Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

Yesterday I went in for my six month (two months late) check up following my February ablation. I wore a heart monitor for 21 days in August with the result being that I have no afib!! Hooray! My EP at the University of Washington wants me to come back every six months for follow-up. They are considering expanding their ablation program because they believe that many strokes and heart attacks are caused by "silent afib." Those are the people who live with afib and usually don't know it or ignore it and throw off clots because of the afib. So, they want me to participate in the follow-up study. I am so grateful to be feeling so well. I had the kind of afib where I KNEW I had it. At the end, I was in afib most of the time and felt terrible. I could feel every irregular beat of my heart, and my heart rate without diltiazem was often 180+. I have met people who did not know they had afib until their docs told them.

My EP does want me to go in for blood work as he thinks I may have damaged my thyroid by taking amiodarone for two or three years. He wasn't the one who prescribed it. Amiodarone is a very toxic drug. It helped my afib for quite a while and then stopped working for me. I think it was fortunate that it stopped working for me because of the toxicity. It can cause serious damage to various body systems.

With advances in technology catheter ablation becomes safer and more effective all the time. I am so glad I had it done. Don't hesitate to check it out if you are suffering with afib.

I didn't mean to run on so, but there was a time I thought I would live the rest of my life struggling with afib. I am so very happy at the outcome!
Posted on 10/09/09, 12:10 pm