First post on here, just trying to get my head around a lot of things since diagnosis and trying my very best not to get too stressed. Awaiting echo,November, 7 day ECG , December and a response from cardio referral, so very much at the start of the journey which incidentally started in August !
My question is , if you’re in Afib is it ok to have Covid and Flu jabs ? I’m in the middle of a longer episode, which I attended A&E for yesterday, I have an appointment for my jabs on Friday am I best to delay it or go ahead ? I know some of you have persistent or permanent Af and would be interested to know your experiences , Thanks 😊
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Roseypink
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Hi Rosey and welcome. You will find there are conflicting opinions on the subject of jabs. I think that getting the real thing is likely to be far worse for an AFer than side effects of the jabs, assuming you don’t have a very rare and unfortunate reaction. And of course if you are already in AF you don’t need to worry about the jab triggering AF. I was told not to have two jabs together but some people do quite happily.
Best wishes, you will find plenty of help and support here x
Thanks for your response, I am very keen to get the jabs but everything makes you think twice with this condition, I know only too well the effects of Covid as I lost my darling mum to it 4 years ago , it was brutal.
I’ve decided to just delay my appointment until next week, but will go ahead all being well .
I’m at the very start of my journey with this , trying not to overload with information at the moment, read a lot of posts on here but everyone is so different, some relatable some not so , but good to have a point of reference as not too much support out there really, Thanks again, take care.
Copy of a reply to a previous post, hope the links work, if not I will edit so they do.
I’m trying to find a way to guide members through the AFA website instead of just pasting direct links as you may miss useful or interesting information from the menus.
Use the Menu button and navigate through via the Conditions, Treatments and Patients links in the menu’s. You should get to the information you want within two or three clicks and maybe see other interesting stuff along the way.
You should be able to get here via the Patients route in the menus, then Resources and Videos then AF Association Patient Resources
Here is a direct link to Medications page as this is currently missing from the menus and I have reported it to admin via chat and email heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...
I tend to look at family genetics. Start with yourself ........... over the course of your life you will have had a number of jabs for a wide range of medical conditions. So, how have you handled them ..... a walk in the park with no disasterous side effects ? Or have you suffered bad side effects. Then apply the same question to members of both sides of your family. If you get the same sort of answer, i.e. a walk in the park etc. then I would suggest you'll be as safe to go ahead as is possible to predict.
Must say that when I recently presented at my surgery for my Flu and CoVid jabs the nursing team did ask at the time if I had any medical conditions going on, i.e. active or dormant. I brought them up to date. I got both jabs in the same arm at my request. No problems, but then my AF is highly controlled at the moment and isn't an issue. ( So long as I remember to take my pills 😱😱 ).
So, I reckon, front up for yer jabs BUT make sure you inform the staff and leave it to them. Good luck.
OK, should you have the covid jab? It's a moot point on the forum and there are mixed views about a yes or no. Personally, I'm in the yes camp and have not had any problems after the injection. Having had covid once I don't want it again!
You wrote....
'just trying to get my head around a lot of things since diagnosis and trying my very best not to get too stressed'
Don't get stressed - there's no need to. Your Afib journey is not going to be half as bad as you think it will be. There are treatments to help and far worse illnesses to have - lifestyle changes are also important. Everyone feels stressed when they first learn they have the condition. I'm a good few years into it now and sure you have your ups and downs but it's made no real difference to my life at all. I still indulge in my greatest passion - travel and I even went on one of the most dangerous walkways in the world while abroad. That's when I was in afib (and still am) but it comes and goes.
Thanks for a lovely positive reply , what I need. If there was a sport in overthinking I would be the GOAT ! Going to take one day at a time and not try to overload myself with too much information , Thanks again 😊
I’d speak to your doctor and weigh up risks, reactions and benefits with someone who is medically qualified to advise. I’m totally 100% supportive of vaccinations however I have been reacting to the COVID vaccine. I don’t specifically just have AF, but a range of conduction issues. I discussed my concerns with my EP, cardiologist and GP and haven’t been vaccinated this year so far. It really is a personal decision which should be made in consultation with your medical care team.
Hi Roseypink and welcome to the forum. I have paroxysmal AFib, two weeks ago while in an episode I had both covid and flu inj. It neither made it better or worse, just the same. That of course is me, everyone has to decide for themselves. As I get on average two episodes a week I could end up never being AFib free on the day. Regards Kathleen
Hard to answer without knowing your medical history including current medication, also your age both physiological and chronological.
