Atrial Fibrillation [edited at OP's request]

My Dad was diagnosed with AF in his 60s. He died age 84 from a chest infection that had nothing whatever to do with his heart.

Wife was diagnosed with it some years ago, she went through a number of treatments that didn’t work so has now had a pacemaker fitted,

She’s expected to outlive us all!

My mother was diagnosed with AF many, many years ago. She’s 94 and a half now.

I was also diagnosed with Afib recently and like you had a bit of a panic as I had never heard of it before. The British Heart Foundation has a website with an explanation of Afib and a lot of good articles about the condition. This helped to reassure me and you may find it very useful to have some background information before speaking to the cardiologist. It also has an Afib forum which may be of interest. Hope this helps

Thank you all so much, theses comments are just what I need to see this morning!
I’m off now to peruse the BHF website

Hi Mynxie - I've had atrial fibrillation (AF) for nearly 3 years - the type that comes and goes again after a while. It's very alarming at first, but the main danger is not a heart attack, but a clot which may lead to a stroke. If you take the blood thinners exactly as prescribed, that danger is greatly reduced.

From my experience, taking beta blockers hasn't decreased my episodes which come randomly - usually late at night or in the middle of the night, but when you see a cardiologist, they may prescribe.

I've got used to it and when I get an episode in the night, I try to get back to sleep and sometimes by the morning heart has gone back to normal - I can monitor by taking my pulse. Other times it continues for another few hours, but by getting up and moving around I can just ignore it and eventually it settles.

There are techniques that work for some people - deep breathing, drinking a glass of very cold water fast - that worked once for me. Being able to monitor the condition by taking your pulse is a help - sometimes anxiety can feel as if heart is acting up, but if your pulse is regular, it's not AF.

I had an episode a year ago and ended up in hospital in the middle of the night. I am now on anti-coagulants and beta blockers although my BP was normal.
I also had an echogram organised by the consultant cardiologist and my heart was found to be healthy.
Don't worry it is quite common just keep taking your blood thinners.
Try not to fall over as I did and bump my head as I needed a CT scan on my head as I was on anti-coagulants!

I was diagnosed with AF 7 years ago during a serious chest infection. I gad a cardio version which worked for a couple of months. 50% of patients find the AF returns.
I take apixivan, a blood thinner. Beta blockers made me too tired.

dragonfly46

I had an episode a year ago and ended up in hospital in the middle of the night. I am now on anti-coagulants and beta blockers although my BP was normal.
I also had an echogram organised by the consultant cardiologist and my heart was found to be healthy.
Don't worry it is quite common just keep taking your blood thinners.
Try not to fall over as I did and bump my head as I needed a CT scan on my head as I was on anti-coagulants!

Similar story for me... Had Cardioversion in Sept, so far still out of AF?
Will find out later on today as I had 72 hrs monitor on to see if still OK.
I would like to come off the meds if possible, but if I have to stay on, well I will.
It's really common, and the Consultant told me, can run in families? Mum had it same age as I am now.

DH has had it for many years, following an electric shock. Cardio version didn’t work several times, so he lives with it, taking warfarin and betablockers.

I have had AF for more than ten years but have not had symptoms for many years now.It took a while to stabilise the condition but I now take flecainide with a blood thinner. Beta blockers lowered my pulse too much and I was nearly prescribed a pacemaker. It is a condition that can be well controlled and normal life can resume. No need to panic.?

Thanks all. Hope this thread has helped others newly diagnosed as much as it’s helped me!

Hello Mynxie I was diagnosed five years ago with atrial fibrillation, substantial heart failure, coronary heart disease, unstable angina and leaking heart valves. I take Amlodipine Besylate, Apixaban, Bisoprolol, Isosorbide Mononitrate, Simvastatin. Glyceryl Trinitrate Spray when required. Also this coronary problem causes congestion in my lungs at times so I've been prescribed Fostair Nexthailer. At the beginning I found BHF very helpful.
I hope you are feeling a bit reassured after reading the posts. I wish you well.

I've had AF for approximately 12 years now. Initially prescribed apixiban and a beta blocker but was later also given flecanide which is called "the pill in the pocket". Flecanide did the trick, and I haven't had an episode of AF for over 7 years. I just keep taking the tablets. Apixiban and Flecanide twice daily and the beta blocker once daily.

