After all the years I have finally caught COVID. Had a headache for a couple of days which has gone now. Not much coughing, just feel a bit achy and weak.Unfortunately, it's sent me into an afib episode although my heart rate is staying below 100bpm in fact it's hovering around 70 to 80bpm. I was concerned about my BP which has been 83/62, now around 95/77, a few times higher. I am drinking plenty.
111 wanted to send an ambulance as they said my blood pressure is too low, I don't want to go to A & E as I feel ok, no chest pains, no breathlessness and no dizzy spells.
Anyone else been in this position?
Written by
Karendeena
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Sorry to hear this, Karendeena. I’m afraid I’ve no experience to help (my BP has tended to go high rather than low), but I just wanted to send my love and best wishes. Do let us know how you’re getting on, won’t you? Jx
Thank you. I cannot believe it's finally got me!! My afib usually goes on for 30 plus hours so expect this will be the same, only hope it doesn't go on much longer. 😔 The headache was the worst lasting 2 days. Been symptomatic since Tuesday so hoping I am past the worst 🥺
After 4 Covid free years, including 16 flights Covid finally got us both but boy has it got us!! My 80 year old MIL got it a month ago had a little cold and was showing negative after 5 days.. 14 days in and I have every symptom under the sun and can barely move ..😟 only taking paracetamol plus other natural stuff..
My own AF is persistent so it’s making zero difference. Surprised 111 wanted to send an ambulance for your Bp at that level … mine was routinely that low on bisoprolol until I moaned sufficiently to change to another med.
Sorry am rambling , you don’t specify if u r taking any meds for Af or any other history so perhaps that’s why they wanted u checked out.
Really hope the AF goes away and you can always call 111 (if there is anyone there!!)
Hi and thanks for replying. Yes, I take Sotalol and apixaban and my episodes are always symptomatic so I guess they were just following guidelines. 111 well, what can I say. My call at 6pm yesterday told me that a doctor/clinician would call me back as I explained I didn't know whether or not to take my evening meds with my BP low. Fast forward several hours and despite me chasing them I finally got a call at 5amthid morning. I was then left on a queue for 40 mins. Eventually the 'said doctor' asked me loads of questions and then told me he was calling an ambulance as I was at risk of complications with afib and covid and even death!! - nice of him 🥺
Ambulance arrived and asked me why they were here as they had on my notes 'advice on medication' they didn't even know I had covid.
Anyway they did OBS and ECG told me I was in afib and not to trust the BP machines we use at home as they don't give correct readings when in afib. As other obs were ok they didn't take me to hospital. Still feel rough though and I am still on afib.
I didn't have those last vaccine booster and not sure if I made the right decision but hey ho it seemed a good idea at the time as I had 4 already all of which put me in afib.
How are you? Did you recover well from the COVID, how long did it take for you to test negative?
I am fully vaccined for both flu and Covid, still in the full throes of covid, persistent cough, sore throat, streaming cold, headaches, hot and cold shivers, the full caboodle…mine started about 14 days and little sign of abatement as yet.,.
My partner, who is 51 with absolutely zero health conditions whatsoever … but vaccined too(due to me)… has now had it 18 days and only slightly less bad than me, tested himself yesterday and still positive …😒
What a palaver with 111, I bet a 5 am call plus paramedics turning up at your door didn’t do much to settle your AF!!!!
Hopefully your AF will settle and go soon fingers crossed.
In permanent AF so it didn't really do much for me apart from about 3 months or so of fatigue afterwards. We got Covid last April after staying free for so long. Didn't feel particularly bad during that time - honestly had far worse colds. However the fatigue lasted a long time and my other half got labyrinthitis the day after she tested negative for 2 days running - I tested negative after 11 days she tested positive for 18 days and eventually tested negative 2 days before her birthday so we went out on her birthday and the day after she had the ringing in her ears and dizziness which lasted about 3 days - honestly we only went to the local Costa and had a free cake with our coffee. No booze or anything! Both OK now but wife still occassionally gets the ear problem - the Doc gave her plenty of tablets for it and she rarely has it last longer than a day thanks to the tablets now.
Nothing special for Covid, just what I have always taken for years, organic raw honey, liposomal vit C, organic echinacea drops, organic milk thistle, zinc, then organic inulin and collagen powder, vit D3, probiotics and fermented cod liver oil…
I did try salt water gargling for my throat when it was very sore which is why I asked about the nasal spray …
My episodes have always been between 12 and 24 hours and when it was gone it was gone for a few weeks, except when I had covid. That’s the only time AF came, went and came again in a short time but I’ve read that covid can trigger arrhythmias in people that don’t normally have them. Just be prepared, it may or may not be different to usual, hopefully you’re over the worst of it and you will feel better soon. Paracetamol and plenty of water helps in my experience. Good luck.
