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.
My old EP has moved away. Today I had my first visit with the new EP (same practice). He was very nice and I was comfortable with him. As part of the evaluation he dumped lots of data off my Reveal LINQ implanted heart monitor. I was hoping that my AFIB burden had come down significantly from the 13% that I had last time we did a dump (about six months ago). No such luck, my AFIB burden is now 10.8% Bah!.. Well, at least it didn't go up. He showed me the printouts that indicated that I have some AFIB most days, and some runs of nearly 24 hours. One interesting thing was that in January and February, I had much less AFIB. These were the months when I was on the higher dose of thyroid suppression medication. I felt that when the Endocrinologist reduced the thyroid suppression drug, my heart irregularities increased. He indicated that it may take a long time to reach optimal control of my thyroid issues. And, since this was our first meeting, any further intervention would have to wait until I have more time with the thyroid stuff and we got to know one anther better.
We did discuss the possibility of a second ablation, which I'm not thrilled about. I mentioned that many of my buds here on Daily Strength (which I have now been with for SIX years .. geez how time goes when you're having fun -g-) have had great success with flec. He said that I was not a good candidate for flec because my heart rate is unusually slow (todays EKG showed a rate of 46). He said that if we were to try a drug it would either be Rythmol or Tikosyn. However, Tikosyn requires the three day hospitalization and also tends to interact with lots of other drugs. Although Tikosyn is the most effective.
So, for now I just muddle through. I do my thyroid blood work again in about a month and then see the Endo again. I suspect we will need to increase my drugs. We'll see.
We did discuss the possibility of a second ablation, which I'm not thrilled about. I mentioned that many of my buds here on Daily Strength (which I have now been with for SIX years .. geez how time goes when you're having fun -g-) have had great success with flec. He said that I was not a good candidate for flec because my heart rate is unusually slow (todays EKG showed a rate of 46). He said that if we were to try a drug it would either be Rythmol or Tikosyn. However, Tikosyn requires the three day hospitalization and also tends to interact with lots of other drugs. Although Tikosyn is the most effective.
So, for now I just muddle through. I do my thyroid blood work again in about a month and then see the Endo again. I suspect we will need to increase my drugs. We'll see.
I had another bad night last night. I'm going to stop at the lab to give blood for another thyroid eval. Maybe I can convince my ENDO to increase my thyroid suppression drug. My AFIB seems under better control when I was on a higher dose.
So sorry that u are having some more problems. Glad you like your bee e.p. and hope they can get your thyroid straightened out! It seems like everytime we think things are going better, something else pops up.
I saw my new PVP last week and took my last blood work with me showed my thyroid level st 5.28 (it had been 18 two years ago after only 1 month on amiodarone) .Been down between 4-5 for a long time. Still in a-fib and high h.r. see Cardiologist June 11th and he may add med. Pcp added low dose of thyroid med.
Hate all this stress!
Hope things go well for you, Paul. Take care and keep us updated!
Hugs
Christine
I've lost about ten pounds in the last month, so being hyper isn't all that bad ...except for the AFIB and the peeing.
I garnered a number of expert consults, and despite my left sided IVC and prior aborted RF ablation, we'll give it a second go via femoral access, this time with stereotaxis and periprocedural xarelto instead of pradaxa. If all that doesn't work, I'll choose hepatic vein access to circumvent the IVC anomaly, but hepatic vein closure is tricky and only performed by a few expert EPs. If that doesn't work, then I'll either consider life on sotalol and xarelto or a sternotomy/maze. So, fingers crossed I'm on the schedule in July and drug free in October.
I find that having some AFIB most days is no longer acceptable. I'm up for trying the Rythmol. So after the next blood work I'll see where my thyroid is and then make another appointment with the EP and get on the drug.
My mind still is is pretty ageless. However, my body has a different pov. I would love to have a few drinks, but I go into afib, so I don't drink anymore. I would love to take long long hikes, but I get edema, so I take shorter walks. I would love to climb down riverbanks, but my arthritis doesn't allow me to bend and balance enough to navigate, I would love to play tennis, but my rotator cuff tears are too painful. I would love to do a lot of things I used to do because my mind wants to. However, My Body has aged in it's own normal rightful way....so I do what I can and my life is good.
When my body rebels, I have learned to listen.....just say'n