Recently diagnosed with af

[Jackieboy55]

Hi everyone, I am a 55year old man and have recently been diagnosed with AF. It has taken some time as catching problem on an ECG took perseverance and repeated attempts.

Still, my GP referred me to a cardiologist who has prescribed warfarin and Propafanone. Been taking tablets for a week now and must say it is nice to have heart beat regular, I seem to have more energy and feel more alive!

I get the impression from reading other posts that this is just the start, but it is good to find out the cause of a longstanding problem. Hopefully it can be controlled long term.

[TheStand]

Jackieboy55,

Welcome to the group AND Sorry you have to be here. AF is sometimes a beast to deal with. I agree with how hard it is to Catch it, I must have worn a monitor 4 or 5 times before it ever happened while I had it on. I ended up just heading to the hospital to get an ECG while it was going on. I am also on Warfarin and Propafanone (Rythmol). I started at 325mg a day and over 1.5 years have been increased to 975mg a day. The bad thing about the rhythm control drugs is that the body tends to get used to them and they are less effective so the dosage has to be increased and then stronger drugs given.

After you have gotten the warfarin straightened out and stable I would ask your Dr for info on different treatments and about ablation. Just so you know that there are options. I am 58 and am having an ablation done in 4 more days. I'm hoping and looking forward to NEVER having another AF attack again.

Good luck with your meds and again... Welcome to the group!

[Jackieboy55 in reply to TheStand]

Hi, thanks for your feedback and help. I guess I'll just have to cross one bridge at a time and see what happens.

Good luck with your ablation.

[nannygoat]

hi i was diagnosed also last year after feeling life a fool for weeks in and out of Hospital, and my own gp only short of telling me to ,,,,,,,. even the holter did not catch it at first . i am also on meds now and hopefully i will only have short episodes now instead of frightening 170 beats i now only get 135 dropping to 35 , maybe twice a week while resting , so i will be review in may . the best of luck i am female aged 63

[rupert12]

Interesting reading all of your comments of being diagnosed. I took early retirement last year (aged 59) due to "stress", having gone to my GP a number of times with bad palpitations, which always stopped the day I saw him, like nannygoat, I think my GP thought I was a pain! 24hr Holter came back okay. Once I retired I still had the palpitations and they got worse until fortunately I did have an attack whilst at the doctors and I was diagnosed with AF in hospital later that day. I feel a bit miffed that I have lost 28% of my pension due to retiring early, had I known then things would have been different. Still must get on and not let this get in my way of leading a full life and be thankful that I have been 26 days without an attack. Wendy.