I posted this in reply to Autumn on another thread.
Hi Autumn.
The asymptomatic people can often remain undiagnosed and it’s only when they suffer from a serious consequence that AF is discovered.
Frightening stuff! They are walking time bombs for a stroke. I read somewhere that 33% of people with AFib don't know they have it. More awareness is needed. Why don't GP surgeries promote checking your pulse? They could do this by displaying 'check your pulse' on their boards in the waiting room - or the doctor could do it for every patient they see—it would only take 30 seconds.
I'm going to ask my GP if they are up for it the next time I visit. If all forum members did this same lives would be saved.
Please do this.
🎸Keep Rocking
Paul
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l agree Paul. I think this has been mentioned before on this forum. GP’s and nurses used to do this as routine years ago so why it’s not still practiced l have no idea. Better still to educate people to take their own pulse. I hadn’t even heard of AF when l was diagnosed 7 years ago, despite it being the most common arrhythmia. There needs to be more awareness l think. Will it change? We can hope.
It’s a good question to ask why they don’t take a patients pulse anymore and one l will ask when l next visit my GP. I think some now use a digital blood pressure reading which would probably register the pulse, but that relies on your blood pressure being taken. With the lack of care and difficulty in getting a GP appointment it is very necessary these days to check most things yourself, or pay to get checked. I think we are all very vulnerable and it’s a very precarious situation.
AFA have been banging on about this for years Paul so you are preaching to the connverted. Years ago if you went to the doctor the first thing they did was take you pulse but despite campaigning since we were formed in 2007 it has never been accepted as government policy. Our last suggestion was for pulse check with every flu jab!
Nice work Bob. There must be away to do this. I have a few ideas - I'm right busy today working on my website but will try to kick-start something later in the week.
Blood pressure checks are offered in all sorts of places where I live in the south west of the UK. Nurses at Dr's surgery always doing them, sometimes Dr's too when you see them. Then checks can be carried out at some chemists offering the service. The first time I was aware of having a test was pre AF days, when walking by a sign that said to go into a church hall and get BP checked free.
I didn't know I had AF until I had a stroke! Another thing that needs to be taken into account is anyone suffering with underactive thyroid problems is prone to AF. Why is the heart rate not taken when yearly blood tests are done for thyroid levels, had this been carried out for me the stroke may have been prevented.
It's a shame you had to have a stroke to find out you had Afib.
I only found out by chance. A group of volunteers were offering free blood pressure tests in the market in Stafford. The person who tried with me said my blood pressure was not enough to take a reading and checked my pulse. He said I needed to make an appointment with my doctor asap.
I had a lucky escape - looking back now it's likely I had Afib for about 2 years before it was detected by a volunteer. I'm pleased I went to the market that day as it could even have saved my life and prevented a stroke!
The locum Dr who has come back t join us at our clinic has!
In my last clinic a learning nurse took my pulse, temperature and BP and noted it for the Dr.
I have said to the receptionists that we should have this done near arrival.
Not only catch irregular heart beat (need to be trained) but high BP, high temp, rapid pulse.
Its good practice.
Tomorrow is my CT scan follow up and I'll call it D Day o learn whether 3 calcificated places need biospied and removed or not. Surgeon leaves end of November.
Good luck with your CT scan tomorrow Joy. I hope you get the results you want.
You wrote...
Not only catch irregular heartbeat (need to be trained)
I'm not sure you need to be trained Joy. You can check your own pulse anytime at home. Note as well that if you have PAF you may not be in Afib on the day you see your doc = negative result.
Um, you miss the word IRREGULAR BEAT. Just by counting the beats, this does not give you irregular beat. And with someone else doing it in your clinic. It needs to accurate.
The other person should be trained in IRREGULAR HEART BEAT for sure, otherwise it will not be noted. And that is the point of discretion REGULAR H/B f.. or IRREGULAR slow or rapid BPM.
When mine was rapid and irregular my dr had to use the stethoscope to measure bpm.
My ex-girlfiend used to check my pulse for a minute. If it skipped a beat she would detect it. She was also very accurate counting BPM. She could tell if I was in Afib within a very short time.
Whow, she was worth keeping. I'm saying that an irregularity can be overlooked unless carefully pointed out. You don't want a person to write down the number without the irregularity, would you.
I remember as a student nurse I learnt to count my pulse bpm - 60 and I did not have AF then. My temperature was 36.5 and not the 37 everyone else was. Sorry can't remember BP.
Amazing that when asleep i'm 47avg bpm and yet in 2019 with 76.47mg Metoprolol @ 186. S does it come out of AF at night. In hospitalat arrival I was diagnosed as Rapid and Persistent AF.
Yeah, I know. We met when I was a young man(ish) and were together for 27 years. I packed my bags and walked out as it had passed its sell-by date. We are still the best of friends and Shirley often calls around for a coffee and cleans up for me! Win-win
I fell for a girl who lived abroad last year - she was a stunner and very clever too (she was one of the few people who could beat me at chess). I flew many times and stayed with her. We split as we both decided living in different countries made things difficult. I must say though we both fell in love - maybe she was the one who got away. She has a property in Montenegro and we both considered uprooting one at one point and living together there. Alas, it didn't happen - one of life's regrets.
Anyway, I digress from the topic.