I had both last week with no side effects but then I never seem to get side effects from routine vaccinations.
In your situation, I would talk to your GP first and if you are going ahead I would book Covid first and a week later Flu. I don’t know that is the right thing to do, it just seems more sensible to me.
Yes - many posts here seem to suggest it's fine. I have never had any problems whatsoever. Covid itself has caused three friends various problems, however, especially, in one case, with balancing warfarin dosage. It can be an awful illness even if for the vast majority it seems not so.
Hi Rosy I had my latest Covid vaccination on Monday , I am fine apart from a sore arm . I should have had the flu injection at the same time but they had difficulty getting supplies. I also had the RSV vaccination (respiratory virus) for older people 75-80 2 weeks ago which made me feel a bit achy for a couple of days.
I have asthma and severe osteoarthritis as well as AF and really don't think I could cope being hospitalised if I catch Covid.
Always a tricky one. I'm not sure anyone is really qualified to tell someone else whether they should or should not have the jab, and that includes quite a few doctors!
I had the first two AZ ones, early 2021, jab + booster, then I had in autumn 21 and 22 one each of Pfizer and Moderna. Each autumn booster I declined to have both the C19 and the flu jab at the same time, and rescheduled the flu for a few weeks later. If I was going to have a problem, I wanted to know which was which. I had no problems back then.
The credible information on the C19 jab is as hard to find as ever. However, there are official places to look.
If you search for "Appendix A: estimating the number needed to vaccinate to prevent a COVID-19 hospitalisation in autumn 2024 in England", you should find the Gov.uk write up on NNV, which is the "Number Needed to Vaccinate to prevent one case of C19 (expressed as a specific end point)" where the 3 end points covered are hospitalisation, severe hospitalisation and death.
The NNV expresses how many people have to be vaccinated in order to prevent one case of C19 as defined. The numbers, in late 2024, are pretty large (many thousands, up to millions for younger ages), and vary by age, presence of the defined risk categories, and immunosuppressed. I looked up my age and (lack of) risk (Afib is not listed!) and found the number was well into the tens of thousands. Now, although NNV gives you a nice feel for risk, mathematically it is the inverse of risk reduction, so an NNV of, say, 20,000 equals (1/20000) x 100 = 0.005% reduced risk of getting C19 to the end point. And this is the point. NNV tells you the benefit of getting jabbed, and in today's Omicron many-mutations-later stage, the benefit of getting jabbed is pretty small, and of course Omicron strains are nowhere near as bad a the original strains.
Against this you have to weigh the risk of getting C19 or being jabbed. I have found no dependable data on the risk of making AF worse by having the jab, or by getting C19, though there is anecdotal evidence (and in my hospital long waits for cardiology) that AF can be created or presumably made worse by both C19 and the jab. And before that statement gets shot down as anti, also search on line for Non-Interventional Study Interim Study Report 5 Abstract C4591021 , (found on a European Medicines Agency web site) which is Pfizer's own latest and official trial data (published March 2024 and obtained under a Freedom of Information request) which shows a slightly elevated risk of arrhythmias of having the jab, around a 1.1 to 1.3 x risk of placebo.
Personally, I've decided the risk of ill effects from catching it have now (Autumn 2024) declined a lot, the NNV is very large (benefit very small), and the risk of having the jab is now clearly non-zero, that in spite of a long convalescence from my aortic dissection, a recent AF top-up ablation and ongoing ectopics at 10,000+ a day, I will not be having any more.
It remains important to support your own immune system, particularly with Vitamin D, especially in winter and higher latitudes, amd generally eating well, sleeping well, etc. I also still avoid large gatherings.
p.s. barely ever spoken about, but there is also an elevated risk from certain blood types. Search Pub Med for PMID 33309392. Shows elevated risk in blood type A and some other details.
Thanks everyone for your response , I’m definitely having my jabs no question , it was just a case of the right timing for me , I know first hand the effects of Covid having lost my mum in horrible circumstances , so never a question around going ahead . I will definitely chat to my health providers on the day . Thanks again 😊
covid jabs have caused millions of people to have heart problems, including afib death. They caused frequent PVCs and other injuries in me. Considering the covid is usually not severe anymore, in most people, the risk outweighs the benefit, which is short lived and minuscule.
Welcome to the Forum, I am pleased that so many members have already provided support and advice based upon their own experiences. However, please contact your GP practice ahead of the vaccine appointment to find out whether you should have the vaccine on Friday or delay it until the episode has passed.
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