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 had my third ablation on Friday. First one involving left atria. Foley catheter pain finally gone. Feeling good. This feels like progress! Changing my status today.
Dr. Kurian is at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis.
Dr. Kurian is at Mercy Hospital in St. Louis.
Firstly, congratulations on your success! It sounds like you are well on the road to recovery.
Good sleep is important and here are a couple of thoughts about that (you may know this already, if so, then sorry for the repetition):
BETA BLOCKERS
Sotalol is a beta blocker, right? As far as I know beta blockers can deplete melatonin, another side effect of beta blockers is they can give you nightmares. I have experienced both of those due to metoprolol (I also had diarrhea the first 6 weeks but luckily that subsided). What I do, and seems to have eased the situation about 50%, is I take my bb in the morning (with the idea that at night the effect will be wearing off a little bit).
MAGNESIUM
After what you went through (ablation) your body probably used up a lot of magnesium and you may very well be a little short on that at the moment. I take between 600 and 900mg per day (capsules and not the kind you fizzle in water they usually have artificial sweeteners in them). After I got out of the hospital (TIA) I was able to take 900mg per day (300mg 3x per day) with no problems for a month! Magnesium calms me down and I can sleep a lot better. In fact, my first a-fib episode (before I knew what was going on or even what a-fib was) happened at night up in the mountains, away from a hospital or doctors, surprisingly enough I thought of magnesium and took some. Of course it didnt stop the a-fib but it took the edge off of the racing heart and I was able to fall asleep.
THE ROOM YOU SLEEP IN
Something that is often overlooked (I know I have!) is darkness; make sure your room is completely dark close the shutters and draw the drapes.
You sound extremely healthy and have heart rate readings that I could only dream about! I walk the dog 25 minutes and my polar says I averaged 117 with a max of 140 (lol on a good day!).
Onthe subject of Xarelto (rat poison (-: ). it does cause a number of side effects in some people, nightnmares, insonmia are among them. I had bad reaction to it and was taken off, nightmares stopped and don't wake up a bunch of times in the night anymore. I also use nose strips and they seem to work better than the cpap machine...........
Take care/best wishes
Cheryl
That really speaks to me. That's exactly what's going on. I'm going to really push for coming off Xarelto next week in my appointment with Dr. K. Meantime, y'all make sure you take your rat poison with food :-)
ps I don't mean to down anti-Coagulants ... I realize some of us wouldn't be here without them. "save the brain" ... the a fib equivalent of "women and children first!".
"or did your doc tell you to just stop? "
Back in December, he said, we like to try to wean you off. But now he's saying "Just stop". Then I go back to see him in May. Not much of a "wean". More like trial and error.
"If your doc told you to just stop, be prepared for your heart to protest alittle. It has been used to having the med and you might experience some rapid rates until your heart get used to not having the med"
Thanks, this is a Pearl to me because I've had no idea what to expect. Thanks Carrie!
I have had three what might be called incidents:
One day after I went off the medicine: I was registering in the 150s for about 20 minutes
two weeks after a one off the medicine I was registering in the one 60s for about an hour
April 11 at 4 o'clock in the afternoon I registered in the 150s to one 60s for about 3 1/2 hours
In none of those three incidents was I too uncomfortable to be doing normal activities
I have not had anything since April 11.
Sleeping a lot better. I used to lay down and immediately start feeling "thump thumps", even after this latest ablation. But that has almost completely stopped.
I cannot say that I do not feel some, I guess what you would call ectopic heartbeatsevery once in a while. But they are hardly worth mentioning, since they do not affect me at all and are a minor, MINOR inconvenience compared to what I was living with before.
And the best news is.. *This jogger is jogging again!* Taking it real slow but I have jogged 3 times since I stopped all medicine one month ago: Once on the treadmill and twice outside. Each time about 30-45 minutes. It is SO much smoother than when I used to try to jog on my old janky heart, it is like night and day.
And I am doing 45 minutes of elliptical 3 to 4 times a week.
MY ONLY CONCERNS:
*My resting heart rate when I went in to see my general practitioner 3/27/14, was 88. Neither he nor the nurse seemed to be concerned. I am trying not to be a "Heart Watch Queen" but my resting heart rate seems to be around 82, but is frequently higher than that (90s) with any exertion whatsoever. Which is weird because after my last atrial flutter ablation, when they put me first on sotalol, they were worried that my heart rate was too LOW.
*After I have exercised it takes a long time for my Heart to get back down into the 80s.
But I am feeling absolutely great.
Now for the psychological side. Because of the success of this ablation, I promise myself several times a day "not to let anything bother me". And it is a good adage to live by. I feel like I have been given a new lease on life. But my life has been VERY stressful the last few months. Nonetheless, "This old heart of mine" keeps ticking along unperturbed.
If anybody has any thoughts on the high heart rate, let me know.
I think the most important thing is that you feel good! The resting HR WILL come back down. My resting was 58 before the ablation, then went up to 85 after, and, like you, it went into the 90s with very little exertion. l will say this, even though my resting rate has come down (I am now 16 months post ablation), there are "good" days and "bad" days for my HR...one day it is in the mid 60s, the next day in the mid 70s. When I have a super good day, and feel no stress whatsoever, I have hit 59. That makes me VERY happy, but then the next day could be back to the mid 70s. Just visited the chiropractor today and we were discussing this issue, and he suggests I do more cardio. Unlike you, I do 60-120 minutes on the recumbent bike, but only occasionally do I do the elliptical, and that is for 20 minutes....now that the weather is nicer, I think I need to try and hit the pavement, and see what happens after a few weeks of that. So glad you are feeling well! Let's just stay in NSR!
Bill
For most people, a heart rate of 60 to 100 beats a minute while at rest is considered normal. If your heart beats less than 60 times a minute, it is slower than normal.
A slow heart rate can be normal and healthy. Or it could be a sign of a problem with the hearts electrical system camera.gif.
For some people, a slow heart rate does not cause any problems. It can be a sign of being very fit. Healthy young adults and athletes often have heart rates of less than 60 beats a minute.
In other people, bradycardia is a sign of a problem with the hearts electrical system. It means that the heart's natural pacemaker isn't working right or that the electrical pathways of the heart are disrupted. In severe forms of bradycardia, the heart beats so slowly that it doesn't pump enough blood to meet the body's needs. This can cause symptoms and can be life-threatening.
Men and women age 65 and older are most likely to develop a slow heart rate that needs treatment. As a person ages, the electrical system of the heart often doesn't function normally.
What causes bradycardia?
Bradycardia can be caused by:
Changes in the heart that are the result of aging.
Diseases that damage the heart's electrical system. These include coronary artery disease, heart attack, and infections such as endocarditis and myocarditis.
Conditions that can slow electrical impulses through the heart. Examples include having a low thyroid level (hypothyroidism) or an electrolyte imbalance, such as too much potassium in the blood.
Some medicines for treating heart problems or high blood pressure, such as beta-blockers, antiarrhythmics, and digoxin.
petey