Its nice to put a face with the name and comments, Paul :) I,too, take a 1/2 of a minimum dose of beta blocker (atenolol). I had problems on rhythm control, so minimal rate control works fairly well for me. Its not perfect but my symptoms are managed pretty good. Wow, your cat Panda is enjoying a nice, long life! Nice to hear from you!

Every time I read about the side effects of the rhythm control drugs, it scares me practically to death! After at least 40 years of afib, I know I eventually will need to do something. The episodes have become more frequent, yet I can still work out vigorously in the gym 3 hours, three time per week. Go figure. Well, I lasted till 64 ...

Hey Paul. 40 years? How did it start? I guess yours has progressed really slowly. I'm 64 (65 Dec 28th) also and work out all the time. Do you get symptoms? We could all probably learn a lot from your story. 40 years. Wow. I was diagnosed almost 3 years ago at 62... let's see, I'll be 102 when I have had 40 years of afib. I hope they have a cure by then. petey

Well Petey, I remember passing out a lot as a kid. Also, I couldn't participate in activities that required much running. I would get out of breath too easily. Although, I was an excellent handball player (required sport for inner city NYC youths). The first full blown episode I was in my mid twenties, screwing a hot young lady in a hot show (sorry to those offended, but he did ask, and it was the 60's, which I sometimes remember). Anyhow, through my 30's and 40's it would have episodes on and off for a few weeks. I'd go to the cardiologest, do the holter monitor thing, and they would never find anything. Then the problem would go away for a year or two. At 40 I had lymes disease which may have made things worse. The episodes have increased in frequency and intensity of the decades. About 5 years ago I was having episodes almost every day and landed in the ER. The next cardiologest diagnosed the problem and put me on metoprolol. The minimun dose knocked my resting heart rate to 38, so I take 1/2 the minimum dose in the morning. I used to take it at night, but I would get up in the morning weak and dizzy with extremely low blood presure. Now I have episodes 0-5 days per week. Heart rate stays under 130 during episodes (but I can be in afib with a much lower rate), BP normal, no structural heart issues. I have the usual problems with shortness of breath, fatigue, and achy chest during episodes. Fortunately, my epsidoes tend to last less than 1 hour and a hot shower or working out in the gym usually stops them. I avoid all the triggers I can and also take potassium, magnesium, fish oil and vitamins and a 325mg aspirin. I tried CQ10 but it seemed to lower my blood presure too much. AND, those 25 year olds can't keep up with me in the gym.
One of the research centers for afib (Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ) is only 5 miles from my home, but I'm not ready for an abalation yet. Periodically, I think about rhythm control. Then the episode stops and that idea seems less important.

Ah, the 60's. I remember them well. That was a fun time.

Hot ladies, 25 year olds that can't keep up with you, 3 hours in the gym, from North Jersey up by Hackensack yak yak yak yak... Exit 18E... Hmmmmm, very interesting... ... just as I suspected... "Jersey Guy" Syndrome. :-) (I'm from NJ, so I know)

Seriously, that is quite a story. You look like you are in great shape (from what is in the picture). 1 hour isn't too bad. I guess if your EP is aware of the increase, watching and waiting might be the best idea. You sound like the athlete healthy heart version of afib. I guess you know all about the vagal tone thing.


petey

Well, I'm really a NYC guy, who moved in with his NJ girlfriend 30 years ago and stayed. But Jersey isn't so bad... garden state et. al. Anyhow, would you care to elaborate on your take on the vagal tone thing. Whenever I've read about vagus nerve involvement with afib, it sounded very much like what I experience.

I was just rereading my previous post. How a little typo can change the meaning of things. Instead of " hot young lady in a hot show" it should have read " hot young lady in a hot shower". I don't want you all to think I was a porn star or something .

Paul:

"Possible mechanism of atrial fibrillation in
sportsmen

In sportsmen one may identify two factors that have
been clearly demonstrated to favor the occurrence of
atrial fibrillation: an increased vagal tone with bradycardia,
and a slight dilatation of the heart cavities.
We have observed such an enlargement of cardiac
cavities and left ventricular mass in our patients when
compared with healthy controls. Whether or not these
changes are due to chronic sport practice cannot be
established in our study. This apparent relationship
between prolonged sport practice and atrial fibrillation
had not been previously well established, perhaps
because cardiovascular evaluation in athletes is usually
performed at the time of maximal sport activity.
Our sportsmen were evaluated after many years of sport
practice, when some of them had already reduced their
activities to a very low level. Only after specifically
asking for their past sport activity did it become apparent
that these patients had been performing vigorous
exercise for many years. It is well known that the
incidence of atrial fibrillation increases with age. In our
patients, the risk factor of sport activity may have had
many years of exposure, as it occurs with other risk
factors, such as hypertension, leading to the appearance
of the arrhythmia."

That is a quote.

petey

"
Vagal tone is the degree of activity occurring within the parasympathetic nervous system, resulting in changes to the heart rate and other key functions. The vagus nerve, among many other things, inhibits the heart beat to keep the organ beating within a safe range. When the vagal tone increases or decreases, a patient will experience changes in heart rate, and these can sometimes become dangerous or even fatal.




When activity increases, patients experience bradycardia, where the heart slows down, because the inhibitory effect of the vagus nerve is stronger. Patients with decreased tone will develop tachycardia, a fast heart rate, because the nerve is not acting to suppress activity within the heart. This can be the result of a temporary situation, or a long term health problem. Sometimes, changes are not necessarily a sign of disease. Athletes, for example, have a higher vagal tone, and as a result will have a slow resting heart rate."

Thanks for the info Petey. I started bodybuilding when I was 13 and have continued regularly all these years. A few years ago I cut back on lifting heavy on my cardiologists recommendation (and my joints were giving out). The echo shows a slightly enlarged left ventricle. So, the vagal thingy sounds like it might have some validity for me.

BTW, I see your birthday is coming up soon. 65. Hope you got your Medicare stuff in. Happy Birthday.

Paul60, yes the rhythem control meds can be horrible, I tried multac and broke out in hives along with the fact it did not work, next was amiodorone which messed up my thyroid even more that it was already, gained sixty pounds, never mind the toxicity of the drug and all of the other side effects. Next was Tikosyn and have had no side effects, worked pretty well for about 3 years, been having lots of break thrus lately though and have now just had an ablation. So far I am doing okay, have had several episodes but was told to expect that off on and on for 3-4 months as the heart heals. There is no set thing that works, everyone is different so trail and error is something you we have to deal with till we find what works for us. Diet is so very important and makes us better all the way around.

Thanks Daisy. I agree that the rhythm control drugs can be rather toxic. Right now I can live without them. But, not everyone can, or should. It's hard to compare what I experience with what others experience in terms of the impact and discomfort that afib has on their lives. As we travel down the afib road, we should read the signs . Yet also be aware that the signs might be written by those who may have secondary motives. After the 60's I haven't been big on drugs.