Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group
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 begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.
Hey everyone,
I have had a few now for 3 1/2 years and it has been slowly but progressively getting worse. I had some dental work done in the end of December and every since then my heart is been going crazy. I get the hard thumping PACs out of the blue, dayand night, they do seem to be worse after I eat and first thing in the morning.
I use the pill in pocket strategy to convert my episodes but I haven't had one long enough to convert since December 1. My heart keeps flipping in and out of afib and I am having these short episodes probably twice a week. The rest of the time I'm getting strong palpitations that feel just about as bad.
My electrophysiologist says the next step is to go on a daily dose of antiarrhythmic drugs but when I take them I feel so awful it feels like I'm going to die and I can't imagine taking them every single day. My EP won't do ablation until you have failed on at least two antiarrhythmic drugs. As well they don't do a lot of them so the success rate say "are in the range of 40-60%. He also warned me about serious side effects such as esophageal fistula, stroke and death.
As a result of this if I decide to go I think I will go to bordello for the procedure. The last time I read nobody had ever developed an esophageal fistula or died in the center.
I would very much like to hear of other people around my age who opted for ablation just to compare how serious their situation was and what kind of results they had with it. I realize one of the limiting factors here is the fact that those who get better tend to disappear off these boards after a time so you tend not to get a host of long term experiences.
Still I would love to hear from whoever takes the time to answer.
Monty
I have had a few now for 3 1/2 years and it has been slowly but progressively getting worse. I had some dental work done in the end of December and every since then my heart is been going crazy. I get the hard thumping PACs out of the blue, dayand night, they do seem to be worse after I eat and first thing in the morning.
I use the pill in pocket strategy to convert my episodes but I haven't had one long enough to convert since December 1. My heart keeps flipping in and out of afib and I am having these short episodes probably twice a week. The rest of the time I'm getting strong palpitations that feel just about as bad.
My electrophysiologist says the next step is to go on a daily dose of antiarrhythmic drugs but when I take them I feel so awful it feels like I'm going to die and I can't imagine taking them every single day. My EP won't do ablation until you have failed on at least two antiarrhythmic drugs. As well they don't do a lot of them so the success rate say "are in the range of 40-60%. He also warned me about serious side effects such as esophageal fistula, stroke and death.
As a result of this if I decide to go I think I will go to bordello for the procedure. The last time I read nobody had ever developed an esophageal fistula or died in the center.
I would very much like to hear of other people around my age who opted for ablation just to compare how serious their situation was and what kind of results they had with it. I realize one of the limiting factors here is the fact that those who get better tend to disappear off these boards after a time so you tend not to get a host of long term experiences.
Still I would love to hear from whoever takes the time to answer.
Monty
Monty
3+ weeks ago, I had a tooth pulled, they used Septocaine (epinepherine) and all Hell as broken loose for me since.
Afib very symtomatic for 8 days. Week later, the worst afib I've had...soo lightheaded to function..for 22 hrs..
Also, Monty, the same awful pounding palpations morning, noon and night..for most of these 3+ weeks.
My Cardio Dr. said...'You need an Ablation' this is not going to get better for you.....I was shocked. I asked about anitrymetics and he said I couldn't take them because of my bradycardia. This conversation was over the phone. (also shocking to me)
I went to a different Cardio dr. yesterday. He was also surprised. He said the Epinepherine should NEVER be used with folks with Heart conditions. He did not think an ablation was right for me...other options to explore, and as soon as he gets my records from original cardio dr. He will set me up for an event monitor to see what is going of with the constant, annoying palpations. I am Relieved.
I asked if the changes to my heart were permanent from the Epi, he said no.
I am haing trouble with the tooth next to the pulled out tooth....and shudder to think what this might bring...But...Just for Today..I will deal with Today.
Moral seems to be, take good care of your Teeth afib folks, brush and floss and we'll see what happens next.
Happy Valentines Day Everyone!!!
I tried one Anti arrhythmic med before ablation. It had little effect and I didn't like the side effects. I wasn't interested in taking powerful medication for the rest of my life. I'm blessed to have an amazing EP that has a very high ablation success rate, especially with paroxysmal Afib like mine. It took having high confidence in my EP to get me in that hospital the day of the procedure. My Afib had progressed to 70% of the time so I was not only fed up but concerned about becoming permanent.
I would suggest you consider second opinions from top Afib facilities if it can be arranged. Obviously its best to have a specialist that is well versed in your type of Afib. If your EP doesn't perform many ablations then by all means find an EP and facility that does. Trust me, you'll feel much better the day of you procedure knowing you're in very capable hands.
I would agree with everyone's comments. I had an ablation done last year, but I failed on 4 drugs beforehand. My EP said the success rate was 70% in general. Not sure of your specifics for your heart. Each antiarrhythmic has it's own advantages and disadvantages, so it might be worth trying more than one. For instance, I had really bad side effects from Sotolol, Rythmol, and amiodarone, but had very few with Tikosyn. However, Tikosyn didn't make the a fib go away. Maybe getting a second EP decision might be helpful.
I have actually been doing better for the last couple of days so I'm hoping that this will subside a little and I can delay therapy for a while. I have only ever used pill in pocket and decided at the beginning that I would go for ablation before using meds regularly because I don't like the side effects.
Maybe that is a closed minded point of view but at my age I can't face a life time on these meds. I just don't like the AADs.
Yogacat, dental work always made things worse and I had a doozy over xmas and new years. I had a root canal on dec 24th that was completed on Jan 3rd. THey didn't use epi in either event but the procedure itself bothers me. I was getting serious pain and burning sensations for about 3 weeks afterwards (something that can happen rarely after these procedures). That had my heart going crazy and I wasn't able to settle it down.
I contacted Bordeaux and got some info from them. I've decided that if this doesn't settle down, I'm going. It's expensive but what else do I have to spend my money on? A new car? A vacation? I'd trade either of these for NSR in a heartbeat.
Monty
Do you live in France? Or would you consider a place in the US?
I live in Canada. I would love to go to the US and I have a few docs there that top my list. The problem is that if I'm paying out of pocket the US is easily triple the cost.
The guys that are local here are not great and the ones that are decent are about a 3 hour drive south but the waiting times are long and, from what I understand, they want you to have failed an AAD first.
Monty