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.
had strees test 48 hours heart monitor 8 ekgs x rays blood work and all is good had one time afib oct 10th heart was 175 and they shocked me 2 times on that date it didn't work 3 hours later normal sinus since.. now I see a ep tomorrow im on 50 mg 2 times aday of flecainide and 120 aday of diltiazem , im 40 male 178 pounds don't drink or smoke or do drugs , do I have to take these meds for life
Since afib itself isn't life-threatening, the meds are more to reduce your symptoms associated with afib (which we all know sucks pretty bad). You can choose to take the meds, or not. Antiarrhythmics have a lot of nasty side effects associated with them, so it's up to you to decide if you can live with them or not.
If taking the meds is something you really don't want to do, an ablation is the other method, and for lots of people, can be a cure. While it's not as invasive as other procedures, it's still heart surgery, and has it's risks as well.
At this point for myself, I am leaning more and more every day towards an ablation. I've suffered with afib since my early 20s, and the potential benefits of an ablation are starting to outweigh the risks. But again, that's a decision you have to make for yourself.
Just remember that afib in and of itself won't kill you. Know your CHADS score, and if you're at risk of a stroke, you should be anticoagulated. But since you're younger like me (38), unless you have lots of other factors acting against you, you probably are considered low risk for a stroke at this time.
I hope we can all find nsr. And peace