My partner has had AF for thirty years and my mum for ten years. They are both on blood thinners and beta blockers. As I think others have pointed out, the main fear is not a heart attack, it’s a blood clot, which can cause stroke - hence the blood thinners. If you take your meds as prescribed you should be fine. I would also like to make a point regarding blood thinners. The modern ones like Edoxiban and Apixaban don’t require monitoring, unlike Warfarin, for which regular INR monitoring blood tests are necessary. However, should there be a bleeding episode, there is no antidote to the newer drugs, whereas the effects of Warfarin can be reversed with Vitamin K under medical supervision. I have experienced the effects of both - my mum was taking Apixaban and had to be admitted to hospital for treatment and monitoring after a rectal bleed caused by the drug. My partner, who takes Warfarin, had a bleed after an antibiotic reacted with Warfarin and caused a haemorrhage. After an infusion of Vitamin K at A&E, he was fine. My partner has taken Warfarin for years, and was offered a switch to one of the newer drugs but refused after the possible consequences were explained to him. I’m not wishing to be alarmist, because I don’t think these occurrences are commonplace - just wanted to make people aware if they weren’t already.

Yep - me too - I have just got used to it. It happens now and again. If it is just a dodgy rhythm I just wait for it to stop - if the rate is very fast as well, I ring for advice.

Sometimes I can abort it by several things: coughing strongly, pretending I am pushing out a 20 pound baby (make sure your bladder is empty first!), splashing cold water on my face.

I take a blood thinner and a tiny dose of beta blocker. It does not trouble me much really - I have got so used to it.

The British Heart Foundation also produce a very informative magazine , which is available online or in the post.

I was moved from warfarin to apixiban. Warfarin needs regular blood tests and in my case, frequent changes of dose. Apixiban evidently corrects itself
I’m in permanent AF but rarely get palpitations

I am on Rivaroxaban. No blood tests needed.

Mynxie Can I suggest that you ask GN to change the title of this thread to say "Atrial Fibrillation", because it is nothing to do with your arteries? The easiest way to contact them is to report your own starting post to them, and tell them in the report why you have done that.

Thanks Elegran I have done so.

Such was my anxiety earlier that my spelling went out of the window and I didn’t even notice!

My DH (79) has had it for about two years now. In his case he suffered episodes of a very rapid heart rate, sometimes over 200 BPM for long periods of time. It is very worrying when it happens and he now takes Beta Blockers and a blood thinner but still suffered from episodes until we changed to decaffeinated coffee about three months ago and until yesterday when he had a rapid heart rate for about 15 minutes he hadn’t had an episode. After doing some research he also found that cutting down on wine and carbs helped control the frequency of episodes. It seems to be in his paternal family as his two paternal aunts and one cousin have it, in the case of his cousin she has episodes of an exceptionally slow heart rate and had to have a pacemaker fitted. He is on Rivaroxoban but until his podiatrist told him he didn’t know there is no antidote so he is extra careful not to cut himself. As Pammiel has pointed out it is best to be aware of this and I do feel his GP should have mentioned it and if she had he may have opted for Warfarin. As others have said you can learn to live with it and the more you can find out about it the better.

DH developed it because of his chemotherapy. His was controlled by drugs and blood thinners. SiL developed it after he had serious kidney and heart problems. He's had several cardioversions and at least two ablations but nothing has worked permanently. He's been told that a pacemaker would be a last resort.

Mynixe has your GP referred you to the AF clinic at your hospital if not make sure you are.

Last year I was back and forth to A&E with my heart going out of control and missing heart beats. But everytime I was out on ECG machine it was back to normal . But August last year I woke with it going crackers phoned 111 who arranged for an ambulance and phoned my daughter she came quickly and we cancelled the ambulance. Because it was before 6am was put straight on the ECG machine . The nurse did the test twice and said don't move I was in AF. Put on a monitor all day. And after talking to the A&E doctor he said he would put in urgent referral to cardiology and the AF clinic. This was a Saturday.

Had a phone call from AF clinic on the Sunday to go clinic Thursday was put straight on Apixaban and a tablet to regulate my heart beats. They told
I be seen every week for a month and then every 2 weeks for a month and monthly until they where happy with me. The second week they took me of the tablet to regulate my heart beat as they found out it was interfering with another tablet I was on so was put on Flecainide.

I was diagnosed with Paroxysmal Atrial fibrillation (PAF) . Week after seeing the nurse at AF clinic saw cardiologist.

Everytime I went to AF clinic had blood tests and ECG.

Had echocardiogram ,24 hr heart monitor and had MRI on my heart which lasted just over 90 mins.

Was discharged into my GPs care in May.

The AF clinic is nurse run but a consultant is in the department if any queries come up. The AF clinic I attended operated 7 days a week .

So you need a referral to the AF clinic asap. Hope this has helped.