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.
I'm hoping there might be someone else here who takes (or has taken) nitrates...not that I want anyone to need them, of course, but hoping to benefit from others' experience.
Wondering if anyone has any idea of how long it takes for the nitro headaches to go away when taking a daily long-acting nitro. (I've been reading comments about this on other websites, but would like to hear from people I feel like I "know"--you guys!)
Also, any general input as to which OTC pain meds are okay to take when on daily 81 mg coated aspirin. So far I've tried more aspirin, naproxyn sodium, and tylenol, which all seem to just help a bit but not get rid of the headache.
I will call my doctor if this seems like it will be an ongoing problem, but I'm hoping to just get through the initial adjustment to the med.
Wondering if anyone has any idea of how long it takes for the nitro headaches to go away when taking a daily long-acting nitro. (I've been reading comments about this on other websites, but would like to hear from people I feel like I "know"--you guys!)
Also, any general input as to which OTC pain meds are okay to take when on daily 81 mg coated aspirin. So far I've tried more aspirin, naproxyn sodium, and tylenol, which all seem to just help a bit but not get rid of the headache.
I will call my doctor if this seems like it will be an ongoing problem, but I'm hoping to just get through the initial adjustment to the med.
I take Pradaxa and was told I could Not take NSAIDs. The risk of bleeding goes way way up if one combines the two.
My chest pain started in the fall, and having had the stress echo and EP study that resulted in the AF diagnosis and meds, I figured it couldn't be a cardiac issue, but went back to my cardio as the pain was horrible. He said not cardiac. Had my gallbladder out in case the stones were causing it...nope. Finally, gastro eliminated all other possibilities and diagnosed esophageal spasms/nutcracker esophagus, and prescribed long-acting nitro (something about relaxing smooth muscle surrounding the esophagus) for the pain. It doesn't eliminate the pain, but does make it more tolerable.
Of course, at this point, I'm feeling like I've just substituted daily headaches for some of the chest pain. And it only lasts for part of the day; I take it at 7:30am (before the pain can kick in), and have a headache all morning and most of the afternoon, until my head finally feels better and the chest pain kicks in from around 4:30pm until bedtime (11:30pm)! I guess the reason for the break is that nitro becomes ineffective if you don't have a 10-12 hour window without it each day, and to be honest, I am grateful for the time without the headache. I am really wondering if it is worth it, but being on Flecainide really limits the treatment options--and there aren't many of those to begin with!
It has only been two weeks that I've been on it, so I'm trying to be patient and give it time while I experiment with timing and other things. I am really glad that I'm not on any blood thinners yet, as that would complicate things even more...so far, the best results I've had has been adding 3 more coated baby aspirin to the one I am already taking every morning anyway!
Anyway, thanks again for the feedback. Take care!