Paxlovid, but we travel out of the USA a lot, and I don't think it's available everywhere. What do you think? Thanks in advance for your insight and any citations to studies if they are available.
Covid Vax and Afib Facts: Hi Everyone... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Covid Vax and Afib Facts
Hi, I suspect you are right that some prejudice is at work! I can’t point you to any citations but I think it is now pretty well accepted that Covid is spread mainly through droplets but hand washing is good too because those droplets can land on surfaces and then be transferred to your eyes or nose. Whether a vaccine triggers AF is in my opinion but as you say, not knowledge, a matter of luck. What is certain is that Covid can trigger AF and cause lifelong disability in other ways, so maybe it’s coin toss time!
I keep hoping that if I can hold out for another year or so and not get covid, there will be a universal vaccine available that actually prevents all the covids, since one is in the works now. I am leaning toward getting this next booster as well since it was double pneumonia that started my afib journey. I really don't want to get covid.
This is another problem you have to sort for yourself as no-one can make the decision for you. Earlier this year after going to hospital for a check up where I accompanied my wife we came down with Covid - no problems with AF although we are still suffering from after effects like fatigue. But we had had 5 vaccines so had a manageable time with Covid and neither of us had to be hospitalised which when you think of our ages and co-morbidities was more likely for us so we can only presume the vaccines worked well for us - neither of us had any problems after any of the vaccines either. Younger members of our family 23 and 25 year olds with no co-morbidities had been in hospital for weeks with Covid before the vaccines. Our young great niece (the 23 year old) we thought was going to die from hopspital acquired Covid after just giving birth to her first child. We have just been for another check up at the same hospital and again have developed chest infections after our visit. Despite hand washing and using gel at every opportunity in the hospital. Covid is on the increase here in the UK with a couple of new variants and we will certainly be getting the next vaccine and the flu vaccine. When we go to hospitals in future we will be wearing masks. I go today to have a new ear mould made for my hearing aid and again will wear a mask. We are again avoiding crowded enclosed spaces and if we have to go into such situations we will now wear either FFP2 or FFP3 masks. Thankfully we are having a bit of a heatwave here so are not going into many enclosed spaces at the moment. My sister has just caught Covid for the 3rd time and is very ill - despite all the vaccines. So, as you say everyone is different. Covid itself can and does cause AF as so it appears can the vaccine . However, if you have or have had AF the worry, stress and anxiety of having the vaccine and stress could presumably cause the AF to appear/re-appear and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. Unfortunately you are on your own to make the decision that makes you feel safest. It is so hard to weigh up the pros and cons and only you can do that for yourself. What you say about the political aspects of vaccine taking and mask wearing in your area is true and yes, you are right you probably would be given different opinions from different medical professionals in a different area. My daughter-in-law is an ICU nurse in Florida University and up until Covid had refused any vaccines for my two grandsons but is now pushing all her family to have all the vaccines going - which surprised me as she was so against vaccinations previously. Who knows what made her change her mind? Thankfully, although they have all caught Covid twice - probably from her working at the hospital they have not been very ill or hospitalised and with good hygiene and mask wearing they managed to save her elderly Mother who lived with them from catching it too.
Good Luck in making your decision.
Thank you for your reply! I am so sorry to hear about you and family members becoming infected in the hospital. I am glad you all made it through. We have never stopped masking, and I have had several men approach me while I was out shopping and the DMV and say things like, "So what, I didn't get the memo that I had to mask again." To which I replied, I have heart issues and have not had covid. So glad you are healthy enough not to mask, but I am trying to protect my health and life." To which one of them went on to explain while I was trapped in line how masks don't work and inhaling your exhale is bad for you, blah, blah, blah. Sometimes I just can't stand it!
Yes there are a few people here who still wear masks and if you are at high risk then do. We now wear FFP2 or FFP3 masks which respectively will cut out I believe 95% and 97% + of particles so protect you most. They let your breath out - so no problem about re-breathing. If you need to safeguard your health then do anything for it - definitely worth it . You don't need to be told by TV presenters or Governments what to do be proactive and do what you want and ignore what other people say.
Your EP "thinks that getting the vaccine can be risky" I think I might win the lottery but never do! Nough said. I had covid earlier this year but thanks to the full spread of vaccines it was little worse than a bad cold.
I gather you mean that you probably aren't going to win the lottery and getting the vaccine for me probably WON'T be risky? I am glad your case was mild and I hope you don't get another. Maybe eventually it will settle into just being a cold, and not have all the severe possible potential outcomes. I would really love to ditch my masks, but just can't in good conscience do it!
Hi Barbly, there is apparently some kind of weak link between covid jab and AF. But the link between Covid and AF is much stronger. I was told this by an EP who is top of his field and whose word I trust as he keeps ahead with scientific research. So he explained that with such a massive, global programme of vaccines there is inevitably some shrapnel. That’s maybe what I am (shrapnel!) as my AF started first time within days of a booster. But just as likely to have been chance. Sod’s Law either way. I’m taking another booster when it’s offered as long covid plus AF sounds like a recipe for terminal depression.