BP still a bit erratic but now at 100/64. I normally have low BP. I am drinking loads and taking paracetamol. My heart rate is 87 atm, normally 62 when not in afib. Thanks for sharing your experience
The ambulance crew said not to rely on home BP machines when in afib as they don't calibrate properly. It was my BP showing low, my heart rate was all over the place and still is this morning. Usually revert around 36 hours so if the normal pattern follows it should be later today. Having said that with being positive for COVID I suppose I will have to wait and see
Results were 152/87 on theirs. Then the paramedic got me to use my machine straight after (it is relatively new Omron) and the reading was 114/86, systolic way out! They took my heart rate at 79 my machine was 72.Reverted back to NSR this afternoon, what a lovely feeling that is
Not everyone feels it but I certainly do!! I am very symptomatic. I feel like I have an army of butterflies in my chest. If I take my pulse it's fast then slow, then jumping around, it's the most awful feeling. The anxiety is just the added bit which comes with the territory. I know when I go into an afib episode, equally know when I come out of it
I have low rate permanent AF. Average Resting heart rate under 60 usually 54 - 56 and rarely higher than 130 during exercise. Your pulse will show the AF. Instead of being a normal regular rate it will have a few normal beats and then a few fast beats and then back to normal rate. I quite often watch my kardia machine as it records my heart and it seems for quite a few seconds I have normal regularly spaced beats (always makes me think its gone - though I know its so unlikely) and then a few fast ones and then a little gap and back to normal beats and so on - it's constantly out of sync but just not fast. Consistently inconsistent. My BP and HR is always normal better than my wife who has high(ish) BP and HR - though still in normal range - apart from when I was on bisoprolol when it went really low to 36 at what time but still in AF - so taken off bisoprolol and tried other, beta blockers, calcium channel blockers and and various combinations but all had the same eventual result and made me feel far worse than the AF. So, just on anticoagulants.
I had 3 cardioversions which kept me in NSR for 3 out of 4 years. Was just about to have an ablation in the April of the first lockdown. then in the September and October between lockdowns but Hospital cardio department had to close due to staff and patients getting Covid. Roll forwards to June 2021 (still in NSR after last cardioversion in Feb 2020) my EP called me to have all scans and tests again as they were now so old and and found my heart had remodelled itself and any further cardioversions or an ablation would be unlikely to last. I am in low rate AF so not getting any symptoms now - over the years the symptoms subsided and now I carry on exactly as I did prior to my first diagnosis in 2017. The reason I was going for an ablation was that I could not take any beta blockers, calcium channel blockers or any rate control medication - tried a lot of them and combinations in the first year or so ad all made me feel far worse than the AF.
I go for long walks and go to the gym at least 4 times a week. Feel as good as ever I did - apart from getting older and all that entails.
If your BP was taken by BP monitor while in AF then it is unreliable because your heart is not pumping properly. If in AF then it is recommended your BP is taken manually i.e. with a sphygmomanometer.
I now rely on a high quality nasal & throat gargle to lessen any infection risk and to deal with anything contracted. I got a mild dose of something before Christmas (sore throat etc) and it lasted less than a week. No faith in the C-test any more.
Yes and had many years of that. I had fainting and near fainting with it but much higher HR and got so fed up in A&E that I ignored it and stayed home - once I knew it wasn’t dangerous. The most they ever did was give saline drip - which helped a little - ish. Staying at home was more comfortable and managing with feet higher than heart, hydration and coconut water or electrolyte replacement or salty snack worked well.
Important with low BP to take salt, preferably high mineral content rock salt or sea salt - 6g/day.
So sorry about the COVID - your AF may well go once you have recovered.
I like salt so I do use it. Reverted back to NSR this afternoon what a great feeling! COVID still with me I think, will test again tomorrow as I have been symptomatic since last Wednesday. I only hope I haven't passed it on to my mum who is 95! I took her to do her shopping on Friday, I didn't think for one minute I had covid as I just had a headache and a bit achy. 🤞I wouldn't have tested only my partner really felt rough as he has just finished radiotherapy so it's hot him hard 🥺
I can't blame you for keeping away from A&E, and I suppose that going there might well infect others with covid as N95 masks are a rare sight even in hospitals these days, sadly.
It seems the government and NHS want us all to treat covid as just another "cold" these days, which it most often is, I suppose, but still the unvaccinated remain at risk of developing its severe form and, to add to the problems, long covid is a worry, something a cold, or even the flu, never causes.
