What is Atrial Fibrillation AFib
Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begi...
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AFib Question
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Last Thursday, I felt faint for a moment and checked my blood pressure. It was normal, but my pulse rate was 124 as opposed to my normal rate of 60. My heart monitor indicated that I had an irregular heartbeat, which was confirmed by my doctor the following Monday after a EKG.
He arranged for me to get blood tests next Monday with the aim to put me on Coumadin . When I got home, I checked my blood pressure again and my monitor showed that everything was back to normal. I checked it again several times today and everything has been normal. My question is...If you have a case like I did, is it a permanent condition that comes and goes or can you have one bout and it may not return? If I don't have any more bouts, should I still go on Coumadin? My doctor is going to arrange for me to see a cardiologist some time in the future to see if there are any issues with my heart. I've read many posts on this site and there seems to be a lot of expertise here. I'm happy to have found it. Cheers. Posted on 02/12/09, 02:02 am |
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It's hard to say if it's permanent. I had my first A-Fib incident, or, what I thought was A-Fib about 15 years ago. Since that it appears to have come and gone-- often not having anything for years. However, I recently began having them twice a week. I am on Warfarin-- and I hope not to be on Warfarin if the incidents cease. I haven't had an incident in nearly two weeks.
My guess is that he placed you on Coumadin to protect you from a possible stroke and him from a law suit. They say if you have had an A-Fib that they are progressive. Also, all of this depends upon your age and the physical condirion that you are in. Good luck, Doug 
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I couldn't find a button that said Reply, so I'll use the Add Advice button instead.
Thanks, Doug, for your reply. Actually, I'm in pretty poor condition. I used to golf three times a week until I developed a problem with my foot. I haven't done much for 2 years. I also haven't been looking after myself very well being a smoker and pretty heavy drinker. At 66, I should get rid of these bad habits and get some exercise. I suspect this episode of A-Fib is a wakeup call. Next Monday, I guess I'll find out if I need to go on some medication. Cheers Warren
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It's standard practice to send you to a cardiologist for some tests - they usually do an echocardiogram and a Holter monitor and a nuclear stress test. That way they find out how healthy your heart is otherwise. Then it's also important to know what your CHADS score is. Look this up by googling it on Wikipedia. It will help the doctors decide what kind of treatment they will use. Most often, they will want you to try cardioversion at least once if you're in Afib. Also, you should try to see a cardiologist who is trained in electrophysiology (an EP).
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has anyone told you that many athletes have afib? reason thought is that when you excercise your body depletes minerals i.e. magnesium etc...a very important nutrient that is mainly responsible for electrical rythym of the heart. stress also depletes magnesium. the hospital tests performed for mag, potassium and sodium are not reliable. almost everyone in the world in low in magesium. taking into consideration the hormones in meats depletes this crucial mineral. you do aerobics? why not try supplementation before going onto drugs as your afib attacks are sporatic (paroxymal)??
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Thanks for the replies to my queries. I have found out something that may help someone in this forum.
Prior to my attack, I was drinking quit a bit and the beverage of choice was vodka and tonic. I suspected that this might have caused my Afib, but didn't know why. I did a little research and found that Schweppes Tonic Water contains small amounts of quinine. I also found out that quinine can cause Afib. Now normally this small amount would not cause Afib, but I drank a case or more over the previous month. Since, I had my attack, I haven't touched a drop and haven't had another occurrence. (to my knowledge) Yesterday, I turned in a Holter monitor to verify that I don't have any further episodes. I'm pretty confident that I haven't because I checked on my own monitor hundreds of times during the last couple of weeks. I wanted to add my findings because I did a search of this forum for any mention of quinine and didn't find anything. Perhaps this can help someone else. Cheers Warren
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