In hospitalat arrival I was diagnosed as Rapid and Persistent AF
It's a good thing you were diagnosed. Once again good luck with your CT scan - hope it all goes well.
It took me about 6 months to get my local surgery to agree to doing a pulse test during the annual health check. Finally they 'got it' of course. As I have it they won't test me so I don't know if they're actually doing it, but I think we should all ask our surgeries to do it, and if they don't why not.
To Paul - Sorry, I need to clarify. I am asymptomatic and am in AF all the time. It took me 6 months to get the surgery to agree to test non diagnosed patients to see if they have AF.To Joy,I can get ECGs on demand, and do so every now and then, but in 12+ years it hasn't varied, which I suppose is good.
I was relatively asymptomatic for years. If my pulse had been taken on the very rare occasions I went to the doctor's I think he would have been unlikely to have caught it.
Even when I was in hospital in 2013 and they said I had AF, I didn't take it seriously. They reported it to my doctor who prescribed bisoprolol. I was supposed to take it twice daily but I didn't realise this so took one now and then. One box lasted me for years.
He did nothing until, having bought my Apple watch, I went to him saying it was happening quite often. He said come in for an ECG when it happens again. A few days later I turned up and they recorded an very high average pulse rate. This alarmed the nurse who insisted I see the duty doctor. She wanted to double the bisoprolol and I wasn't having that so asked to be referred. She didn't like it but it ended up with me having an ablation some weeks later.
Maybe the likelihood of having a stroke should be measured together with other comorbidities. Are asymptomatic patients as likely to have a stroke as highly symptomatic ones or not?
Are asymptomatic patients as likely to have a stroke as highly symptomatic ones or not?
I think that is where the majority of the concern lies and what AFA, Bob & Paul are campaigning for as if you are asymptomatic and undiagnosed you won’t be assessed for stroke risk and therefore less likely to take anticoagulants to lessen the stroke risk.
As a doctor once said to me - with the heart you can feel as though you are dying and not really have that much wrong with you or be in immediate danger (other than AF) but you can have no symptoms and be unaware of AF and then suddenly stroke out.
As a doctor once said to me - with the heart you can feel as though you are dying and not really have that much wrong with you or be in immediate danger (other than AF) but you can have no symptoms and be unaware of AF and then suddenly stroke out.
Rock and a hard place! Always go to A&E though if you have any chest pain - better still dial 999 as it may not be safe to drive.
Your doing a good job son,I haven't even got a GP that I know of .Every time I ring up I'm fobbed off to a pharmacist or a nurse,I just make sure I keep fit.Its a shambles.
I asked Mr Chatty who is most likely to have a stroke - asymatic V highly symptomatic. Here's what he had to say. Please note he is NOT a doctor and it's best to just use the information as something to discuss with your doctor.
Paul
This is for informational purposes only. For medical advice or diagnosis, consult a professional.
Asymptomatic patients with atrial fibrillation (afib) do have a higher risk of stroke than those without afib, but the risk is generally lower than for symptomatic patients. However, the risk is still significant and can be managed with medication.
Here's a breakdown of the risks:
Symptomatic patients: These are people who experience symptoms of afib, such as palpitations, shortness of breath, or fatigue. Their risk of stroke is significantly higher than the general population.
Asymptomatic patients: These are people who have afib but don't experience any symptoms. Their risk of stroke is lower than symptomatic patients but still higher than the general population.
It's important to note that the risk of stroke for both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients can be managed with medication. If you have afib, it's important to talk to your doctor about your risk of stroke and whether medication is right for you.
Here are some things you can do to reduce your risk of stroke if you have afib:
Take your medication as prescribed: This is the most important thing you can do to reduce your risk of stroke.
Control your blood pressure: High blood pressure is a major risk factor for stroke.
Manage your cholesterol: High cholesterol can also increase your risk of stroke.
Maintain a healthy weight: Being overweight or obese can increase your risk of stroke.
Eat a healthy diet: A healthy diet can help you control your blood pressure and cholesterol.
Get regular exercise: Exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of stroke.
I was asymptomatic and a podiatrist suggested that I had af - my feet were very cold and so she took a pulse reading on my feet! The GP was initially sceptical and only agreed to refer me for an ecg cos she knew of the podiatrist and on balance considered podiatrists to be ok. I collapsed due to low bp and erratic hr the night before the ecg appointment and was blue lighted to A&E at the same hospital.
Previously my high cholesterol was discovered at an opticians appointment.
It's odd, isn't it? I got my daughter to go to see a rheumatologist because it was uncertain whether she had rheumatoid or osteo arthritis. He said it was osteoarthritis and, from x-rays etc, picked up problems with her feet which he felt were very serious. We hadn't expected that and she has just had surgery.
As for me, I think that if I had taken the doctor's advice I would be stuck on bisoprolol and eliquis for ever, feeling rotten because I have a naturally low pulse rate 63 bpm.
Valid point Paul. MY asymptomatic AF was only diagnosed after a 14 day monitor for my AV re-entrant tachycardia. However luckily I rarely get any runs (so far!) which could prove problematical if my pulse was only taken at random times when visiting my GP as it wouldn't show anything. Difficult one this.
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Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Did your ectopics die out after your ablation?
Afib Wearables, capturing data for your EP and a helpful tool.
Slow irregular heartbeat?
AFIB IS STRESSING ME OUT!!!
AF and anxiety
