LV Fibrillation & SCA

[Gazania27]

First time posting, thankyou for accepting me.My partner had a sudden cardiac arrest on 6th Dec 23, I found him unconscious and did the CPR , ITU for 5 days , he had an ICD fitted 23.12.23.

Since having this it has shocked him on 13th Jan and last Saturday, resulting in further stays in hospital. I have been there ( thankfully) for all 3 of his sudden cardiac arrests. He has a dangerous left ventricular Fibrillation and Atrial Fibrillation. Just wo Deri g if anyone can relate to this, it's traumatising every time his ICD shocks him, it's like our lives are on hold , no previous heart problems ever, he had just turned 54 .

On the second shock with the ICD the consultant 3 days prior changed him from sotalol to nebivolol . He is now back on sotalol which seems to be working better .

[BeKind28-]

Hello

You are more than welcome to be here even though it is not somewhere anyone wanted to join but there is so much support when we find ourselves we heart conditions

It sounds like a very frightening time you went through but well done doing the CPR

I have no knowledge about this at all but I hope members when they see your post that do will give you some great advice

There is also the BHF Nurses that can answer so many questions you may have I will put you their number on

Let us know how you get on x

Heart Helpline team on 0300 330 3311 Mon-Fri 9-5pm

[Gazania27 in reply to BeKind28-]

This is great thankyou , I will five them a call. 🫠

[BeKind28- in reply to Gazania27]

x

[sturon]

This is both a frightening and emotional time for both of you.

It is now 6 years since my hubby had a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Like you I was able to perform CPR until help arrived. After many tests and a long period in ITU he survived. He has an S-ICD implant. The cause of his SCA was a condition called Long QT syndrome. He now takes a cocktail of drugs each day and he has been stable. I am sure, given time, the cardiac team will get your husband stable. The ICD your husband has is doing its job by keeping an eye on his heart rhythm and delivering treatment as required. It is his very own paramedic 24/7. So you can relax a little knowing that the implant is constantly looking after him.

It will take time to adjust. As I say we are now 6 years on and enjoying life to the full. We have just returned for South Africa, a tour we have had on our list for a while.

Live life to the full once he is stable again.

With warmest wishes for your long future together.

[Gazania27 in reply to sturon]

Thankyou for your lovely message, yes same with my hubby left ventricular fibrillation, long QT's, but they still aren't sure why it suddenly happened. He is very down at the moment which. Breaks my heart. They changed his meds from sotolol to nebivolol 3 days later he had the shock , now they have hanged him back again .😊 thankyou again.

[Slobojoe1]

at 54 years old, I would ask your consultant, for an ablation. I had one 10 years ago , no shocks since.

[Gazania27 in reply to Slobojoe1]

Hi, that's next on the agenda if he gets another shock , fingers crossed they have stabilised his meds now .

[Hidden]

Im not so sure about the ablation, I had one beginning of Oct 23 and had a cardiac arrest 4 days later surgeons have no idea as to why it happened, thankfully (she might not agree now) my wife gave me cpr til paramedic arrived, I have an ICD now which hasn t been required to shock me, before all this happened I had a yearly medical for my job which showed no medical issues, doctor reckons it was stress that brought on the palpitations which resulted in the ablation. but as I say no one can explain the arrest but one surgeon has mentioned that perhaps after the ablation my heart tried a reset which resulted in the arrest. Anyway in your case the ICD seems to be doing its job which is very reassuring.

[Gazania27 in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou for your reply, yes , the doctors are baffled with the cause for lee also , they thought his heart was having spasms , but say its not that. He has the ICD and we know it works , but wasn't expecting 2 shocks less than a month apart , and 6 weeks after the original SCA . 🥹

[Agedbiker]

Hi Gazania. I have just had an ICD (CRTD) fitted after being diagnosed with advanced heart failure aged 54. I also have other health issues as well mainly stemming from Systemic sclerosis.Thankfully I haven't yet had to rely on my defib but when I had my 6 week check up after surgery I discovered that I had received 11,400 'interventions' by the ICD in the 6 weeks since it was fitted. I found a lot of useful information and advice on the Pumping Marvelous website which may offer you some reassurance. I hope you can get some level of stabilisation for your husband.

[Gazania27]

Hi there, thankyou for this information, l will have a look , best of luck to you x

[Kwakkers]

Welcome to the Club. After 5 heart attacks (never felt them) a cardiac arrest and a AAA repair, I got an ICD (2011); I`m on my second one.

Yea, you`ll get `hit` a few times until the gizmo adjusts to your heart and your meds get `tweaked`; just a learning curve.

You ought to have a monitor at home so the hospital can `read` your heart.

It`s a new life; second chance. Read about it and tell your GP when you feel "OFF".

Take up swimming. We (Wythenshawe) were told to stop any Contact sports and go swimming. My judo friends didn`t want to know me anyway....miserable bu*****s.

Enjoy each day; treat your heart like a friend and it`ll tell you what to do. When you feel a yawn coming on, it`s saying " I wanna REST" and have a 10 minute nap.

It`s worked for me, but my wife still nags (but that`s Married life, innit?)

Ta-ra chuck.