AF and COPD

[BenHall1]

Hi y'all,

I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF in January 2010 (aged 65). I have stayed on the medication for life route and only get a full blown flare up once every 4 or 5 years. In between flare ups I am aware of lots of other weird stuff going on with my heart, ectopics mainly. But nothing that is too dramatic. I've never EVER opted for the ablation route.

In December 2024 (aged 80) I was diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) for which I have been prescribed Easyhaler with Sabutomol (an inhaler) and TOLD to get more exercise - alot more - or else !! My GP then told me if I didn't do the exercise THEN in a few years "I'd be needin g someone to wipe my bum". As blunt as that.

So, are any of you blessed with these same two medical diagnosis as me, AF and COPD. My interest is to find out how you deal with this crap ? AF I forget about. COPD I'm really struggling ... really struggling ! My breathing is really hard work ... and so very, very tiring ... I feel like stopping. This week I am joining a local Lung Disorder Group for more exercises and for tips on how to live with COPD. My GP can't help other than make referrals to such Lung Disorder Groups. I also do lots of walking locally which I record on my Strava.

The thing that really, truly gets me with this bloody COPD is that no two days are the same ..... one day I can be absolutely dynamite, full of energy, loaded with activity, absolutely dynamic ..... the next without warnings of any sort it can be like I've emerged from a train wreck. I'm incapable of anything, other than sitting - which is the very last thing I should be doing. I just cannot 'mentally' cope with the such dramatic change in mental and physical activity levels.

Thank goodness my AF is now beyond concern. Well, hopefully - if I can control my coughing fits. That said, I woke up this morning with my old friends battling away in my chest, squadrons of butterflies having dogfights in my chest or my other old friends my earth worms wriggling away in a plastic bag of soft earth.

John

[jeanjeannie50]

Hi John, have you ever smoked? Jean

[BenHall1 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hiya Jean,

Yes I have .... sadly 😢 I smoked for some 24 years - roughly from 1961 to 1985. In addition, I've driven buses for some 32 years - so plenty of road dust, carbon monixide, and plenty of bus brake asbestos dust, particular on the older buses I've driven. I guess it all makes a contribution ........ dunnit 😱 All this COPD revelation has come from Spirometry with Reversibility tests I had done at Plymouth last December.

So - its now payback time I guess. The above is worsened by the fact that Asthma has been fairly common place on the paternal side of my family. So I guess a degree of genetics comes into play too ( as does a history of strokes on the same side of my family ).

Y'know what Jean - the hardest thing to deal with - is the fact that one day I can feel dreadful (wiped out as if I'd run a marathon ) and the next absolutely dynamic ( as I said in my post ) ......... gutted is a term that comes to mind. Yesterday I had a great day not just because it was so sunny down 'ere at the pointy end of Cornwall but because I've managed to stretch my walk just a weeny bit further. Also down 'ere too are nice walks particularly around Hayle Estuary.

Oddly, if I have a sleepless night it comes from osteoarthic shoulder pain if I sleep on my side - never from lung issues ... never. My wife always remarks that I never have a bad night arising from lung issues, breathing difficulties, coughing etc. My worst time starts about an hour after getting up in the morning. and lasts till lunch BUT diminishing as the morning goes on .... late morning I do my walking and by early afternoon I'm normal and stay normal till the following morning, an hour after getting up. The cycle then starts all over again.

Just so weird - innit !! ?? All very Whacko Jacko.

Still so long as my chest just has to deal occasionally with butterflies and earth worms and not full blown AF I'm content with that.

John

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to BenHall1]

Do you supplement with vitamin D3 John? I've found that keeps me free from chest infections. After my spell in hospital a few years ago with pneumonia and covid I upped my dose of that to 4,000IU per day and have not had the slightest sniffle since. I also buy a make that doesn't use fillers.

This weather we're having gives us a boost doesn't it.

Hope you have lots of feeling good days.

