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.
Hi: last night as went to bed my heart rate spiked. It ended up at 103ish. I take 12.5 mg. of atenolol at night had done so 40 minutes before bed. I got up and took another 12.5. My rate stayed in he 90's. I ended up taking another 12 mg. and eventually, slowly, my rate trended down over the next hour and a half.
This has happened infrequently since my ablation, though never right before getting into bed. It had been a long day at work and Church and I noticed that I was very tired at work. . Also, I've had a cold that's gone into my lungs for the last two and a half weeks, although I'm getting better.
So this looks like a mini-flutter--or tachycardia. How to tell the difference is beyond me. It seemed to take a lot of atenolol to knock down my rate.
This was not afib as I've had it in the past, because my rate, though elevated, was consistent.
My ep says that flecainide won't work for flutter and this makes sense. I have it as a pill in the pocket, but happily I've never had to use it.
But the last time I had a major flutter incident that required conversion the atenolol couldn't knock my hr down, I thought that I was told then to use flecainide when this happens.
My apologies for rambling; I guess I need to vent .
any thoughts?
This has happened infrequently since my ablation, though never right before getting into bed. It had been a long day at work and Church and I noticed that I was very tired at work. . Also, I've had a cold that's gone into my lungs for the last two and a half weeks, although I'm getting better.
So this looks like a mini-flutter--or tachycardia. How to tell the difference is beyond me. It seemed to take a lot of atenolol to knock down my rate.
This was not afib as I've had it in the past, because my rate, though elevated, was consistent.
My ep says that flecainide won't work for flutter and this makes sense. I have it as a pill in the pocket, but happily I've never had to use it.
But the last time I had a major flutter incident that required conversion the atenolol couldn't knock my hr down, I thought that I was told then to use flecainide when this happens.
My apologies for rambling; I guess I need to vent .
any thoughts?
I took Atenolol many years ago for high blood pressure. I don't take it any more. . I take noting now for HBP..since, my BP is fine now.
There are several Beta Blockers that do a Good job of controlling rate.
Actually, for me, 100 is what I shoot for while in afib, that starts out 140+. I usually stay there for several hours before gradually dropping to a lower rate and finally converting. I take Metoprolol.
I also have taken half dose of Metoprolol a few times when my rate was 100 in NSR, but it was pounding harder than usual and annoying. IIt stopped the pounding and brought my rate way down. I have Bradycardia and I usually hover in the 50's.
I did a little research online and found some people posting about slightly higher heart rates within 1 year following an ablation (where their rate had been close to normal immediately following the ablation). So at least I know I'm not the only one.
I still have my flecainide as an insurance policy against arrhythmia, but haven't taken it since the ablation, and hopefully will never have to. I still take metoprolol once a day, the dosage depending on how I'm feeling and my rate.
Duder, my resting HR went up right after my ablation and stayed higher--although still perfectly 'normal'--than it was before. Mine has slowly been coming down. But like you I've read and heard that this is fairly typical.
What I have experienced post-ablation is on a few occasions during mild exercise, I'll experience a suddenly higher rate that doesn't want to come down when I rest. I'm still hoping that this will pass.
I have Alivecor and last night, for the first time, it briefly characterized my ekg as 'not able to tell what this is' or words to that effect. Then five minutes later it reported 'no abnormalities' even though my resting heart rate was 97. This is reassuring, but I know that my normal rate is no where near 97 bpm.
finally, it was a bit disconcerting that it took such a large dose (for me) of Atenolol to bring my rate down. I don't know if my body is getting used to this drug. Worse, as I mentioned, during my last bad episode of flutter Atenolol didn't work at all. So it's kind of scary waiting to see what will happen after taking this drug for a mild episode of...I don't know what. I'm still calling it tachycardia, since my advice nurse suggested that's what it was when I called during a similar episode earlier last year.
It may be that my new reality is that I can't stress my heart very much with exercise or even long hard days when I'm still a bit under the weather. It's discouraging but I can live with it.
Since you know that it's not unheard of for us ablated folk to have a slightly higher rate, I wouldn't worry about it, as long as it doesn't shoot up too high. Take an atenolol, maybe pop an extra magnesium, and chill. This too will pass. :-)
Life is a gift. Before my ablations I was so worried about my arrhythmia that I bet I caused at least half of my episodes. Now it's time to enjoy life, since I feel like I've been given a second shot.
Saturday night it was up around 105 after the Bengals game...but since I'm a Bengals fan that was probably explainable.
My last episode also featured a 'hard' beat, not terrible but noticable. It just seemed like something was wrong.
but all's well! No issues for two nights and a nice low rate this morning. Life is good! Listen to Duder-san!