I'm sure you won't, but I wouldn't drink to excess for too long a time or the fluids can eventually wash out important electrolytes and similar.
Thanks Steve. I had 4 boosters but didn't have the one this winter, not sure if that was the right decision but each time I had a booster my afib kicked off big time. I have heard so many contaversial reports on the vaccines and heart problems that I suppose I am running scared. Did you have all your boosters? I have slowed the water intake. Feeling a bit rough tbh. Feel sorry for my partner who has COVID too and just finished radiotherapy so it's a double whammy for him.
Told by the medical profession that the latest variants are dodging the vaccines somewhat
I know of several people who have had the latest strain of covid-19 which seems to be over quite quickly but to be more severe for a few days. Two neighbours, however, a while back now, did have a particularly rough time and it took them a month to get over it, so it can take a variable path, it seems. They were also fully "boosted" and told me they think that alone kept them out of hospital. The value of the vaccination is to prevent the severe respiratory form developing, which I gather is still the case, thank goodness.
As for boosters, we've both had them all but, as you say, there seems to be some evidence building up that they are best reserved for the prone and elderly as the long-term effects aren't imaginary, even if occurring at a very low level overall. You noticed they sparked off your AF, and there are plenty of clinical studies that show a wide range of side effects that, as you feel too, has put some fear into me regarding having a further one.
I think the non-mRNA vaccines might be the preferred vaccine form soon, although there is a lot of work going on to alter the nano-carrier (whatever that is!) in the existing Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, I have read, which looks the likely culprit causing the longer-term side effects.
The big problem is that covid-19 itself can turn nasty very quickly and is more and more showing itself to be a systemic vascular illness, affecting the circulation and blood, rather than being only an upper respiratory infection. The evidence shows clearly that the "side effects" of covid-19 itself vastly outweigh those the vaccines. Any effect on the heart is most easily noticed when it's affected, I guess, because of changes in the pulse, but I gather all the major organs are a target for the virus in some way, often going hidden and unnoticed. I have read also that there might be an increase in auto-immune issues occurring following covid-19 infection (an aspect of "long covid"), so, as you say, the worries don't go away either with the vaccine or the illness itself.
Interesting Steve 🤔 I also developed polymyalgia after a COVID vaccine and it's taken me all this time to get off steroids. Awful inflammatory auto immune disease
My sister-in-law's friend came down with the same but whether owing to the vaccine or the virus, he doesn't know. The most amazing thing with him was that the GP diagnosed and prescribed him steroids over the phone! Can you believe that - no one saw him for weeks after he first phoned his GP.
That's shocking!! Having said that when I was diagnosed via a blood test (we weren't completely locked down) my doctor prescribed the steroids over the phone and then she called me every 2 weeks asking me to reduce. She reduced me so quickly that I ended up really poorly with GI issues and had to see a rheumatologist who managed it a lot better. I have never been the same since I started taking the 'devils tic tacs', they affected my mental health terribly. Great for what they do but come with a shed load of side effects.
it seems that many people seem to cope well with steroids but not all as you have found. My wife’s aunt, taking them for colitis, reduced them too quickly and, well, we all thought she was on her last. In the end she lived till she was 95!
We know a few people who have developed autoimmune illnesses either from the vaccine or the disease. One has polymyalgia, another giant cell arteritis, a third vasculitis leading to kidney failure.
It’s worrying. In nine of those cases has any doctor made a link to Covid-19 or the vaccines or even shown any interest in a possible link.
I've had low BP quite a few times,keep.up the water intake and for me it settles again to my normal 110-120 / 60-70 HR hovers around 50 55.Are you lying down a lot? That seems to affect me?
I have badly hurt a toe,and am pretty laid up, and it's lower than usual.
Yes so many different viruses can bring on an episode! Hopefully your heart will settle down soon. My electrophysiologist has always implied that there is no need to worry to much about low blood pressure unless you have the dizziness etc.. And too as he has said that there are things that can be done for high blood pressure but low is a bit more up in the air. After my ablation my blood pressure is consistently low. His advise is to consume more quality salt. And of course exercise, eating right etc. Hope your recovery is a quick one!! XO
Thanks, yes I have reverted back to NSR this afternoon what a great feeling that is, reminds me why I am having the ablation as in-between I foolishly let myself believe it had gone!One of the ambulance crew this morning told me that he had taken a patient who had an ablation 12 years ago and just had a blip, that's what I call success
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Low BP
Afib and Covid jab
Covid Vax and Afib Facts
Afib in a Young Person
