Post cardioversion

[Subo1610]

Hubby had his cardioversion yesterday. One zap and it worked, he felt tired but fine. Forward to today and his pulse is 40-47. If he walks round the house and does something it goes up to 65-70. He says it doesn't feel right but not sure if he should contact cardio department. Any help please?

[Paulbounce]

Hi Subo.

Tell your hubby to take it easy for a week or two. TBH I won't worry to much about those rates - remember though I am not a doctor. If you have concerns contact your your GP.

It sounds OK to me but see what others have to say.

Paul

[Subo1610 in reply to Paulbounce]

Thank you. Can't do anything now anyway until tomorrow.

[Paulbounce in reply to Subo1610]

Good luck

Paul

[mjames1]

If in doubt it never hurts to contact the medical team the day after procedure.

When your husband gets up and walks around the house, can you tell if his pulse is regular or a irregular?

If you don't have a EKG device at home like Kardia or Apple Watch, sometimes you can easily tell with your finger at either the wrist or neck. This would be good information to tell the office when you call.

Hope he feels better soon. Sometimes it takes a while to recover from these procedures.

Jim

[Subo1610 in reply to mjames1]

It's his second one. He has a watch. Not sure how accurate. Manual pulse with the occasional bump but not with every beat

[mjames1 in reply to Subo1610]

Before the cardioversion, when he was in atrial fibrillation, was his heart rate very fast (over 110) or was it slow in the 60's and 70s?

[Subo1610 in reply to mjames1]

Him being awkward it could be slow but normally 90-130ish. He is kinda used to it now so didn't always feel it.

[mjames1 in reply to Subo1610]

So hopefully it's just what we call an ectopic beat that you are feeling manually, which means the cardioversion is holding.

You could confirm that with the Apple Watch if it has the EKG function.

If he's still feeling off tomorrow, I would call the office to discuss, but it's probably just normal recovery from the procedure.

Of course if things get worse, and he develops chest pains or shortness of breath, etc., call 111. But that's really just advice for anyone.

Jim

[Jalia]

As a veteran of very many cardioversions I know that my heart rate is usually on the low side for a while after the procedure. However 40-47 is very low. I would make contact with the cardiac dept to be on the safe side. Meanwhile make sure that he is drinking lots of water !

[Paulbounce in reply to Jalia]

Hi Jalia.

Staying hydrated is very important - I agree.

Paul

[Subo1610]

Thanks for your help. Will keep a finger on the pulse 😄. Keep him hydrated and check on him and see what he is like in the morning. Hopefully it will have settled 🤞

[mav7 in reply to Subo1610]

Was he taking a beta blocker or other medications before the cardioversion, and did the doctor advise to continue or take a reduced dose ?

Would be good to consult with the doctors office even by telecon for advice.

[Subo1610]

Yes, but was told not to take digoxin from Friday and now to not take it all. On bisopodril, adaxopan and ramapril.

[mav7 in reply to Subo1610]

If possible do consult with doctor and also monitor his blood pressure.

[Jajarunner]

I'd contact thecardio team but it usually takes me three days to four weeks to feel better and I've had a lot of cardioversions!!

[Ppiman]

I have been told by my specialist that symptomless bradycardia (i.e. a resting pulse unexpectedly below 60bpm) is of no consequence, so, on that basis, I feel sure he will be fine. So far as I understand it, the shock to the heart is timed to happen at a particular point in the heart cycle and this re-sets the heart's natural pacemaker - but by a mechanism not fully understood.

Is your husband taking a beta-blocker or similar?

Steve

[Subo1610 in reply to Ppiman]

Bisopodril. Still pumping in the 40s this morning. Wait and see, I guess. Thanks

[Ppiman in reply to Subo1610]

I suppose that, looked at in one way, your hubby's heart-slowing bisoprolol tablet is now acting on a heart that is unaffected by the mis-conduction that was happening before the electrical cardioversion. This might well mean that it is over-slowing his heart, but I suspect the doctor would think this a good thing.

I've been taking 2.5mg bisoprolol for a month or so as my own palpitations and AF have worsened, but I've now gone back to 1.25mg as it was slowing too much for comfort Yesterday's range on my watch showed 45-120bpm with the 45 in the evening (and the 120bpm during a bit of gardening which I eventually gave up on as the palpitations made me decide to stop).

Steve

[Nightmare2]

My advice, never guess, never go on others experiences as one size does not fit all. Just keep calm, and speak to medics when you can or can always call 111 for advice from one of their on call Drs. All these procedures give ones heart a pounding. i recently had an EKG, and it nearly gave me a heart attack there and then with the drugs to speed up heart for stress testing, never again, so everyone is different. Good Luck sure all will be fine.

[Soundmike]

Too early yet,don't get too worked up about it ,try and relax and drink plenty . Don't forget if you turn off your computer it doesn't always work properly when you switch it back on ,sometimes you have to wait for it to catch up .

[Subo1610]

Sound advice 😁. Thank you. Keeping a close eye on him.

[2learn]

Hi, is he still taking beta blockers. My experience is that if I stay on beta blockers after a cardio or ablation I am wiped out, so I stop them the day after and feel much better, my docs ok with this.

[Foreverfibber]

when in doubt call the doc.

[Subo1610 in reply to Foreverfibber]

He is adamant not to call. ☹️. Flaming men !!!!!

[108cat in reply to Subo1610]

That's a good comment!

Sometimes it's not necessarily the numbers, or what other people do or what their numbers are, although it's really nice to hear from everyone - what matters is how he feels, how he's doing ..

I'm glad he feels better now ...

[Sweetmelody]

Is he on meds? My resting HR would range from 130bpm pre CV to 42bpm post CV when I was on a b or cc blocker. My HR slowly climbed back up over the next several weeks.

When I’m not on drugs (except Eliquis), my heart rate post-CV stays around 55-65 unless I exercise.

Don’t know if this helps. The low HR could be attributable to meds? Check in with his medical people.

[Sweetmelody in reply to Sweetmelody]

Like 2learn, the drugs made me feel wiped out post-ablation or CV. When off them, a CV can make me feel myself again, normal. I feel so much better off drugs.

[Subo1610]

Thank you for all your replies. They made him feel less concerned. His HR is up a bit , still dropping into 40s and he says he feels a bit better. He is drinking more water and typical man he won't phone hospital, so will give it a couple more days. Thanks again

[southkorea]

I would! It seems unusually low. !!