Hi Marikay,
I am not sure even with meds you can bring down your rate to around 100. During an A fib, your heart actually does not beat, it really vibrtates. That is the reason you have to be concerned about blood clot since the blood stays in the heart for a short time and does not get pumped out. So, I am not sure if keeping the rate down to 100 is a realstic number. Please let us know after you talk to your EP. Nobody told me such a thing when I was getting my A Fibs, niether the EPs nor he cardialogists.

Also, you can use a sports "Heart Rate Monitor Watch" on your wrist to see how fast your heart beats. I use it when I hike or I do cardio. I just want to make sure I do not exceed my max heart rate or sometimes I like to keep my heart rate at certain number. They are very accurate and not expensive. The best brand is "Suunto". I bought one 8 years ago. I stilll have it and use it. I have snorkled with it and even shower with it all the time. No problem.

Heart Rate Monitor watch is a useful thing to have when you get A Fib. Then, you know what your heart is doing at any time. Please do not wear it if you think you get freaked out when you see your heart rate is at 165 or so. However, also remember, when in A Fib your heart is not really beating at that rate, it is vibrating without pumping blood.

By the way, when in A Fib, my heart rate would spike up to 165 or so. But, mostly it was at 120 to 145. Also, the wrist monitors do not show if your heart is irregular. You know your heart is irregular (A FIB) if you feel not so good and dizzy. A lot of time, during a good workout, I used to take my heart rate to 145-165 without feeling bad (not in A Fib).

Scott. I was at the running store today with my wife getting her some running shoes and I overheard one of the salesman talking to a guy about a heart rate watch. I didn't catch how much they start at, but I was just on a cruise last week and I was walking on a treadmill, (feeling fine) and I was in afib. The built in rate monitor on the treadmill wouldn't even give me a heart rate cause it was so messed up. Wonder how this rate watch would do if you were in Afib? Probably not very accurate?

Thanks for your reply Scott,
You are correct that your heart is fibrillating or vibrating during a fib. At least that is what the atria (the upper 2 chambers of your heart) are doing. Normally, the atria and the ventricles (bottom chambers) beat in a nice regular fashion "lub dub". When the atria start fibrillating the electrical signal to the ventricles gets crazy and the ventricles try to follow it So the ventricles beat in a crazy irregular way. That is the heart pounding, flip-flopping feeling many of us get. It is called rapid ventricular response in medical terms or RVR. The ventricles are pumping (if they weren't you'd be dead) but you are correct that blood isn't being pumped out as efficiently as normal and that pooling could cause a clot to form.
Don't confuse RVR with a normal rythym. When your heart is in sinus rythym and you are exercising many people do try to reach a higher target heart rate. It is when you are in a fib with a RVR and you are at rest that heart rates over 100 are not good. Your ventricles are working overtime to try to keep blood pumping. Actually, anytime you are at rest a heart rate over 100 could indicate a problem, although not necessarily a fib. A fib with RVR of 140 or higher is when ER is indicated. If you know you are in a fib and you exercise with rates that high you could be causing damage. Eventually the heart will become enlarged, and you may develop congestive heart failure.
For those of us who just have episodes of a fib it is difficult to manage the heart rate. Enough medication for good rate control when a fib hits can make you feel awful the rest of the time.
I'm not sure how accurate a heart rate watch would be during a fib. Our electronic BP machines at work have difficulty with a fib, they often error so we take BP's with stethoscope and cuff for patients with a fib. It is also difficult to count a pulse accurately because of the irregularity of a fib. An EKG is by far the most accurate. Unfortunately most people don't have access to an EKG. The next best thing is to try to count your pulse or maybe a monitor like your watch.

Hi Bike,
How was the cruise? If I recall correctly you are in a fib all the time. How high does your heart rate go when on the treadmill?

Everyone:
I don't want everyone to rush to ER, but I get the feeling there are some of us who just tolerate high heart rates and symptoms with a fib and could be causing damage in the long run. The goal is to either control the rate to prevent damage, or to get into sinus rythym and stay there (and that isn't practical for everyone).

