Exhausted

[Lellibet]

hi , I am experiencing terrible fatigue. Is this something that a lot of people with a fib experience. It is very new to me and I am feeling very debilitated. I also seem to be getting days when I just feel wasted and not well. Seeing cardiologist on Monday so hoping he will have some answers as well. I have a beautiful dog that needs walking every day and thanks to him I take him out whether I feel like it or not.

[Cavalierrubie]

Hi Lellibet,

Welcome to the forum and hope you will get lots of support as l did when l was newly diagnosed with AF.

I was very exhausted when l was first diagnosed, but it was a combination of drugs and anxiety. I notice from your profile that you take Bisoprolol. Lots of us on here can’t tolerate this drug and have had to find an alternative. It made me so lethargic and ill that l hardly got up off the sofa. There are alternatives, so don’t suffer in silence.

Are you taking an anticoagulant? I think, at your age, it is important that you do because of the risk of having a stroke. It’s good that you will be seeing your Cardiologist next week to discuss how you feel. I couldn’t tolerate any of the new anticoagulants and have to take warfarin. It was trial and error with all these drugs and it took me quite a long time to get stabilised, so l was ill for weeks and the exhaustion was awful.

It will get better as time goes on and you get on the treatment that suits you. We are all so different in the drugs that suit, but you can have a good quality of life again. It’s very early days, a big shock and takes time to adapt. There are many self-help things you can do to help with AF., and if you go to the AF website they have lots of good advice and tips.

I hope things soon get better. You will smile again - promise. Best wishes.

Chris.

[jeanjeannie50]

Hi Lellibet

Welcome to the forum.

I used to feel really tired and put it all down to having AF. I was usually ok in the morning but then was so tired needed to sleep afternoons. I would dig my trowel into the garden to weed 3 times and it would exhaust me so much I'd have to stop. Then it was discovered that I had an underactive thyroid. Taking pills for that gave me my life and more energy back. Have you had your thyroid checked?

Aside from that attacks of high rate AF can leave you exhausted for days afterwards. My GP said it was like being in a race and running full pelt for hours or days on end.

Jean

[Lellibet in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hi Jean,

Yes had my thyroid tested as the doctor wondered if it was what was causing palpations. Mine was ok. Think I’m just getting a fib aftermath and I will have to adjust. It’s so difficult when you’ve been fine all these years then suddenly all change. Guess it’s also part of aging . Take care

[Auriculaire in reply to Lellibet]

Never accept " Your thyroid is ok " from GPs. Get the numbers including the reference range. Often docs will tell you your thyroid is ok even when it is borderline for hypothyroidism and this is particularly true if you have afib as they believe giving you any thyroxine treatment will make your afib worse. As Jean said an episode of afib with a fast heartrate will leave you feeling exhausted for a coupleof days afterwards but this shoild not continue indefinitely. The Bisoprolol could be the culprit. Women seem to tolerate this less well than men.

[ForensicFairy]

Hello. I’m also a member of the exhausted cardiac patient club. I rarely have AF bit a range of other issues instead. I believe it is both medication and condition related.

I can go through periods of time where the fatigue is very hard to deal with and just as I’m thinking I can’t deal with it anymore, I feel ok again. I never feel great like I used to, but I do feel ok.

You’re doing the right thing with walking. I’ve always found walking helps ease my fatigue as long as I don’t over do it.

[RF260]

Hi, sorry to see that you are struggling with fatigue and hope that cardiologist meeting is positive for a way forward. Last summer I had a heart attack in April, was doing my rehab, getting back into doing stuff like washing car etc and around June was pretty much back to normal. Then in July I started to feel oh so tired, struggling to do those tasks like cleaning the car, had to stop every few minutes. Eventually decided to see GP in September who confirmed atrial fibrillationI was referred and subsequently have had echocardiogram, 24 hour holter monitor, ecg's, blood tests etc etc.

Anyway the outcome to date has been to drop the bisoprolol as my heart rate was on the low side, start edoxaban to mitigate stroke risk and recently (January) started Amiodarone which got my heart back into normal sinus rhythm in about 10 days.

I want off of Amiodarone given potential side effects so at next review I will ask about alternative rhythm control meds and maybe ablation.

So, don't despair, keep up the beautiful dog walking and any exercise you can.

