New diagnosis

[bevdav]

Good morning, I was diagnosed with AF just two days ago. It has come out of nowhere. Woke up early hours of Saturday morning with my heart feeling like it was jumping around my chest. Frightened me so much, thought I was a gonna! I was kept in overnight and received numerous IV medications to lower my heart rate. I've now been told that I need to take beta blockers and blood thinners for the rest of my life....how life can change in an instant!

[Kev1710]

Hi, welcome to the group, I too was recently diagnosed with AF. I had a cardio version which has been successful ( so far). You will find this group very helpful. Hope all goes well for you.

[pip_pip]

It certainly can. Be prepared. Read all information ready for you on this site and the AF Association website. I'm sure others can provide the links.

Phil

[mrgwair567]

Don’t despair! We have all felt like you. You are not alone !There’s plenty of advice on here, and lots of lovely people to help you. This forum has been , and will be, a godsend for many of us!. Regards Lynne

[Buzby62]

Lots of information and opinions to take in when you’re first diagnosed and it can be overwhelming. I’ll stick to information for now as knowledge is what you need to understand your version of the condition and find your treatment path. We are all different, I was on the meds for 3 years but came off them two months ago after having an ablation in December. You can see my bio by clicking on my name/badge.

Here is a link to the AF Fact File api.heartrhythmalliance.org...

Here is a link to all the patient resources heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

Best wishes

[BenHall1]

G'day bevdav,

Welcome.

You need to learn that there are things known as triggers .... something will ( maybe obvious maybe not so obvious ) have kicked off your AF. AF is a tricky little number .... because .... it is all things to all people. If you interviewed all the people active on this forum you'd find they all have a different trigger.

I kicked off in January 2010 aged 65. Now I had no cardiac symptoms at all ........... thought I was going down with flu. Even my BP was normal at the start, but then .... later in the morning I decided to check my BP again and it had dropped. In a time period of 6 hours my BP dropped from 136/80 to 76/50 .............. AND .............. my HR rose peaking at 156 bpm.

Houston, we have a problem ! ( those immortal words from Apollo 13 ).

So some of the triggers that come to mind ( there maybe more awaiting identification ) ........... food and ingredients ( both hot and cold foods ), drinks ( alcoholic and non alcoholic ), genetics ( family history of strokes and other cardiac conditions ), stress, exercise ( bog standard, walking the dog up to olympic grade - extreme sports ) . If you hang out on here long enough ( as I have done ) you'll see all sorts of stuff emerge on extreme sports, and peeps themselves scratching their heads ( as you are doing ) wondering where that came from. Mainly marathon runners and cyclists.

Looking at your Bio ........... would seem to me you may well be experiencing / or have experienced shedloads of stress. So if you have had all this stress ......... and just say, you have a genetic predisposition to cardiac issues ..... bingo! jackpot !

Certainly in my own family my geneology time line is ........... my grandfather died from a series of strokes, I have AF, my daughter ( in her late 20's /early 30's ) was diagnosed with AF in both her two pregnancies, my 2nd cousin had AF ........... also, his grandfather and my grandfather were brothers !

At your age, the beta blockers and anticoagulants would seem to represent the basic minimum approach to whipping your AF into place and controlling it. If your medical team got it quick enough you may well be ( like me ) fortunate enough to have it controlled by medication alone. I refused to have both a cardioversion and an ablation. Again - over time you may find your cardiologist or GP may adjust the brand of beta blockers, as has happened to me - I have shifted from Bisoprolol to Nebivolol to Sotalol over 14 years - no worries. My anticoagulant is Warfarin. I self test with my own INR testing device. I have spent four months on Edoxaban but found it a vile, evil anticoagulant because of its side effects. As a consequence told my GP to 'shove it ' ........... and took myself back onto Warfarin. She finally agreed with this action.

Anyway the purpose of this text is to give you a broadbrush view of AF in all its glories - just my personal take. Also illustrates the wider scope of AF. Also, if you are tempted to listen to fishwives stories - do not mess about with your medication doses - unless under professional healthcare guidance.

Wishing you and your husband every success in your respective cardiac travels.

John

[Omniscient1]

Hi Bev, lots of good advice here. AF is something to be managed and won't rule your life. Get to see the consultant, and keep abreast of what interventions and therapies are available to you. Google chads2vasc for the background on your beta blockers and anti coagulation. Welcome.

[Morzine]

don’t panic

We all were you at some stage in this afib journey and it’s a huge shock. And even being told tablets for rest of life is a shock.

But trust me life can be pretty normal and lots of us fly go oin holidays long haul, short haul it’s not a life sentence .

I was mortified and shocked as mine came on holiday in Spain , never heard of it.

This forum were wonderful to me , the best thing I did as I gradually realized ny life could be as good as it was before with a little tweaking.

The bisiprolol may take a time to settle so don’t worry.

Read up and feel free to message anytime as much as you want there’s always a few of us to answer, it’s a great band of merry folk.

And in time you will be adding your advice to newbies …… full circle eh.

So chin up,

Sue

[bevdav]

Thank you all so much for your replies. Hope the panic attacks settle as I can't stop thinking about the actual event. I'm sure they will in time. Good to know that there are others out there though as it's easy to feel like you're the only one. Have a good day all and thanks again x

[Cavalierrubie]

Just read you post Bev. Welcome to you. This is the IT place to be. I honestly don’t think l would have survived without this forum. My shock and anxiety went through the roof. It takes a lot of accepting and reading as to what this monster is all about. Always remember when having an episode that it’s not life threatening. When you get stabilised and settle down you will relax more. You can have a good quality of life again and you will be fine. X