Hello Again,
Answering bike1962 question, a good heart rate watch (like Suunto) is very accurate. The price depends on what other features it has. Mine was about $300. It is a watch, altimeter, termometer, compass, heart rate monitor, and a few other things. I use it for hiking and backpacking. If I get lost, I use its compass.

Heart rate monitor transmitter picks up the electrical signals from your heart and transmits it to the a receiver which is in the watch on your wrist. You wear the transmitter around your chest with its electrode on both sides of your chest, just like the a 2-wire EKG. The transmitter is very light and small and it has to be a little moist on its electrode for good conduction. It works very well during workout because of sweating. However, to see my rest heart rate I wet the electrodes before putting it around my chest.

You can clearly see when you go to A Fib if you are driving or sitting and suddenly you feel strange. I would say it is a good thing to have if you get A Fib. I used to pull over when I saw I went to A Fib when I was driving before it would get really bad. Then, I would take a "Propranolol" to control the rate. As I said before, Propranolol is fast acting pill, which last only about 3 hours. I could not take any other meds since they would brought my blood pressure too low.

Merikay, thanks very much for your response and education about the A Fib and the heart. Sure, I realize the resting heart beat for normal sinus rythem should be more than 100. However, when in A Fib, I never exercised, if I did I would put a lot of pressure on my heart and I would get heart ache. When in A Fib, I used to sit quiet (not laying down) until it would go away. Sometimes, a cup of coffee or tea would help too. I know coffee is a no no for some people, but not for me. Very odd :-)

Based on what I know about the heart rate watches, they are very accurate during A Fib since they measure the heart electrical field (similar to EKG machines) and not the pulse like blood pressure machines. During A Fib, my heart used to go to 165 or so bps.

NOTE - The HR monitors do NOT show if you are in A Fib. Only an EKG shows that or how you feel. It just measures and displays the electrical signals of your heart without regard to if the heart is in normal sinus rythem or it is fibrillating. So, you can use them for sports to monitor your heart rate or see your heart rate during an A Fib.

Polar HR monitors are very good too. Except you have to send them to Polar (the vendor) for a battery change. With Suunto, you can change the battery yourself and still it will be waterproof since they use an O-ring as washer and the battery housing is separated from the watch electronics. So, no moisture can get into the watch and make it foggy.

Yes, me again :-)
In my previous response I said: " I realize the resting heart beat for normal sinus rythem should be more than 100. "

I meant to say: " I realize the resting heart beat for normal sinus rhythm should NOT be more than 100. "

I have permanent Afib. My cardio put me on Metoprolol and its been keeping my heart rate at 60 most of the time along with several other beta blockers and Cozaar. I go to the gym every day and on the ellipticals it goes up to 150. I asked the Dr. if that was o.k. and he said its fine. I don't like the side effects of Metoprolol but without it I'd probably throw a clot or be dead by now. Carol Miller

Carol, your rate is well controlled if your heart rate is 60 with permanent a fib. That's great, and you can exercise in a fib IF your rate is controlled.

Scott,
Thanks for the info on the heart rate monitor. Very cool and high tech. Sounds like it might give a pretty accurate reading, I kinda want one! It also sounds like you had the same problem I have. I take diltiazem as soon as I go into a fib (not long acting). This is what I have been given IV and always worked successfully in ER. Just takes a little longer when taken orally. This EKG proved that I haven't been taking enough though. I have been told to double it in the future. That is the problem with paroxsymal A fib. If we take enough meds to keep the rate as well controlled as Carol, when we are not in a fib we feel awful, BP too low, etc.

I have an event monitor for times when I feel like I am having an episode. I am part of a study, so they have provided it for a year for no charge, however, if you are having afib and not catching it with a holter or ekg when you go into the doctor's office, I think this is the only way to catch what's going on. You put it to your chest when you feel irregular beats, then transmit it to a call center like a fax machine (you hold it up to the phone). It's the size of a cell phone. If there's a problem, they call 911, or send it to your doctor immediately.

