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.
Hello everyone! I have been lurking here for a while, and have finally found the courage to share my own story. From reading everyones posts, I dont feel like Im the only one this is happening to anymore.
Im a 60 year old male, and in reasonably good health. Ive had episodes of an irregular heartbeat, or Afib, for the last 10 years. It didnt happen all the time, and never when I was in a doctors office. To tell you the truth, I didnt know what was going on. These episodes would be triggered from some sort of exercise such as running, walking fast or weight lifting. Or maybe it was caffeine or the occasional adult beverage. From around May 2013, to November, I was just not feeling good. I found it hard to breathe most of the time, my heart was in some weird reggae rhythm, and my legs felt like I was carrying 100lb weights.
Finally, during a regular physical in November 2013, my GP noticed an irregular heartbeat while taking my blood pressure, and took an EKG for verification. Sure enough, I was in Afib. I assumed I had been for several months. I had gotten so used to the way I felt, and my heart bouncing around, I didnt realize that it was going on all the time. My GP sent me to a cardiologist who immediately put me on Xarelto, & Atenolol. The Atenolol did nothing except break me out in a rash and made me feel more fatigued than ever. Side note: (After reading the posts here, it could be the Xarelto thats making me feel so fatigued.) When this didnt work to convert me back to NSR, he added Flecainide to the mix. This made me feel even worse. I never came out of Afib with any of the drugs. Next stop was an EP, which reviewed my EKGs and classified my Afib as a flutter. The EP scheduled me for an ablation procedure in March to fix a flutter in the right atrium.
Well, come to find out during the procedure, the flutter could not be fixed due to Afib in the left atrium. So he pulled out and scheduled another procedure to fix both problems. The second ablation procedure was scheduled and performed about 8 weeks ago on June 25th. After the procedure I was told that the Afib in the left side had been fixed, but there was a stubborn flutter in the right side that had to be shocked into submission. After the procedure, the EP initially put me on Sotalol. After about 10 days I went back into Afib. I returned to the EP so they could take an EKG and discuss what was going on. The EP studied the EKG and told me that it was different than the original problem. He added Metoprolol to help convert me back to NSR and said it would probably be a 50/50 chance of the Afib going away completely. The Metoprolol worked after a couple more days in Afib. Since then, I have been in NSR around 66% of the time. The longest Ive been in NSR has been 10 days in a row, so far.
I was really hoping the ablation was going to make everything better. I had been convinced that after the ablation, I could come off all the drugs after healing was complete. Im feeling a little disappointed on the days Im in Afib. But the days that I have a normal heart rhythm, are the days I feel better than I have in over a year. Just have to take the good with the bad for now.
Sorry for the length. Actually this was the short version. :-) Thanks for listening.
-Mark
Im a 60 year old male, and in reasonably good health. Ive had episodes of an irregular heartbeat, or Afib, for the last 10 years. It didnt happen all the time, and never when I was in a doctors office. To tell you the truth, I didnt know what was going on. These episodes would be triggered from some sort of exercise such as running, walking fast or weight lifting. Or maybe it was caffeine or the occasional adult beverage. From around May 2013, to November, I was just not feeling good. I found it hard to breathe most of the time, my heart was in some weird reggae rhythm, and my legs felt like I was carrying 100lb weights.
Finally, during a regular physical in November 2013, my GP noticed an irregular heartbeat while taking my blood pressure, and took an EKG for verification. Sure enough, I was in Afib. I assumed I had been for several months. I had gotten so used to the way I felt, and my heart bouncing around, I didnt realize that it was going on all the time. My GP sent me to a cardiologist who immediately put me on Xarelto, & Atenolol. The Atenolol did nothing except break me out in a rash and made me feel more fatigued than ever. Side note: (After reading the posts here, it could be the Xarelto thats making me feel so fatigued.) When this didnt work to convert me back to NSR, he added Flecainide to the mix. This made me feel even worse. I never came out of Afib with any of the drugs. Next stop was an EP, which reviewed my EKGs and classified my Afib as a flutter. The EP scheduled me for an ablation procedure in March to fix a flutter in the right atrium.
Well, come to find out during the procedure, the flutter could not be fixed due to Afib in the left atrium. So he pulled out and scheduled another procedure to fix both problems. The second ablation procedure was scheduled and performed about 8 weeks ago on June 25th. After the procedure I was told that the Afib in the left side had been fixed, but there was a stubborn flutter in the right side that had to be shocked into submission. After the procedure, the EP initially put me on Sotalol. After about 10 days I went back into Afib. I returned to the EP so they could take an EKG and discuss what was going on. The EP studied the EKG and told me that it was different than the original problem. He added Metoprolol to help convert me back to NSR and said it would probably be a 50/50 chance of the Afib going away completely. The Metoprolol worked after a couple more days in Afib. Since then, I have been in NSR around 66% of the time. The longest Ive been in NSR has been 10 days in a row, so far.
I was really hoping the ablation was going to make everything better. I had been convinced that after the ablation, I could come off all the drugs after healing was complete. Im feeling a little disappointed on the days Im in Afib. But the days that I have a normal heart rhythm, are the days I feel better than I have in over a year. Just have to take the good with the bad for now.
Sorry for the length. Actually this was the short version. :-) Thanks for listening.
-Mark
Welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear that your A-Fib is so durn stubborn! I'm relatively new here too, but I've met a lot of good folks so far.
It's comforting to have a place where you can go to talk about this stuff with people who really understand what you're going through. Sometimes I think cardiologists and EPs know the mechanics of the heart inside and out, but when it comes to how A-Fib actually makes you feel, they're clueless, because they haven't experienced it. That's where the folks on this board come in.
Hang in there my man. Stick with it, stay positive and you will eventually find the perfect treatment that works for you.
Paul
Also, for me, Metoprolol, has not been the reason I convert. It slows my rate down, so I can tolerate being in afib...until my heart does convert.
And I totally agree with you. The days in NSR Are wonderful. I don't take my heart beating in rhythm for granted....sure helps to be grateful for all that is going well~
It's true that you are not alone. This is a good place to share experiences, ask questions, or just vent.
D.
*Thanks for sharing you experiences with the med.s, I think this is a great aspect of DS as just about every med. effects each individual so differently,......