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 have had it! Last year I had one afib episode all year. This year, I've had seven full blown episodes, and over the past few days, have been slipping in and out of afib. My heart rate shoots up to 135 when I'm sitting at my desk at work, and I start feeling awful. And yeah, my stomach then gets upset, and then.. I'll spare you the details.
Yes, I'm under a lot of stress.. I'm packing my condo by myself because I'm moving. I walk up the stairs, and I start afibbing. I move a box, i start afibbing...i feel like an 80 year old lady. It's just awful!
But three years ago, I was under much more stress with the illness and death of my mom. Yet I only had two afib episodes that year.
I'm angry, and I'm upset. I did everything right, I don't drink, I've never smoked, I swim laps, I eat almost exclusively organic. So why me?!!
And what is wrong with medical science? The best they can come up with is burning and scarring your heart.. And with only a 20 to 40 percent success rate?
And yes, I'm afibbing as I write this. This is progressive.. And I can only look forward to more and more of this?
I can't take it! I want to be healthy again!
-rant over-
Yes, I'm under a lot of stress.. I'm packing my condo by myself because I'm moving. I walk up the stairs, and I start afibbing. I move a box, i start afibbing...i feel like an 80 year old lady. It's just awful!
But three years ago, I was under much more stress with the illness and death of my mom. Yet I only had two afib episodes that year.
I'm angry, and I'm upset. I did everything right, I don't drink, I've never smoked, I swim laps, I eat almost exclusively organic. So why me?!!
And what is wrong with medical science? The best they can come up with is burning and scarring your heart.. And with only a 20 to 40 percent success rate?
And yes, I'm afibbing as I write this. This is progressive.. And I can only look forward to more and more of this?
I can't take it! I want to be healthy again!
-rant over-
I never post but feel like I have something to contribute. I have AF at night 4-5 times a month and feel an ablation is in my future. Like you I used to think "sure, fix scarring with more scarring - not me thanks."
Then I went to an AF patient conference earlier this year and learned a great deal about the progress of this treatment. You can find videos of it over on stopafib. I will not hesitate to get one when the time is right, from an experienced doctor.
Do remember that the success rate covers the entire spectrum: all ages and conditions of patients AND all experience and skill levels of the doctors. Choose wisely and you'll be at the upper end.
This does stink! I hate it too because I'm in great shape otherwise. Sometimes I feel like trying my stun gun out on my chest... My heart cells are just too social - too eager to talk to each other! I didn't give AF to myself and likely neither did you. Maybe have a fresh look at the new 'treatments' so you can have a better life.
Best of luck.
I have had Afib for about 6 years now. Like you I have really intense episodes that make it almost impossible to function normally. At first it was 1-2 episodes a year and then 1 a month and then finally weekly. At that point I started taking propafenone and it was like a miracle. I was back to how I used to be.
Slowly over the course of a year it became less effective but still better than before. Unfortunately I started getting neuropathy (burning feet which I suspected was caused by the meds) and had to stop. I went to daily episodes and I literally couldn't function in my day. At 44 years old I had to do something so I researched the best ablationist I could find and took the plunge.
6 months later and barely a blip. Long term, who knows but I feel human again. I can't tell you how good it feels but every time I get a skipped beat it still scares the crap out of me.
I totally get your concerns about burning and scarring but that all modern medicine really does. Surgeons cut and remove, they don't really fix things. You do a little damage to make it better overall. It's the end result that counts. From what I understand, the scarring is superficial and doesn't effect the heart's function. In fact it's s common treatment modality for athletes that develop Afib.
I'm not trying to convince you because it's a hard call to make but if I were you, I'd leave my options open. Sometimes the lesser of two evils might be the right choice.