Hi there, I’m now just over 2 weeks post closure and have been on holiday. On the up-side, I did a bit of coast walking and nothing went pop. On the not so good side, my heart rhythm has become increasingly jazzy. It’s gone from the occasional syncopation 10 days post procedure, through a period of exploring triplets and quadruplets and seems to have settled this morning into free jazz polyrhythms that my watch thinks is AF. Never much liked free jazz, much prefer 50’s hard-bop, so that’s a bit unwelcome.
I guess I’m in the 4% with new onset AF (although I had one bout that started this journey). I wonder if the prevalence of wearables would change that number? It’s early days, so hopefully the drummer will get sacked and replaced with Ringo Starr.
So, I’m going for a walk this morning to see if I can encourage it into normality and I think I’ll be following LadyZ13 over to the arrhythmias forum. 😐.
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RumblingChest
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For my N=1 experiment this morning I self-medicated with an espresso, a brisk walk and some Art Blakey. It seems to have bumped my heart back to normality.
So sorry to hear about your inept drummer, that's not a welcome development! Good that you're not finding the arrhythmia too debilitating.
Can I ask how you know things aren't right? Can you feel the extra beats, or do you have a wearable picking these up? I have the Fitbit showing wild spikes of heart rate but I've been told not to trust it for measuring exertion - that said, it's medically certified to pick up AFib, though hasn't done so since 31 July. My last holter showed persistent Atrial Flutter...
The AFib forum is Ok if a bit overwhelming at times! A little like this place, if you're new to a condition you can get suddenly deluged with All The Thing That Can Go Wrong, not to mention all the potential triggers and things you might want to avoid in future. I hope you find it useful.
I guess the next step is to flag the issue with your consultant. I'm booked in for cardioversion on 5 September. It can't come soon enough! Heart is definitely beating in a way that I'm noticing as suboptimal and it's a worry that hangs over the recovery.
Keep us posted and see you over on AF Association! While I'm very sorry we're in the same boat, I do appreciate the company ❤️
Hi LadyZ! I’ve been following your progress on your blog, even with the set backs, I think you are doing amazingly well.
I am fortunate that apart from making it harder to get to sleep and being a bit distracting, this arrhythmia is not getting in the way.
I notice a weird sensation in my chest, it’s either a small thump or a bit like half a hiccup. This prompts me to try the ECG function on my Apple Watch. The irregularities have become more frequent over the last week., at first it was quite hard to capture them. To the extent that I can tell, the waves look normal, but there are too many beats. At first it was the odd extra beat, not quite ectopic because the next interval was not extra long. Then there was a day or so of bursts of 3 or 4 short beats interspersed with normal periods. After that it seemed to settle into alternating half and normal duration beats. The Watch flagged one bout as AF and several as inconclusive. This morning I woke up with pretty constant rumbling sensation and 3 successive traces were flagged as AF. The beats were basically all over the place, none of the nice “regular irregularities” that went before.
It’s harder to notice sensations when I’m active and difficult to use the ECG whilst moving, but I get the feeling that it is more of an issue at rest. That was one reason to go for a brisk walk this morning, partly to see what would happen and partly to “not allow it to get into the habit”. So far it seems to have “reset” it, even after resting for 30 minutes or so.
It’s a pity my Wahoo HRM strap can’t provide live data, that would be ideal.
I should be having my follow-up in about 2 weeks so will be able to do a show and tell then. The cardiologist did imply that many post-procedural arrhythmias sort themselves out with time, so hopefully mine will too!
It is some years since I had my ASD closure but I only recall it made me feel alive again after having felt half dead for a very long time and not knowing quite why.....latterly other heart issues have kicked in which i have been told are not ASD related ....but I am 85.
Hi 10gingercats, it’s good to hear your closure made such a difference and sorry to hear you have other troubles. Prior to this kicking off, my physical fitness had declined over about 8 years, so I can’t really blame the hole. Apart from the irritation of the arrhythmia, I’m feeling great post-procedure, it’s certainly removed some mental worries 😀.
Apparently, these ASDs can be deadly so you are best with it closed.Although it was thought mine had been there since birth it latterly, towards the closure, had caused a TIA and an embolism.But up until then I had led a very busy and fulfiling life plus baby. Nobody picked it up even then!
Yes asd are quite dangerous. However mine is fenestrated. Basically it is leaky. It could be closed but would cause issues. My congenital issue causes a right to left shunt. Not obvious on an echo or mri. But there is a leakage which causes cyanosis mainly on exertion. My qp/qs is 0.5:1. However the shunt is due to the higher pressure in the right side. Due to the congenital issue. The trouble I have is the tricuspid valve has been positioned too low and it allows regurgitation this is what cause a flow back up which then cause more volume in the right side mainly in the right atrium. There could be a possibility that if not controlled the right atrium gets bigger, which then causes AF. That's because the electrical signal starts in the right atrium. So it will be a watch and wait. But many people don't even know that they could have an asd. As some people don't have any problems.
There are quite a lot of us on both BHF &AF fora as the two so often go together. As Zoë says it can be a bit confusing on the AF site and you have to pick & choose the replies but all are well intentioned.
I haven't had ASD but AFib, AFlutter, AVR, Atriclip, catheter ablation and surgical ablation. I would say it's still very early days for you & try not to push yourself too much. It is best to let your cardiac team know in case them want further diagnostics on you.
My innovative protocol showed some initial promise, a whole day with stable rhythms. I started to imagine, perhaps I had made a medical breakthrough: “You’ve got a spot of RumblingChest’s Syndrome. I’m prescribing coffee, brisk walks and some jazz. If you can’t tolerate the Sonny Rollins, I’ll try you on Kenny Dorham.”
But lying on my left side at bedtime seemed to start it up again. My wife found an interesting link (drjohnday.com/right-side-sl... which may be relevant. Although, according to that I did the worst thing and slept on my back 🤪. I couldn’t repeat my protocol this morning because it was raining and I had to get to work (coffee and jazz alone did not resolve). So it’s been rather funky grooves on and off today. At least it doesn’t mean that holidays are the trigger!
I’m hoping that it’s a sign my oversized right atrium is collapsing like a partially deflated balloon and just needs a bit of time to get the wrinkles sorted.
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