I think that's the logical approach, but there is so much denial in the US South about this disease. I still wonder whether the physician's assistant is correctly reporting what the doctor advises, but I am not sure how to get around her and directly to him. I don't think it's possible. But, I think I need to get the booster since I think the risk is smaller than the disease by far.
Yes. My sister suffers badly with long Covid - she caught it before vaccines came out. We still are more fatigued than usual after our brush with Covid last April and my wife still gets labyrithitis and vertigo occassionally - which funnily enough started the day after she tested negative after Covid. Really these things are not bad but my sister is often in quite a state and this has been 4 years now and she now has Covid again! Thankfully given our family history of heart problems from both sides and both her brothers having AF and our brother has another heart condition, so far our sister hasn't had any heart problems and you are quite right having AF and long Covid would be absolutely dreadful.
I agree with others that on the whole,the risk of being seriously ill,or worse is higher without the vaccine. Covid and AF isn't a nice mix!Something else popped out of your post to me. You have been told to stop Eliquis/Apixaban soon and only take it if you go into AF for over 4 hours. There is a risk here, if you go into AF when asleep, for instance,that you run into clot formation zone.
Here in the UK,a large scale study by the University of Birmingham, found that AF can return suddenly, that clots can firm in as little as 20 mins,and their conclusions were that all AF people who have a score of +1 on the Chadsvac system should be on anticoagulants for life.
Not trying to unnecessarily scare you,but it might be worth asking why you have been told to stop.
All the best xx
My understanding is that in the USA, if the ablation has been successful, and you are otherwise healthy you are removed from Eliquis after several months unless you have other serious risk factors which I don't have. I guess I will ask about whether I should start at least taking a baby aspirin or something when I send a note asking about clarification about their anti-vax position. Before the two ablations, when I had an episode of afib, it was mixed with pvcs, so that my numbers were dropping to 37 and shooting up to the 220s. I felt very ill and like I could pass out, and after an hour I would go to the ER. I only had a few of these episodes before the first ablation, and then two more which caused me to get the second. I don't think I would be able to sleep through something like this. But, if this ablation stops working at some point and I feel crazy heartbeats, I guess I could take an Eliquis along with my Flecainide PIP just to be on the safe side.
Personally I wouldn't bother, twice as many people have died waiting for treatment for far worst conditions than covid,300,000 in the UK no less,but its your decision.
In the US, the problem isn't ever the wait for treatment, as it is immediate. The problem is the cost if you don't have good insurance. As a retiree, I am fortunate to have great insurance coverage. Millions of Americans are still uninsured and have no access to health care, except for going to the ER, if there is something that can be taken care of there. It has just been five long years getting things back to normal, and after all the care and precautions I have taken not to get covid, I hate to get it now, when a universal vaccine for this is apparently in the works. I guess there's also the possibility that I am one of the 10% who has the gene that conquers it, which would be nice to know, since then I wouldn't need any further vaccines.
My sister has been found to have developed lung cancer and has been referred to a specialist but because of a waiting list that's a million miles long she has to wait 71 days before even getting an appointment,yet she gets a message from the NHS about getting a covid jab near enough straight away,I'm absolutely furious about this.
Sorry to hear about your sister. Unfortunately for about 2 years Covid was the only show in town. The UK government spent huge sums of money in a vain attempt to stop/mitigate the virus, the whole approach was broadly unscientific. We are now paying the price.The lack of treatment for serious conditions during the Covid response worsened the prognosis and waiting times for many. The chaos continues. Healthcare services are in a bit of a mess. Hopefully this will improve with time.
Regards
I have had 4 vaccines and covid twice. Once after 3 vaccines and the last time was 6 weeks ago. Although last time I felt a bit rubbish for a couple of days it wasn’t bad. All I could think was how I might have been if I hadn’t had the vaccines. It’s a personal choice but I will always take a vaccine and at least know I’ve done everything, done my part, in hopefully keeping myself well.
I developed rapid afib the evening after my first immunization at 37 years old with no family history and no risk factors. Could covid have cause the same? Probably. Did I get 2 more shots? Yes. If they had told me this could cause afib in x percentage of people would I have still gotten vaccinated at that time? Yes. It’s unfortunate but doesn’t really change anything. I likely will not receive another MRNA vaccine post 2 ablations now however.
Understandably people take the Covid jab decision based on how much time they have /can devote to researching it and their knowledge of what's happened to family, friends and colleagues.
Long story short, I agree with your doctor too risky. I have never had the jab or Covid and am concerned about excess deaths, vaccine injury and increased susceptibility to viruses all only now being slowly dribbled out by mainstream media but know for months/years by many highly qualified doctors around the world.
I just hope and pray that half of what I read from such independent sources proves to be unsubstantiated but I am not holding my breath on that one.
Instead of the jab I would get a quality nasal spray, gargle and various other supplements/pills plus increase all round fitness. For more information you might want to check this link out covid19criticalcare.com/tre...
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