Dangers of not following your own advice

[sospan]

I have been on here some 8 years, sometimes more frequent than others.

One of the things that I have always advocated is the benefits of rest as part of a planned routine during the day.

Well that went to pot last year and continued into this year. Too many car accidents, too many family and friends passing away, injury, surgery plus the usual domestic issues and then you add in dealing with the insurance companies and the benefits system meant that i was going to bed between 1 and 2am and the getting up at 7:30 am with disturbed sleep in between.

So on Sunday night, I started to fell a little "fluttering" in my chest and thought nothing more of it. Gaviscon & Rennies didn't shift it. On the Monday morning it was still there. So off to the GP. I had an ECG which was inconclusive, So I was sent to A&E another ECG then a bed on a monitoring ward.

All the time I am feeling fine, no pain, good skin colour, not breathless. Quite strange having a lot of people running around me. The concern apparently, was that my heart rate was 146.

They diagnosed Atrial fibrillation (nhs.uk/conditions/atrial-fi... put some meds into a drip (yep that's me) and within 40 mins back to normal. A few hours later, released to go home.

However, I not have to take Apixaban, twice a day and carry medical alert details for the rest of my days .

Hmmm, a big price to pay for being stupid and trying to do too much. However, had I not been smart and gone to the doctor it could have been much worse.

So keep an eye on how you are feeling and take that rest

[cat3]

I started with AF a year ago and was scheduled for ablation but have managed so far with meds (Bisoprolol, Rivaroxaban, Flecainide & Felodipine). The palpitations were always followed immediately by thudding sensations in the head and momentary loss of consciousness. I had three A&E admissions before it was diagnosed then a week on the cardio ward. …...honestly thought my time was up !

Unfortunately it's started rearing its head again, so now waiting for availability of a heart monitor. I already suffered with high BP and SVT (Tachycardia) so think mine stems from way back. But with all the stressful events you had last year I'm not really surprised you've been knocked down ; something had to give !

Hope you're getting on top of the issue...….and all the other issues. Keep taking the tablets and look after yourself my friend. And take time out to relax whenever possible.

Thinking of you Sos, love Cat x

[sospan in reply to cat3]

Thanks for the kind thoughts

I feel fine but it is the lifestyle changes are the PITA Having to take tablets and carry the medical alert. Plus having to watch when I cut myself and heaven forbid I bang the head again - apparently I have to go immediately to A&E and get a CT scan !

My heart problem is quite trivial to what you have gone through. A monitor is good but is there no way to tweak the meds without the ablation ?

[cat3 in reply to sospan]

I thought the extra meds, especially the thinners, would be a pain but I'm used to them now. The tiny alert booklet just sits unobtrusively in my purse and the bleeding isn't anything an Elastoplast can't deal with.

Ablation depends on whether there's room for tweaking. It's a fine balance between normalising the sinus rhythm and sending the BP too low. There was so much focus on keeping mine down that at one point the symptoms worsened and, after seeing seven separate cardiologists, it was an ENT duty doctor who guessed I was taking too many beta blockers and, after reducing the dose, the symptoms improved radically ! ……….shame it was down to luck at that point.

But I found the HealthUnlocked-AF forum really helpful when I was trying to get my head around it. I do find that coffee, even decaffeinated, triggers it and I was advised against alcohol. But it doesn't stop me doing stuff ; I've done hours of heavy gardening over the past few days with less Arrhythmia than usual.

Try to carry on as normal Sos ; I've found stress to be the main trigger ! Really hope everything stabilises soon so you can get back to your daily 2km run ! 😏 x