High blood pressure reading’s & breathlessness - atrial fibrillation

[Nickybhf]

Hi everyone,

Was wandering what symptoms people go through when they have episodes of AF. My mum was diagnosed last year with AF, and also Pulmonary hypertension. she was prescribed Bisoprolol- 2.5 milligrams and Apixaban, also was prescribed furosemide. We seen consultant a couple of months ago, he said the water tablet could be stopped and only needs to be taken if we notice swelling in legs or feet. Well last week I could see that mums legs looked swollen and so I advised her to take the furosemide for 4 -5 days. She was having some breathlessness so I assumed there was fluid build up. Yesterday, mum said she doesn’t feel right and feels like a grumbling feeling in her tummy. She said it was hard to describe how she felt but definitely didn’t feel right. I checked her blood pressure, it was high! First reading was181/122

Omg! I was in panic mode but trying to remain calm as didn’t want to alarm mum. I kept checking every half hour, it eventually came down to 153/100, but this was after a couple of bathroom visits, so I’m assuming the excess water was causing this high BP. I managed to get a telephone appointment witH GP today, I said mum needs to be seen by cardiologist, I already suggested this to GP about 3 weeks ago. He said he’s done a referral but had no response yet. He said he’d follow it up, but in the meantime he has increased the dose of the bisoprolol to 3.75mg.

Do any of you think mum is going through an episode of AF? If so, how long can the symptoms go on for?

I honestly cannot relax and don’t really want mum to go to hospital unless it’s completely necessary. Sorry for long post. Any advice would be appreciated just to get an understanding of whether this is normal.

Any advice about Pulmonary hypertension would also be appreciated, to be honest I only found out about this after I spoke to GP about a month ago, when we initially had appointment with cardiologist, they didn’t really talk about this, they just explained about the AF.

[Tos92]

I’m sorry I can’t help however, there is an AF forum on here which you may benefit from joining and you can post your question on there to see if others can offer some insight perhaps.

healthunlocked.com/afassoci...

All the best.

Tos

[Nickybhf in reply to Tos92]

Thank you

[Milkfairy Heart Star]

My husband and mother in law both have atrial fibrillation.

I suggest you give the BHF helpline a call and speak to one of the cardiac nurses.

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

Also pester the GP, having swollen ankles isn't usually a symptom of atrial fibrillation.

Your mother knows her body best and if she doesn't feel right, she needs to be seen face to face by a doctor.

It could be the Pulmonary Hypertension causing your mother's symptoms.

nhs.uk/conditions/pulmonary....

phassociation.org/patients/...

I hope you are able to access the care your mother needs.

[Nickybhf in reply to Milkfairy]

Thank you

[bigtallgeezer]

Hi, I had permanent Afib from early March onwards with dizziness and often severe shortness of breath. To cut a very long story short my GP referred me for an urgent visit to a cardiologist. I got a letter putting me on a list to go on the waiting list! A GP's follow up letter saying 'hurry up' produced no reply.

I later had 12 days in hospital with unmanageable symptoms, and saw no-one from Cardiology! Plus, no echocardiogram!! Discharged with symptoms back to the list.

Found out that the urgent list in my area is over 12 months long, when investigations would commence!

More long story cut out....went private and within 3 weeks had a proper diagnosis, a change from bisoprolol to Sotalol AFTER the private echo, which pinpointed the obvious problem.

A month later progress was being made, and after only one increase in dose, Afib has gone. I'm far from right, but also far better than I was, and at 71 am back in a gym ticking over.

My advice if you're getting nowhere is go private if you can, to get a proper diagnosis and at least start treatment. My cardiologist by the way, pointed out that my 3 increases in bisoprolol, although well intentioned were likely to have worsened my particular issue.

Ablation is likely to be my ultimate fix via the NHS, but at least I can function now.

Good luck

p.s. I'm still not on the official NHS waiting list, and have no appointment for an urgent Cardiogram either!

My MP is looking onto all that lot!

🙄

[Nickybhf in reply to bigtallgeezer]

Oh gosh! Cannot believe you’ve gone through all that and still on a waiting list. I was considering looking into private treatment. From what I’ve read, I believe you need a GP referral letter initially to see a cardiologist privately. Thank you for that. That was great to read that your back in the gym. My mum is 70 and your reply gives hope. Thank you

[bigtallgeezer in reply to Nickybhf]

It turned out for the the best really. Diagnosis by a consultant who is under no time pressure makes a difference. You can literally find a local highly recommended private Cardiologist via a Google search, right ring and book. My GP approved as she was as frustrated as I was, but had no contact with him, although he updates her with every visit/test. We agreed if surgery was required, I'd get back in the NHS queue and wait. You can go back to the NHS queue at any point. In the letters my cardiologist writes to my gp with updates etc he recommends drugs and doses, and she prescribes them through the NHS. I hope that helps. 👍

[Nickybhf in reply to bigtallgeezer]

Thanks, will look into this. Otherwise god knows how long we’ll be waiting!

[watermill]

I agree with milk fairy. This is more complex than just AF. Speak to the cardiac nurse at your surgery. It does sound like the effects of medication.

[Nickybhf in reply to watermill]

Thanks, I’ve raised my concerns with GP , he agreed to chase up cardiology.

[Heartfairy]

Hello Nickybhf, I’m so sorry to hear what you are going through with your poor mum, I know it’s not easy. It’s difficult and can be scary not knowing what to do when you feel like you’re out of your depth with these things. That’s normal. I don’t know much at all about AF but sadly my mum was diagnosed with PH. My understanding is that there are specialist hospitals who treat PH patients (Sheffield, Newcastle, London and a couple more) and I would suggest contacting the charity PHA (you can check for it online) but they could perhaps give you some help and guidance in respect of your understanding and how to deal with your mum’s PH. There are specialists who deal with PH and I know when my mum was diagnosed, her GP didn’t know what it was as it was so rare. However, there are more people out there with it now and GPs now know what it is but the majority of them aren’t specialists in it. It is serious but like anything, modern medicine is simply amazing and will certainly help your mum. Get support and talk things through as it’s not easy seeing your mum poorly. My mum still thought of me as her little girl (even though I was in my 40s when she got diagnosed) and she hid a lot of things from me about how she was feeling and it was only by going to some of her hospital appointments I understood how poorly she really was but once she got the right medication things got under control. As I say contact the charity as there is support out there to help you understand all of this. Take care and look after yourself as well as your mum ❤️🧚🏼‍♀️

[Nickybhf in reply to Heartfairy]

Thank you, will definitely contact the charity. It’s so difficult watching our parents suffer, and the lack of help available. That’s great to know that your mum was coping better with the correct meds.

[Drummer20]

Your Mam needs to be seen by someone who knows about pulmonary hypertension and atrial fibrillation.Peoaple shouldn’t have to pay for urgent medical care.Her blood pressure being high and the atrial fibrillation are two separate things.Hope she is ok and gets the help she needs.

[Nickybhf in reply to Drummer20]

Thank you, getting the help is the most difficult part .

[Drummer20]

It does seem harder at the moment with waiting lists being big.Phone 111 if it’s hard to see your doctor.I’ve finally got a doctor who is looking after me.I’m waiting for a valve replacement.I’ve been waiting for a year.zits normally 4-6 months.

[Nickybhf in reply to Drummer20]

Gosh! You’ve been waiting for a long time. I cannot understand how heart conditions are not classed as emergencies.

[Drummer20 in reply to Nickybhf]

The surgeon said it’s classed as elective even though I was told it was severe and not to exert myself.There are a lot of people waiting for urgent heart valve replacements.