I wish I would have been given an event monitor a long time ago because I could never catch the arrhythmia for the doctor to document then diagnose correctly. I had to wait to get worse.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

Carol.
I am in pretty much the same boat you are in. Rate control with Metoprolol. 100 MG's twice a day. Still in afib with a resting pulse between 70-80. I have seen my EP twice and he told me I would have a 65-70% chance of an ablation working. I told him I will wait until I feel bad enough to warrant one. I can pretty much do whatevre I want as of right now regarding exercise. My Cardio is also monitoring a leaky mitral valve that according to her is in the moderate stage and will probably require repair at some point since I am only 48. She thinks that may be the underlying cause of my afib. I am not ready for open heart surgery to repair that right now!!! (although she told me they would also do a maze procedure and eliminate my afib @ the same time) Kill 2 birds with one stone so to speak..

Marikay.
The cruise was awesome. Ate way too much as I knew I would. Weather was gorgeous, and my wife got to dive @ every port we stopped. I am in constant afib, but more recently, I lost 12 pounds and I can tell my heart likes that. I fell better already. (put a few back on during the cruise though!!) i have never been caridoverted, but at this point I seriously don't think it would last any length of time. I have put ablation on hold for now until the odds improve. Like I told Carol, i don't really have any "episodes" where I have to "shut down the engines" I wasn't aware of any drugs that you can take to kick your heart back into rythem. Someone mentioned propanol? Are they confusing that with Propafenone? (which is the generic version of Rthymol?)

Scott,
Thanks for the response on the rate wrist watch. Not ready to spend $300 beans yet, but they do sound like good products that work.

I recently bought on ebay a handheld ECG deviced call Obsever for about $180. It works great and lets you see your heart rate and waves on the ECG machine. It records it and you can reveiw the patterns on your laptop. It is interesting to see how erratic your heart is behaving when you are in A-fib. I have been in A-fib constantly for about three weeks, but is was almost NSR tonight.

I bought the $60 version that is listed in the Consumer's Reports article recently and found it to be extremely accurate in atrial flutter at steady rates of 120 to 205 beats per minute, but seldom read out during atrial fibrillation events. I seem to be settling into a steady state of NSR after two PVI ablations and one a-flutter ablation, coupled with a switch from amiodorone to tikosyn. Oddly enough I have not been to the ER or cardioverted for 2 whole months!

I had to stop wearing the watch as I checked my rate way too often9drove my wife nuts), and that has helped me move on from grieving the losses, and embracing the new me.

In addition to tikosyn I take metoprolol succinate for rate control. Though I am clearly no athlete, my resting rate is 46-52 bpm, and the treadmill settings that used to keep me at 128 to 130 bpm now only get me to 85 bpm, and the same sweat level as before. I go the the gym every day for 35-40 minutes of cardio plus resistance training. Even though my rate does not get to the textbook range for a 56-yr-old the doctors say it is still a workout...I think the tikosyn is a good product and worth the three days in hospital to get started on it, but see very few postings on it...maybe users do not need to visit the site as often??? Wishing you well!

Hello Everybody,

Carol, bike, I am very happy that the meds are working for you. That is great. I could not take any med when i had my A Fib. Even 25 mg of Atenolol, was making me foggy and I had hard time to drive.

As far as Heart Rate Monitor watches, they are actually pretty cheap. You cane pick up a good one probably for $5 or $60 or even less. Mine hsa a lot of functions (compass, altimeter, etc), that was the reason it was expensive.

Also, it was me mentioning "Propranolol", which is a very old drug for blood pressure. My doctor gave me that to take it after the A Fib starts to control the rate. It is fast acting with short duration (about 4 hours). It did a good job with very little side effect for me. Usually, I would get over my A Fib within 2 hours after taking the Propranolol, but that was me. It might not be the same for others. You might want to try it to see how it works for you.

Bike, I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. I bet they pampered you all week :-) May be you need more cruises for your A Fib :-)

Scott, Thanks for the clarification on the propanolol.

Cruises may be good for my afib, but they are terrible on my stomach!!! Why do your clothes seem to shrink on cruises. Must be the humidity and sea air!!!