AFIB/ TESTING YOUR HEARTRATE

[Kallen32-missyou]

QUESTION. How do you know you are in AFIB if you have no serious symptoms and you have a good quality of life but diagnosed with AFIB? I have purchased the Kardia Mobile to monitor my heart rate and also have a pulse oximeter. Is AFIB only when your heart rate may not be high beating, but when testing, your heart rate may be in a beat range back and forth, and not on a set number during the testing time, mine ranges from 63 to the mid 70's, sometimes in the 80's but always below 90? Is this considered a symptom of AFIB, or does your heart rate have to continually stay only at one beating number say in the 60's and not bounce around? My heartrate is always below 80 or 90, never higher, but confused if your heart rate moves to different beat ranges is why I was diagnosed with AFIB? I have not asked my doctor this question. I do feel fine, never light headed, no chest pain, or never a need to go to the hospital with a racing heart beat. Knock on wood that it stays this way. And I am on Eliquis and Metoprolol. This is just a general question to help me understand my diagnosis. Thank you.

[Oldforge73]

A hallmark of AFib is an absence of the P wave on an ECG also an irregular QRS complex, as you have a Kardia you can run an ECG whenever you wish. Many are asymtomatic and also many do not have hugely elevated BPM. You are on a betablocker which is reducing your heart rate and protecting your heart. When your pulse is taken manually it will be obvious to an expert if you are in AFib or NSR. My apple watch which I wear every day has the ability to tell me if I am in AFib but I generally know anyway. Google P waves as descriptions of ECGs without one are on there. Hope this helps a bit. Regards Kathleen

[Buzby62]

Maybe worth you reading the AF Fact File, here api.heartrhythmalliance.org...

and lots of other information here heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

Best wishes

PS, I recommend you join the AF Support forum also on Healthunlocked here healthunlocked.com/afassoci... click the Join button.

[Ppiman]

A normal heartbeat is when the bottom of the heart (i.e. the two ventricles) pump blood. Thus begins with an impulse from the very top of the heart - the atrium - where the heart’s natural pacemaker is located. This is a patch of cells called the sino-atrial (SA) node. On your Kardia this impulse shows as a small blip just before the peak (which is from the heart’s ventricles contracting). The blip is called a P wave, the peak, an R wave.

When the atrium is quivering because of AF, the SA node is blocked and the heart beats from a new signal created by the cells causing the AF. It tends to beat more quickly in this case, but not always. The small SA node blip - the P wave - is always absent, though.

The P wave is, sadly, often tiny and visually obscured by electrical “noise” on hand held ECGs, but the software can, normally, detect it and decide whether the beat is SA or AF generated.

I can send example ECG traces if that will help.

There is only one home ECG device that can run continuously and pick up AF even while we sleep. It’s made by Wellue and uses a free AI analysis to produce a very comprehensive report. I found this very useful when I began with AF and palpitations.

Steve

[MrJeff]

I am on the same medications. As others have noted my afib is and was asymptomatic. It was my Apple watch which caught the extreme increase in heart rate (150 bpm) which would not go down. Beta blockers have worked but, for me, with side affects. My cardiologist lowered my initial dose and it is better but general weakness and joint soreness still are around but much less. You need to keep with your cardiologist as slight changes in meds and your activity can have an impact on your quality of life. Good luck.

[Chinkoflight]

Hi Kallen32, it's a great question and you've had some helpful answers explaining ECG traces. Like you I have absolutely no awareness of my heart beating., no fluttering, no palpitations, no racing heart, but if I look at what my smart watch tells me BPM can range from 37 to 137 in fairly short order and back again which may or may not be associated with much physical exercise. However, on ECG most of this is normal sinus rhythm, occasionally with irregular missed beats. There are bumps, missing bits, long bits on the ECG but not enough to predict an outcome or to correct any defects. I have a Kardia too but it's never handy or convenient if I wonder whether something is not quite right because of another symptom. But I do have Afib diagnosed from an implanted loop recorder, (ILR) a tiny AA battery sized ECG monitor that sends signals via the mobile network to be monitored by the cardiology team. They phoned me with the news!!!! I was completely ignorant and couldn't offer any feedback as to what I was doing at the time of the event. Because the Afib is only occasional it's called paroxysmal AFib.Afib is a bit of a generic term at the end of the day and individual experiences can all be very different and may have very different underlying explanations. In itself, knowing a lot about your specific trace may provide no insight into the significance or consequences for your health and of course can and does contribute to increased levels of anxiety.

Medications as far as I can see only mitigate against possible negative consequences of Afib. So I had cryptogenic stroke, no obvious cause but Afib may have contributed to the cause, hence the ILR. I was never going to know this was about to happen. It just did. So at first I was as on an antiplatelet med then after Afib was detected switched to an anticoagulant medication. Afib can contribute to the formation of an embolism. Personalising medications does cause a lot of the chatter about Afib and is very important.

My response to the events was to respond to the best advice around which was to try and control the variables in my day to day life that would give me the best possible health outcomes in my circumstances. IE Diet, exercise, mental health, smiling! It worked in that at 70 I possibly became as fit as I'd ever been in my life. Whatever was going to happen or not in the future at least my body was stronger to cope with the consequences.

I have had other events but I've come through them definitely helped by my improved basic health. I'm no clearer, nor are the Dr's in understanding exactly what's going on and why, all they can do is mitigate with medication and I now have another device implanted (ICD). And for clarity that includes 6 weeks of 24/7 days of ECG data from being wired up in a coronary care unit. Cardiac MRI and full body PET scan A typical cause like ischaemic heart disease hasn't been found. Who knows?

I think on balance I'm better off without awareness of what my hearts doing.

I'm not sure if this missive helps you but it is probably an example of the confusion trying to make sense of a heart condition. It's not surprising the Dr's are very clever and will confess to knowing so little!