There are 5 on Yahoo Support Groups

persistent afib
AHA
P atrial Fib
Afib Cures
Afib Support

stop-afib.org has one
Some hospitals and clinics do
Cleveland Clinic has one

afibbers.org has one

The most info is on the Cleveland Clinic Website, stop-afib.org, a-fib.com, and afibbers.org

Welcome to the forum Thomas. Although each person's experience and situation is somewhat unique when it comes to A-Fib, there is lots of experience here to draw from.
- Rick

Welcome Thomas. I hope you find the information and support you are looking for with this forum. This forum has really helped to improve my outlook on treatments and management.

Welcome Thomas, this is the best site for support and information on afib.

Dee

Thank you very much for your responses!! I will surely need to spend some time on here digging around and I look forward to sharing and supporting this group as much as I can.

Special thanks to Pete for the alt/link options as well.

I work as an Art Director/Designer @ an Ad Agency.

I have been told that I have no underlying structural heart conditions, I'm in decent shape/health, active outdoors (beach/surf fishing), 53 years old (6' tall 155#s), don't smoke, don't do any drugs, watch what I eat, drink moderately (beer/wine), and drink coffee much less now than before. After my initial episode which took 13-14 hours (via IV drip) in the hospital to resume NSR I was put on Metoprolol 25 MG 2X daily. After the 3rd episode I was put on Metoprolol ER 25 MG 2X daily. I thought that was the trick and it seemed to be working until Feb. 17th, 2012 [unfortunately :( ] and I had another bout/episode ( which took 7-8 hours in the hospital via drip to resume NSR) making my total 4 episodes since the 1st which was May 9th 2010.

Thanks again for the response and I'll have to spend some time on here and dig around,.....

Peace and continued good health to all/TTYL!

;-)

Hi Surfrat, welcome to the forum. I'm kind of new here as well. I'm 54, never smoked, never even tried coffee or tea, don't drink soda, eat organic, and am a former serious athlete.

Looking back, I have had this for a very long time. I had "tachycardia" and skipped beats that the doctors poo-pooed. They started when I was in my 20's. I had problems with elevated altitude when I was on a Grand Canyon trip.

I had my first "big bertha" afib incident in the pool on a Masters swim team in October, but didn't recognize it as a cardiac event at the time. I developed edema in my lungs and my heart was beating outside of my chest. I thought I had developed exercise induced asthma... afib was the last thing on my mind.

Then last month, I had my second "big bertha" afib event while lying in bed talking on the phone. My heart started zooming, and wouldn't go down. When I had gotten tachycardia in the past, I always converted quickly, but this time, my heart rate kept rising. I called 911 and converted in the ambulance, but ended up with a two day hospital stay. I'm now on Bystolic and aspirin.

Sux.. doesn't it? But, I'm hiring a personal trainer, and I'm bound and determined to resume my active life. I still want to figure out a way to do a high altitude trip. I always wanted to go to Machu Picchu.

A hardy Welcome to you Surfrat...
Glad to meet you, I'm Yogacat!
I'm here to learn and share you see,
We are all as friendly as can be.
Pull up a surfboard, and stay awhile
You'll learn a lot, and probably smile.
Glad to have you, You'll like our style!

As usual Yogacat you made a smile on my face. Very nicely done!
There's lots of fun to be had in this place. Come all come anyone!

Welcome, Thomas!
As you can see, you will get a lot of useful info here.
I loved your poem, yogacat!! LOL!

Very nice Yogacat! IslandLuvr, thanks for sharing your experience, I've not yet heard of Bystolic, I'm assuming from what I just quickly read online that it might be similar to Metoprolol as it's catergorized as a Betablocker - is this correct? To have converted so quickly back to NSR is a good thing. My second experience was on Sat. October 2, 2010, I was a mess almost passing out on the drive to the ER (mid-morning). When I got there I was checked and told I was in AFIB, I asked them to call my EP and he told them to give me 3 Flecanide pills, I'm assuming they were 25MG each. In about one hour I converted back to NSR, they watched me for a few hours after and let me go and I was back on the beach fishing. Since then I have been told that I was lucky that time and have been put on IV drips, when I have asked for the 3 pills again as well as asking them to contact my EP,..... I suppose each hospital has a certain protocal, but I don't understand why many haven't even heard of Flecanide being used currently and have refered to it as 'old school."

HI Surfrat, I'm new here too. What ya catching? I too love to fish. I will be glad to let you know anything new I get to know as my current treatment progresses. Although as rfreeze mentioned each of us is a lttle bit unique in how Afib presents. My treatments have always been on the conservative side. I think this is due to the age it was discovered, 8 years old. Also, it might be thet most of my life I have been in an HMO, and they do things a bit different. I just had my first ambulance ride and ER episode a couple of weeks ago. Medic 1 guys are really impressive in their skills and abilities, but I really would prefer to meet them under different circumstances. So far I like the help and information I have been able to glean form the other folks here. I think I'll be sticking around with this group for a long while.

I wonder if you would be a good candidate for the PIP (Pill in pocket) approach since this seems to work for you and your episodes are infrequent. What was in the IV drip? Heparin?

Dr John Mandrola at http://www.drjohnm.org/ is, of course, a doctor and you can email him. yahoo group called afib support has professionals on it.

The IV drip I was given was Cardizem. Prior to that I think I saw another drip that was Dilatizem or something like that. I have discussed the "Pill in Pocket" with my EP subsequent to it being used (at his direction) in the ER on October 2nd, 2010. Last summer I got a 'scrip for Flecanide and carry some with me. To date, however I have not used it alone. What worried me was a commenet another Dr. made towards my success with it that one time, he said I was lucky it worked. On Feb. 17th of this year when I stopped @ the ER, I wasn't 100% sure if I was completely AFIB'd out or not. I told the ER people that I had some Flec with me, but they would not let me take it. they said they had something better to help me. not having done a self-induced conversion yet, I'm skeptical and concerned in regards to what do you do after a few hours if it doesn't work? As time goes on, I've found to be more challenged regarding mobility and being able to walk, drive etc. I would hate to have to call an EMT to pick me up somewhere. The next time (which will be shortly) I talk to me EP, I will try to nail down some sort of protocal with him. He's not the most articulate or forthcoming individual on the planet. IE: Take 3 pills, wait 60 minutes, and if they don't work get to the ER, etc., etc. I answer to what I fish for, I fish the beach/surf and target many different species, most often primarily targeting Sharks. Landbased Shark Fishing is a sub-culture of Surfcasting that has a pretty unique and passionate following.

Cardizem is a brand name for Diltiazem and is used for rate control.
Flecainide is used as an anti-arrhythmia drug.
Having a good protocol to follow when you experience symptoms is something you definitely want to work out with your doctor. Although my symptoms were very strong, I never passed out. My Cardiologist told me to seek help if symptoms lasted more than six hours or I felt like passing out. Even though my symptoms usually lasted several hours, I only went to the hospital one time. Usually my symptoms would be gone by the next morning. I would always take a couple of aspirins though in addition to my daily 81 mg dose. At one time I had an episode go to the next day (while following PIP approach with Propafenone) and went to the hospital. They held me overnight before doing an electro-cardioversion, because I had eaten that day (lesson learned). I did finally self convert in the AM on day 2 so no cardioversion was performed.
I fish too, but mostly from a boat. I gave up tuna fishing this past year because of the long distances and strenuousness (total adrenaline rush!). Our Norcal tuna fishing wan't too good last year anyway. I still did fish inland (salmon, trout, etc). If I used my trailer boat I made sure I had a partner who could drive and recover the boat if needed and avoided highly remote locations.
- Rick