More questions

[HotGuacamole]

First question: I had an episode of atrial fibrillation Friday morning. Usually, when I have an episode, I feel normal after it stops. I took a flecainide and it stopped after a couple of hours, but I felt bad the rest of the day - as if I were still in afib, without the pounding heart. I took a couple more EKGs with my Kardia, and one came back "unassigned," so I asked for a reading by a clinician. That came back "sinus rhythm with single PACs," so I guess this is normal? So what I want to know is whether people usually feel normal after an afib episode, or is it usual to feel rotten for hours afterwards?

Second question (and this is weird!): I noticed that evening or maybe the next day that my fingertips looked purple! I took a photo. I do have pale skin, so maybe I'm just imagining something? I consulted "Dr. Google" and found nothing related to afib. Has anyone else experienced this after an afib episode? Have I made something up in my head?

Third question: The next day, Saturday, my heart was beating faster than usual all day so that my Fitbit thought I was exercising for like 6-7 hours. It wasn't so fast as to be tachycardia, just faster than usual for me, with no afib. I think it was related, because the next morning, boom, another afib episode about 7:30 am. I took a flecainide, that went away in about 2 hours, and then I was fine - no lingering effects. I felt normal.

Last question: During the second afib episode, I happened to look at my Fitbit and noticed that my heart beat was dropping down into the 30s as well as going up into the 150s and 160s. Do others experience that, and I just never noticed before?

I realize I might have to go back to taking flecainide full-time, but I so hate that medicine. Thank you for reassuring me when I have these stupid questions - I feel anxious because there was so much here that seemed different from my normal episodes. And I hate to bother my cardiologist with my endless questions because he has so many patients who are worse off than me.

[Buzby62]

Last question

You shouldn’t look at instantaneous device Heart Rate when in AF, you should count the beats in a whole minute which will give you the average bpm.

To explain, 3 beats in 1 second would read as 180bpm and then 1 beat in 2 seconds would read as 30bpm. Both of which are quite normal in my experience while in AF.

If something different to usual is happening you should speak to your medics.

Best wishes

[HotGuacamole in reply to Buzby62]

Thank you. I am trying so hard to understand the ins and outs of this!

[Popepaul]

Just a thought., you could be experiencing peripheral cyanosis in your finger tips. Your pulse appears to be labile. You are experiencing both tachycardia and bradycardia. They can both be problematic. You may find that your blood pressure also becomes labile. I think it would be sensible to make your consultant aware of changing symptoms.Regards

[HotGuacamole in reply to Popepaul]

Thank you!

[mjames1]

Everything you described is either normal, or nothing to be concerned about. Not that familiar with Fitbit, but many devices have a hard time accurately logging heart rate during an afib episode, so perhaps those readings. Daily Flecainide and/or an ablation sound like reasonable next steps.

Jim

[HotGuacamole in reply to mjames1]

Yes, I was wondering how accurate the Fitbit really is during an afib episode.

[mjames1 in reply to HotGuacamole]

Most accurate way to get your pulse rate during an afib episode is by counting beats on an ekg. If you don't have a home ekg device like Kardia and Apple Watch, you can get a very good approximation by manually counting the beats either at the neck or wrist. I'd count for at least 30 seconds and multiply by 2. Counting 60 seconds is even better.

Jim

[LankyCoachMan]

Answer to the first question, when having an episode I feel like crap, but after 3 hours, when the adib has calmed down, if feel like "normal" & then can go back to sleep.For the last question, whenbhaving a severe episode, my heart rate can go from 45bpm to 175-200bpm, in 30 secs, whilst doing nothing. This is the point of calling an ambulance, just in case.

But whilst I've been on bisoporal, 6 weeks now, I've not had an episode, usually an episode was every 2-3 weeks. Good luck dude.

[Alphakiwi]

Its probably side effects of your meds. Ive had to stop taking meds now except rivaroxaban which is a anticoagulant. Not sure what my future treatment will be.. so foryou if these affects your getting are not severe the keep taking and seenif your bodygets used to it or maybe your gp can give you s dligjtly lower dose. All the best Colin

[Vonnegut]

How different we all are. As I’ve written here before, 100mg of Flecainide taken twice daily has worked very well at preventing AF episodes for me but as I have chronic fatigue too, I rest for much of the time and am rarely very active and am 80.

[Ppiman]

Firstly, if your fingers have never been that colour, do check with your family doctor. I’d be surprised it was anything but if it’s new, check it out. 😊

AF is the result of a conduction problem with cells around the pulmonary veins mainly and shows often as a fast heart rate, but the irritation of other atrial cells can easily occur alongside and this can lead to other arrhythmias which show as ectopic beats - “PAC”s, often. These can be from few a day to many a minute in number - and from minor to quite major in effect. I get more trouble with ectopic beats by far than AF at present.

Steve

[HotGuacamole in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks, that's helpful.