I was diagnosed with Afib in Nov 2021. I was put on Edoxaban 60mg and Bisoprolol 2.5mg to add to my Simvastation 40mg of about 20 years. All of these are once daily.
My Afib episodes are every 11 to 16 days with mild but noticeable symptoms that peak for an hour then tail off to end after 24 hours.
My resting heart rate is 42 to 46 when not in Afib and 55 to 70 when in Afib. My heart rate can jump from 35 to 130 in Afib but will average about 70 over a 30 second Kardia Mobile ECG.
I have been on this site for 6 months and learned a lot but also find myself unsure what to do next.
Ablation is an option that is apparently best down asap as Afib tends to get worse over time. But mine is not getting worse and there are the side effects to consider.
With my bradycardia, there is a worry that Bisoprolol is inappropriate but I have no adverse symptoms and my cardiologist has no concerns.
I also have other doubts surrounding the widespread prescribing of anti coagulants and statins. But I have no obvious problems continuing with these.
I am happy with my current position but things I have read here are causing me to doubt my relaxed attitude.
I am not sure why I am posting this but I guess that this is the best place to get a wide spectrum of opinions. In fact I am not sure where else I can talk to people that understand Afib.
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Crimson2020
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It sounds like your AF is reasonably controlled. When was the last time they ran any tests to see how your heart is structurally? You can live with AF and people do.
As Bob said, the anticoagulants are a must.
That’s the problem at times with these sites and Facebook - if people didn’t have problems they wouldn’t post. The people who are going really well aren’t on here saying that. We only see the negative stuff with whole seeking help so we get a skewed view of the concerns.
Perhaps ask your cardiologist for a review to ease any concerns?
I have had two echocardiograms, one in 2017 and one in 2022, both of which were fine.
Your observation on social media sites is important. In fact, the absence of positive comments is evident. I would like to think my post is positive but it hasn't come across that way.
I am happy with my current situation but subconsciously, I was not confident in saying that for fear someone would bring me down.
I believe that after 6 months on this site that I have gained enough information to make me comfortable. I also believe that my concerns have been eased and that I will now have some added benefits from a reduction in my stress levels!
If you have a sound heart and no comorbidities with QOL you are in a good position and no rash decisions required.
However, my cardiologist is one of those that says AF likely to get worse as we age and pushes me (AF daily 7% of the time but QOL acceptable) to have an ablation.
My preference is to obtain max info and then take a decision. So if I were you, I would book a private cardiologist appointment to discuss Flecainide (a rhythm not a rate drug) 100mgs/day. I am biased as this drug worked well for me for 10yrs and may still be helping. If an ablation is the way forward, I currently would favour a Pulse Field Ablation.
You’re fine as you are! My dear mother lived to be 94 with AF, in very good health otherwise. Her cardiologist said to her, at her last echo: ‘you have the heart of a young girl’. So all these years of AF (I guess 30) did not hurt or scar her heart at all.
An ablation means scarring your heart on purpose. So I would consider it only if my AF would become VERY symptomatic and permanent, thereby affecting my quality of life tremendously. And so would one of my best friends, a retired cardiologist with AF himself.
Stay in the condition where you are now: it’s a blessing. All the best!
If you need access to a free service, remember the BHF (British Heart Foundation) has a free phone line to talk to a cardiac nurse. See the BHF website for further details.
I have a problem with the sweeping statement... af gets worse over time. Like yourself mine is a lot less than it was last year. I still take anticoagulants and bisop.
I would, without a moment's more thought, stay relaxed and trust your doctor and specialist who know your background better than anyone else. At the end of the day, to Dr Google and social media users, you are unknown and medical decisions should be taken with a case history and background health knowledge.
I have a general kind of bradycardia, too, likely from the bundle block ("LBBB") I have which adds to the symptoms from my ectopic beats and AF cause (I cope well enough, though). I have wondered, too, about stopping bisoprolol (1.25mg), but my GP advises against it.