Make the most of your time with the cardiologist and discuss rate control, rhythm control, anticoagulation which will all be particular to you as well are all slightly different..

Finally as has been said anxiety is a huge drain on our energy , I've been there and still am to an extent so anything to reduce that can only be good.

I send you hugs x

[Lellibet in reply to RF260]

Thank you for your lovely reply. Hope you get meds sorted. Take care

[Alphakiwi]

I think its what most eventually experience and unfortunately for me and others excersising is a trigger so keep your walking at a low pace and you may avoid it a bit. Im better off now since having an AV node ablation. Colin.

[secondtry]

I would request a 48 heart monitor, easy to obtain, wear at home and useful report follows to eliminate some of the guesswork as even the best diaries can't record what happens while sleeping.

[Vonnegut]

Perhaps you are on too high a dose of something like Bisoprolol, the lowest dose of which was too much for me to take and the pharmacist, took my pulse and told me to stop taking it after only three days after I had been feeling tired!

[Teresa156]

Hi Lellibet,

Welcome to the forum. I’m sorry to read how exhausted you feel, it must be awful for you. I was reading your other two posts….can I check, are you still taking 5 mg bisoprolol, which I think from what I’ve read, you changed to recently from another medication you were taking, for your bp?

And are your episodes paroxysmal? I think from what I’ve read, your episodes come and go? Do you feel exhausted when you are in normal sinus rhythm? (When you are not having AF)?

[Lellibet in reply to Teresa156]

Hi Teresa,

Yes I’m still on Bisoprolol and have been on them for several years, I also take felodopine for bp and I have now started on apixaban plus a statin at night . I think it’s more after a fib I feel it and as they are becoming more often maybe that is the reason. I had a good night so I am going to see if today is better. I really felt absolutely exhausted yesterday. I know a fib is nowhere near as bad as some poor people suffer but even so it is not nice . Thank you for taking the time to reply. This is all new to me and I think I still need to get my head round it all

[Teresa156 in reply to Lellibet]

Hi Lellibet,

So it is the effects of AF that leave you exhausted by the sounds of it. I tend to have AF at night so it’s always tiredness with me as I cannot sleep when my heart is running a marathon, so I know the way it can make us feel. When you see a cardiologist on Monday, do mention to them exactly how this affects you. I always find it useful to make some notes that I can refer to. Do you know how high your Afib gets to, or how long your episodes are lasting? If you don’t know, please can I suggest that you ask if you can have a monitor to check what it’s doing? They may suggest that anyway first you ( and probably should) they should also di an echocardiogram (scan) of your heart to check the structure, if they haven’t done so already. Tell the cardiologist how it’s affecting your quality of life, as keeping AF under control is all about that, at the end of the day.

Do you have anything that takes your HR and ECG such as a Kardia machine? It might be worth getting one of these too?

If you can stretch to it, it might be worth pursuing an EP to talk to as they focus more on arrythmia than cardiologists, if you want to pursue that route of course. Many of us resort to this privately and you can refer yourself, by simply getting in touch with their secretaries after looking them up on Google. You should be able to find one near to you or who works on a local hospital who specialises in Arrythmia /AFib. They usually work for the NHS and privately. As I say, it’s only if you want to go down this route.

[Lellibet in reply to Teresa156]

Thanks. Yes mine are usually at night and like you can be awake most of the night, which is awful. Mine episodes normally last around 3 hours. I’ve had monitor and echocardiogram. That’s how I was diagnosed as my doctor or doctors kept telling me it was normal to have palpitations and there was nothing wrong. . Just one doctor who said she would arrange a monitor just to be in safe side and low and behold. I am a great believer in that we know our bodies and know when things aren’t right. I’ve never bothered much going to doctors unless I really needed to so maybe they should have taken more notice. I know they are stretched but ……… sorry going on a bit there

[Teresa156 in reply to Lellibet]

You’re not going on at all. If you don’t say anything, it’s easy to get left behind unfortunately. You must also make sure on Monday that they don’t discharge you and leave you to get on with it. Ask for a follow up always.

Do think about seeing an EP though.

[lynwest in reply to Lellibet]

All your drugs are Generic as these are promoted throughout the NHS because they are, supposedly, cheaper. I have just changed Bisoprolol and Apixaban to Brand. Guess what? Brand and Generic are now the same price because the Patent has now run out. However, I am struggling to get Lercandipine and Losartan changed from Generic to Brand because there is a shortage of supply.

