We are often approached by AF patients and carers who feel they cannot share their experiences with others because nobody will understand. We tend to refer them to our online forums (like Health Unlocked and Facebook) where they meet people in similar circumstances.
We also refer them to our "case studies" section on the AF Association website. They are relieved to hear others' experiences and how they have overcome challenges.
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Please send us the story about your journey with AF. You never know how many people it could support.
Email: raj@afa.org.uk
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I was diagnosed just after my 36th birthday.I had a stressful time that year with family problems, work problems and financial problems. I had an office based job, I drove, I smoked and went out most weekends drinking.
I had felt odd in the summer. I was feeling very out of breath and found that some days I struggled walking. I put it down to being older, carrying some extra weight and being a smoker. I found it difficult to concentrate at work and got tired easily.
I began blacking out in the office. Not quite collapsing, as I was sitting down, but blacking out for seconds. Eventually I thought that I should I see the doctor at the walk in centre, as it was a Saturday and my GP centre would be closed. I was transferred by an ambulance to the hospital.
I was admitted and told the following day that I had a heart condition called Atrial Fibrillation. I burst into tears. I had never heard of it and thought that old people had heart problems.
I was put onto various medications including Warfarin. 3 years later, I am still taking Flecanaide and Verapamil, as well as the Warfarin. I have had a cardioversion. Flecanaide infusion and a catheter ablation. My AF comes and goes and is usually stress related. I do suffer from anxiety problems and am currently going to Anxiety sessions.
I have online friends who I have met via AFA, but nobody really understands how this has affected me. My whole life has changed in the last 3 years as my employer paid me to leave the business in 2010. I am now a benefit claimant with no car and take a lot of medication.
hi, i had a stroke in march this year and im on 4mg warfrin a day, the doctor told me i have got afib, i cant drink alcohol but am still smoking , im totaly stressed out, any info please on afib.....mike.
I’m 66 years old, in 2009 I almost fainted at my daughters who insisted I went to hospital, they said I had Atrial Fibrilation.When I returned home I had an ECG and a Scan done which came back within the norm. Last winter was very mild and we all had flu, intestestinal flu, viruses, everything, I had difficulty breathing and thought it was asthma as we do have it in the family, or some chest problem, I eventually went to the family doctor in May with a swollen ankle and suspected thrombosis, I also asked him to check my chest and he told me my chest was clear but my heart beat was irregular. After an ECG I was diagnosed with A.fib and put on Cardicor (a betablocker) and warfarin. I have had a scan, and am now waiting to see a specialist about having an electroversion. My problem seems to be more not being able to breathe, I seem to have a blocked nose always, and a strange feeling in the upper abdomen when I can’t breathe, it happens usually when I am lifting or carrying things. I don’t get loud heartbeats, sometimes when I am laying down it sounds loud but nothing like everyone describes. I am also a bit in the dark about just how much exercise I should do, I was going to aquafit classes where we were always told to keep on and not give in. I am no longer going as it became too much for me, but would like to know to what extent I should force myself to keep on. For example should I run for the bus or wait till the next one!
I cannot answer your question about exercise as I have never been told anything about what I should or should not do.But I have the same feeling when lifting or carrying as you do, and have never been offered any treatment other than drugs,verapamil.digoxin and warfarin which I have been taking for four years.I needed a small operation for sinus polyps but was told they would only operate for a life-threatening complaint.I know of two people who came off their drugs for hip replacement surgery and found that they no longer had AF !! There is very little information or advice out there to help.
About 12 years ago I got home from work and I started feeling like my heart was trying to pound its way out of my chest. I sat down at the kitchen table waiting for my wife to get home. I had felt this before but not as strong. My wife came in about an hour later and I told her what was going on. She thought I was having a panic attack and although I had never had one it sounded about right.
She ran me a hot bath and told me to sit in it and try to calm down. After about 30 minutes in the tub she came in and felt my heartbeat and told me to get dressed. When we got to the ER they told me that my heart rate was 165bpm and my blood pressure was 95/55. The Dr. told me that I was in A-Fib and they gave me a shot of Cardizem. After an hour my heart rate had not slowed down so they gave me another dose. Finally after 5 hours in the hospital I went back to NSR. They kept me there for 3 days (because it happened on a Friday night) and on Monday I was seen by a Cardiologist who prescribed Toprol and set an appt to see him in 2 weeks.
From the first appt he said my heart was in good shape. He scheduled a stress test and another appt. After the stress test I saw him again and he told me again that my heart was in good shape. He said that A-Fib is a minor condition and that the Toprol should control it.
Over the next 9 years I saw once a year and had a stress test every other year. At every appt I would tell him that the attacks were still happening and he would increase the Toprol dosage and tell me my heart was fine. During the 9 years my attacks went from once a year to 1 or 2 attacks a week which lasted about 6 to 9 hours each.
At my last appt I told him that I was wasting my money, getting worse and nothing had been done in 9 years. So I fired him.
2 weeks later I ended up in the ER with a heart rate of 175bpm that lasted 7 hours. They set an appt with an EP the next week. At our first meeting she Got pretty upset that I had been diagnosed with paroxysmal A-Fib 9 years before and basically nothing had been done. She looked at my many ER records and started me on warfarin, Rythmol and baby aspirin. In the first 2 months I only had 2 attacks instead of the 6 to 8 I normally would have had. She has increased the dosage of rythmol a couple of times over the last 2 years and performed a heart cath to check for blockage. I had an appt 2 months ago and during that appt she told me that I had 2 choices. She was going to have to increase my dosage again or switch me or put me on a stronger med. She explained the dangers of going to stronger and stronger meds due to the side effects, OR an Ablation. She explained the procedure and all of the benefits and dangers.
I chose the Ablation and should be scheduled in Feb or Mar of 2013.
I had palpitations as far back as 1980 and went to my doctor at the time who said "every one gets this do not worry" it was not until 1992 when I went into hospital with double pneumonia that they saw that my heart was all over the place and while in hospital being treated for my pneumonia I was put on Digoxin. I am not good with medicines and have a few allergies. I was offered a new procedure called an Ablation but it was only 20% success rate then and could only be done in 2 hospitals in the UK at the time. I have had 9 cardio versions and 3 ablations and many tablet changes to date and will be having a Pace and Ablate in 2014 to make me pacemaker dependent. Ablations are now done in many hospitals and have a far higher success rate. Due to other health issues I am afraid it has not been a straight path for me.
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