Jean

[BenHall1 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Hiya Jean,

No I don't actually, the only 'supplement' thingy I take is more heart related ......... Bio Quinone Q10. Perhaps I do need to look at Vitamin D3 although that said I do not have an official diagnosis of asthma ... as I said to Auriculaire ........... "Having had the Spirometry with Reversibility lung function test ( and I might add heart scans as well as chest X-Rays - all normal) my feelings ( purely as a patient) are that I was asthmatic, or at least ACOS ( asthma COPD overlap syndrome) but my GP insists it is COPD. COPD pure and simple. "

So, how do you know if a medication has fillers ??

I'm learning to take a day at a time ... each day as it comes ... yesterday was a bloody mess ... total fatigue. I had my son from Sydney visiting as recently as last August/ September and I was bouncing around with him all day, walking here there and everywhere with no fatigue at all, plenty of get up and go ......... now, a total mess. Why so ?? I dunno.

Thanks for your thoughts Jean.

John

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to BenHall1]

Hi John, to tell what the ingredients are in a pill just look on the back of the bottle and it will tell you. I buy mine now from Vitabright, but I think there are others Ethical Nutrition comes to mind as well. Vitamin D3 is a good pill to take, especially in the winter when we don't get it from sunshine.

Jean

[BenHall1 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thanks Jean. I'll do some checking on D3 .

[Auriculaire in reply to BenHall1]

When do you take your statin? Lung damage is a fairly rare side effect of statin use as is rhabdomyolosis but that is of no comfort to people who are the poor rare sufferers. They can also cause breathing issues due to muscle damage of the diaphragm. Symbicort is a good inhaler for asthma. I find 1 puff a day keeps mine under control most days even though the prescription says 4 puffs.

[BenHall1 in reply to Auriculaire]

Hi Auriculaire,

I take my statin with my evening meds. Other evening meds I take at the same time are Warfarin (4mg and 5mg on alternate days) and the second part of my daily dose of Sotalol. ( My prescription for Sotalol is 40mg in morning and 40mg in evening.

When I came of age 😂 statin was the first drug I was ever put on, back in the heady days of 2007 (63).

You make an interesting point ....... asthma. Having had the Spirometry with Reversibility lung function test ( and I might add heart scans as well as chest X-Rays - all normal) my feelings ( purely as a patient) are that I was asthmatic, or at least ACOS ( asthma COPD overlap syndrome) but my GP insists it is COPD. COPD pure and simple.

Tryin' to get an appointment with my GP or the Sugery Pharmacist to have some sort of sensible discussiuon is like pulling hens teeth !! Looks like I'm gonna have to make an appointment with Boots. At the moment I'm anybody's - so your thoughts on Symbicort is interesting ... at the moment I'm on Easyhaler with Sabutomol, which doesn't seem to do much even when I take the full 8 inhales per day !

The mind blowing feature of all this lung experience so far is how I can be so dynamic and energetic one day and gutted with fatigue the next - with no damn logical reason.

Thanks anyway for your input.

John.

[RockingRoxy]

I was diagnosed with COPD about 15 years ago. I was a smoker and there is also a family history. A dry annoying cough was the trigger for a visit to the Dr.

Last year I had a PE and a month later a diagnosis of PAF.

I was overweight ( still am but less so) and once the acute awful breathlessness from PE improved I joined the gym. I hate the gym but felt I needed more than daily dog walks to improve everything.

I found aqua fit and now go about 3 times a week. My breathing has improved immensely as has my energy levels.

I do have times when I feel I have hit a wall of tiredness. A very early night and long sleep usually sorts that out.

In respect of AF aside from the initial episode I have only had one more more minor episode of raised pulse. Both settled without intervention.

I am on Apixaban and an inhaler ( Anoro) I have salbutamol prn but never use it as I don’t find it really helps. I am 68 and luckily live in Norfolk as hills do catch me out a bit.

Good luck and best wishes

Sue

[Vonnegut]

Great that you have retained your brain and your sense of humour!

[Hugheart]

Hi Benhall

I would suggest you ask your pulmonologist about stents for COPD. They are placed in your airways to open the airways. Done here in USA and I am sure some pulmonary specialists do it elsewhere. Also ask if any of the meds act to stimulate your heart which can cause AF.

I’m in my 80s too so I can commiserate with you but I think u need to be proactive and talk to your pulmonary specialist about the stents and the side effects of any meds causing AF

Hugheart