Diagnosis Today

Atrial Fibrillation

New to all of this - how to process info and how to deal with?

[Tos92]

I’m sorry to hear about your diagnosis.

There is a forum dedicated to AF. I have attached the link below which you may benefit from joining.

healthunlocked.com/afassoci...

There are others here with AF as well so I hope they will be along soon to help.

All the best.

Tos

[Jako999]

As Tos92 said others will know more but the most important thing to remember is DONT PANIC, you are not alone. We are all lucky as we know what we have, half the UK have cardiac problems and will never know till it’s to late.

Good luck.👍

[Threecats]

Hi Romseyrob

I’m sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF three years ago after several trips to A&E with a crazy irregular heart rate. I was 56 at the time and was discharged with a beta-blocker to take and that was it. It came as a complete shock that there was something wrong with my heart and I was convinced sometimes, when I had episodes at night, that I wouldn’t wake up in the morning but I did😀

The first thing you need to know is that, provided you are anti-coagulated if you need to be, then AF won’t kill you - hard to believe when your ticker feels like it’s trying to escape your chest, I know but true. The main problem with AF is that it can increase the risk of having a stroke, so there is a scoring system used to decide whether an anti-coagulant is need or not, based on what else you may have going on - high blood pressure, diabetes, age etc. The doctor you saw for your diagnosis should have gone through that with you. If they didn’t, then I would suggest you make an appointment with your GP to do so. I’m in persistent AF now, meaning I have it all the time rather than it coming and going as before. I’m not yet on anti-coagulation as, due to my age, the risk of it causing a bleed is higher than the risk of me having a stroke. However, when I get to 65 that will change.

The second thing to know is that knowledge is power when it comes to AF, so read as much as you can on the subject. The charity AF Association has a website with a lot of useful information, plus the forum Tos has kindly provided a link to is full of folk who have been dealing with AF for years and are incredibly knowledgeable, so would be an excellent place to post your questions.

Your best bet would be to get an appointment with an electrophysiologist (EP) to discuss your treatment options. EPs are cardiologists who specialise in dealing with heart rhythm disorders. A lot of folk pay for an initial consultation as there is often a long waiting list on the NHS. As well as that, there are lots of lifestyle changes you can do to help yourself, from looking at your diet to dealing with stress and anxiety which were big triggers for me. There is an excellent book called “ The AFib Cure” by Dr John Day that gives a lot of information on lifestyle changes as well as the various treatment options available. Well worth a read in my view.

You’re at the very beginning of your AF journey and, as I say, it all comes as a shock to know you’ve got a heart problem but it will get easier to deal with, I can assure you and you will find treatments and lifestyle changes that help you. Life will go on😊

All the best to you and remember, there’s no such thing as a daft question! TC

[Fullofheart]

I've been living with AF since my late 20s, nearly 2 decades ago now.Lots of others on here with similar histories.

I know it's a lot to take in but it's useful to get clued up so that you can improve quality of life, avoid certain triggers and hopefully get on with things.

It's also useful to know differing treatment options should that become necessary. Interventions range from change in lifestyle to medications to procedures such as cardioversion and/ or ablation.

Try not to worry about it as that won't help but do take note of when it's at it worst or best as this might help you identify triggers.

Hope that helps.

[gladliz]

Three Cats and Fullofheart have given excellent replies to your query. Some of which were new to me and I have had paroxysmal Afb for over 10 years. It is scary at first but you find out what can trigger an episode and adjust accordingly. Caffine, alcohol and spicy food are known ones but everyone's different and what rattles my heart may not rattle yours.😊