A night in A & E

[exmouth]

I experienced an AF episode on Friday night . I started to have really bad pain, which I haven’t had before. They did all the usual tests and said you sometimes get pain with AF. Up until a couple of months ago, I didn’t get any break through palpitations, but although I’ve upped my dose of Bisopolol I’m still getting the flips and flops Does anyone else experience this.

[Cavalierrubie]

l have had lots of nights in AE so can sympathise. I would always go with chest pain, which l get and it’s worth it to get checked out. I would never ignore chest pain.

Mine nearly always turns out to be gastric as l have a hiatus hernia, but apparently it’s difficult to tell the difference until they have done all the necessary checks.

Bisoprolol is a rate control drug, so perhaps you need a drug review for rhythm control medication. I use Bisoprolol as a pip and it works for me. It lowers my HR and BP and calms everything down and l eventually slip back into NSR. I cannot take this regularly as l have low blood pressure.

I am seeing an EP beginning of March for either drug review or ablation as my episodes have increased and l am now getting palpitations and ectopic beats more often. I find these worse than AF.

I would see your GP or cardiologist if it continues for a review and check up. Good luck.

[exmouth in reply to Cavalierrubie]

Thanks for your reply I paid to see a cardiologist a few weeks ago, now waiting for the scan I think he wants to change medication. Take care

[Cavalierrubie in reply to exmouth]

Hi Exmouth, That’s good. Yes, l think you need different meds. Hope it all goes ok and settles again, which l am sure it will. Best wishes.

[SMRM]

Before I had an ablation the AF episodes I had were sometimes very painful; and included jaw area. I'm thankful that now when I have an episode it's "just flutter/tachycardia."

[Ppiman]

Describing pain is not easy and one person's discomfort is another's pain. I get "chest aches" that can spread from under my left rib, into my throat, back and upper shoulder, even into my jaw a little. I think this is a feature of AF in some people but there's not much about it online.

Steve

[exmouth in reply to Ppiman]

Thanks for your reply. This pain was like something being tightened, it lasted about two hours. I suppose it’s best to be checked out. I’ll see what they say with the heart scan but have decided to lose weight, I’m not huge but have put weight on lately. Thank you again Take care.

[Ppiman in reply to exmouth]

Yes - I would feel the same. I can get a similar sounding strange feeling when I get a fast rate rather than AF (or, at least, my watch doesn’t label it AF). I had it the other day but I’ve been reassured it’s just the same issues that cause my AF.

I’ve been a stone over my ideal weight for years and am very slowly losing it by simply eating smaller portions. It works well. Extra weight seems likely to be the number one cause of general chronic health problems.

Steve

[Vonnegut]

Bisoprolol reduces heart rate but does nothing for the irregularity - Flecainide does that too if your heart is structurally sound and you are able to take it.

[exmouth in reply to Vonnegut]

I think this is why I’m having a heart scan to see if I’m suitable for Flecainde

[Vonnegut in reply to exmouth]

I had an echocardiogram soon after my PAF was finally diagnosed and the chap who did it declared my heart structurally sound but I only got the Flecainide after going to see an EP privately after the lowest dose of Bisoprolol proved too much for me to take daily and the surgery didn’t come up with anything else!

Hope things work out well for you.