[2learn]

Hi, there can be a whole range of things which can combine to cause tiredness and AF can be the last straw. For myself I have sleep apnoea, also take other non AF medications most of which say a side effect can be drowsiness. I also have chronic arthritis for which I take painkillers which make me sleep. So for many of us this combination of drugs, AF and aging just tires our bodies.

[Lellibet in reply to 2learn]

You are right I do have fibromyalgia as well so I suffer with dreadful aches so all in all I guess it’s an amalgamation of things

[JOY2THEWORLD49]

Hi

I would say that the meds that you are on should be checked by giving you a 24hr Heart Monitor.

I had 3 in 2021 before testng on a med and after change in 2 weeks on another. This speaks truth on your H/Rate Day and Night.

Stopping Bisoprolol in December. was like freedom from fatigue ansd sleeping when exerting myself.

BBs did not control my H/Rate.It should be 100 or less to be controlled at rest.

I've been on CCB Diltiazem for 3 years 3 months. winder med for me.

cheri JOY. 76 (NZ)

[Tomred]

I am with you here, the fatigue is terrible, afib and the big pee affect my sleep and coupled with bisoprolol, i feel drained 70 per cent of the time, the fatigue is almost worse to deal with than the mice running around my heart.

[Newtothis25]

Hi,

I was diagnosed with AF a few weeks ago after staying a few days in the hospital. I had absolutely no energy whatsoever for a few weeks. Never experienced anything like it. I finally did recover and having to slowly attempt to get back to my new normal. Hope you recover faster and better than I am.

[Ppiman]

I had AF half the night and, today, I knew it with the strange mild "chest ache" that I sometimes get, added to a feeling of being washed out. And yet, this afternoon I washed the car thoroughly and a few other things. I still "know" I did that but I am glad for it. I seep dreadfully bad, too, so I think that adds to my woes.

In your case, I would ask the specialist for some help. Maybe a change of medication?

Steve

[Healthybunny]

Hello Lellibet, I read most of the responses to your post and everyone describes some aspect of afib that I have happily put out of my mind. I was diagnosed at 70 and initially thought that I was having a panic attack. My work was affected, my confidence, my sleep, my energy in a huge way! I felt as if I had aged a decade that year. I reluctantly began the anticoagulants and tried adjusting my atenolol and digoxin that I had been on for years to control the palpitations I've had since my late 30's. I adjusted lifestyle, no alcohol, just decaf coffee, trying to avoid as much stress as possible, that meant saying no to many things I would normally be engaged in. Finally I caved in to trying flecainide at my cardiologist's urging, (I was very hesitant to try another drug). That was 4 months ago. I haven't had an episode since, PTL! It has been a year and a half since my diagnosis I find myself often saying to myself that I feel more like myself every day. I definitely believe that the afib itself is to blame for your exhaustion and lack of a sense of well being. I sincerely hope for a solution for you soon in managing the beast. MB

[Lellibet in reply to Healthybunny]

Thank you so much. That is so positive 😊

[HollieAdmin Administrator AF Association]

Hello,

Thank you for your post. I am sorry to hear of your struggle with fatigue. It is completely understandable to be feeling debilitated so it is important to be kind to yourself and to listen to your body.

I would like to mention our Mindfulness and Healthy Living with AF booklet. It contains supportive information that I do hope you find helpful: api.heartrhythmalliance.org...

If you would like any support, advice or information, please do reach out to our Patient Services Team via Patient Helpline or via email, please visit: heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

We are always here if you need us.

I do hope that your Cardiology appointment went well.

Kind regards,

HollieAdmin

[Lellibet in reply to HollieAdmin]

Thank you Hollie, this info is brilliant and I shall return to this a lot . You are a wonderful team x

[HollieAdmin Administrator AF Association in reply to Lellibet]

You are very welcome. I am pleased to hear that you have found our resources helpful. Thank you for your lovely feedback.

Take care,

HollieAdmin

[Brianboru]

Hi Lellibet. My pacemaker medications made me very fatigued until I took steps to have them reduced by an ablation. The side effects were doing more harm than the afib !!

Give it some thought if applicable.