I also take a statin along with apixaban. I also was prescribed a blood pressure tablet called losartan, intended to be a cardio-protective, even though my BP is normal (I think that's to help with the LBBB).
I had a choice of medication or ablation, and I chose ablation (PFA). My electrophysiologist said that if you wait too long it can be very difficult to get rid of the afib. One month has gone by and so far so good. I'm hoping that I can be taken off of the beta blocker and anticoagulants after my 3-month checkup
if you are not having problems right now be happy about it. what a fib is like it comes goes when it chooses to unfortunately I always appreciate the quiet times.
I will never question the statins and or anticoagulant. Again the other day, my has made it clear how important they are. I had forgotten to take something that morning and write off he questioned. Did you take your Xarelto and I said yes, he said good. You can miss anything but don’t miss that. I have not been feeling well lately and my numbers are up even with my pacemaker so he just doubled both my statin and for now. By doubling, I mean twice a day. It has already worked, although my heart rate is still not down where he wants it, but it has been in the 90s now it’s back to 80.
again all different so I would never tell anyone to skip anything, but there are times that the doctors will tell us and they all seem to have their own opinion on that. When I had depending on the doctor I had to miss as much as three days. When I had my pacemaker, I was kept on them. All I know is I’m still here. I had no bad side effects. Truth be told they only med. I have had issues with everything else I have taken. I’ve never felt anything although I have seen results. it can be annoying when they keep changing thankfully, my insurance takes care of my medication without extra charge. A good EP is trying to give you quality of life and part of that is getting our so possibly we won’t need an ablation, etc. they aren’t a requirement with a fib. I had one very bad time because of an ablation that went bad but other than I have to tell I feel very blessed. It’s never fun to have a fib but again we are all different for the most part. I am not going to complain and annoying. We are all built different. Also some are more sensitive than others. Normally, I have a high threshold for pain. I did learn however, this week oh yes, I can feel pain. I have been sick. I’m not sure if that was part of it but Monday after I got home from the, I went down hard. I don’t think my body missed a part of the wall or the floor, including the whole right side of my face. The wall was metal and wood. Never have. I felt pain like this and I’m still feeling it.
I want to thank all of you on here because one of the things I have paid attention to is about injury when you are on an anticoagulant. I have a tendency to fall and just get back up and ignore it because it doesn’t seem to feel worse. Then I began reading about the clotting because we are on the med. You just had one about a week ago I still had that fresh in my mind so I let it go less than an hour and called my Doctor Who had me come in immediately. I had just been there also for. It was a doctor kind of day I guess. It was decided I could go home but the following morning report for x-rays I had about a dozen. I also need to get a CAT scan an x-ray on my hip. I did not feel that pain at the time because everything else hurt so.
many of you taught me not to ignore because we can have issues like blood clots without feeling. it and by the time we fill it it’s too late. Again, as I said, I have high pain tolerance when I had my first a fib event. I went down twice blacking out and still managed to get up and go to bed to sleep, which is not a good thing.
question out here, especially you, Bob you have a lot of answers. You also have a pacemaker. Are there differences once we have a pacemaker in situations such as falling. One thing I have noticed is I am not bruising like I did before the pacemaker times that I really expected to be bruised. Honestly, I thought my face was going to look like of the opera although I do have a. Is there anything to be on the lookout for now? The biggest worry for especially with the fall the other day was my leads and pacemaker because of the way I went down. This is my fourth fall in about two months, which is why they want the I can just be standing there and suddenly tip over like a teapot.
very bad timing because my EP who has been everything to me was offered an amazing position in another state and is gone. My new referral just went through to the EP I have chosen to go to now and I’m about to call to schedule. I have begun to have PTSD about falling or even going out because I am afraid I will fall. One of the outside in my driveway flat on my back knocked myself out and there was no one around. I guess it’s time to get one of those life alert things.
how sensitive is the pacemaker etc. when we fall do you have an answer for that? I’ve had the pacemaker two years so they should be sunk in by now oh yes, I’m going to be asking my doctor as well but while I’m on here with you, I am going to take advantage of your knowledge and opinions of other great people
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