Irregular heart beat

The director of MCC developed a acronyms list. I am not sure how you access it but it list all the acronyms and what they stand for. From time to time she will expand the list with new acronyms.

I know it is frustating but that is why she developed the list. I hope one of the monitors will see this post and give directions on accessing or printing out the list.

With many of us we have so many test, conditions, treatments, etc. that the post would be twice as long typing out the full name. But again emphasize the frustration.

I always have to google what those acronyms mean.

Make sure you are not consuming anything containing caffeine and also drinking water and a diet not high in sugar or processed foods. It really makes a difference.

I get arguments here, but the literature is very clear: atrial fibrillation (AF in the literature) is a progressive electrical disorder. Except for the exceedingly rare 'lone AF' that some talk about, especially after a virus or a bout of heavy weekend drinking, once the heart begins to develop an arrythmia, it begins to remodel itself. In fact, truth told, the remodeling had been going on for some time, and at some point it causes AF.
Your Kardia is a good machine, but it's not a substitute for a 12 lead ECG. With the reading of 240 BPM, it was highly unlikely to have been AF. Instead, it was probably flutter. AF runs, believe it or not, between 80 and 160...typically...and yes, one can be in AF with a low HR of only 80. It's not what I would call common, but it does happen.
Flutter and AF both do respond to cardioversion if done early, say in the first 12 hours or so. Trouble is, flutter tends to like its own company...it will stay in flutter if given any help whatsoever...including riding it out and hoping for the best (meaning avoiding seeking help). So, treat both of them forcefully and early.
I have AF, but as I have related here and there in replies to people, one time I was in the ER hoping for relief, the attending wanted me given adenosine to slow my heart so that the ECG monitor would show a longer, wider readout...meaning more definition in all the squiggles. When I was at my worst with the adenosine (nurse warned me it makes you feel like you're about to die, but that it only lasts a few short seconds...and she was right, if anyone is asked to submit to that trial) the attending triumphantly pointed to the screen and said, 'There it is...flutter.' So, what do I know...it was flutter, but my formal diagnosis has always been paroxysmal AF. Anyway, they converted my heart to normal sinus rhythm (NSR), but it only lasted for about 16 hours and I went back into AF, back to the ER, another cardioversion, and back into AF soon after I got home...and on and on it went until I had my second ablation.
You are having more AF. Sorry, but it is so common that an ethical EP will tell you up front that his/her first attempt at ablation has about a 25% failure rate. Happened to me. Second attempt is generally better, about 85% success rate, and I was given the nod by the Fates on my second go.
If you're not already doing so, a smart watch or a smart ring (Oura or Samsung), will detect AF and will allow you to upload a viewable ECG, as will your Kardia. Most physicians who aren't still living in 2012 will accept the finding and act accordingly. If you are symptomatic, accumulate such records when you are in AF, and seek help from an EP.

Very informative, thanks!

Arrhythmias do not always progress. In fact some can cease if they are caused by medications, mold/mycotoxins from a SBS (sick building syndrome) and tick vectors like Lyme and Bartonella. Ceasing certain meds can stop the it, removing one self from the moldy building and detoxing can eliminate arrhythmias and curing the diseases like Lyme and Bartonella can also stop heart rhythm issues. Other issues like dehydration can cause it."More than 400 drugs are known to increase the QT interval, increasing the risk of arrhythmias. They include some antihistamines, diuretics, antibiotics, antidepressants, cholesterol-lowering and diabetes drugs and even some anti-arrhythmia medications."
https://news.vumc.org/2022/02/24/clue-drug-induced-arrhythmias/
Also hypokalemia with or without induced by diuretic therapy.
My father had a bad GI virus and ended up in the ER. My brother took him in and next thing I hear is from a doctor who wants to put a pacemaker in him. He was just dehydrated. I knew one of the top researchers in heart arrhythmias in the country at the hospital I worked at. (this was well before my problems arose) . I had the ECG faxed to this doctor. This was years before smart phones. Anyhow Galen read his ECG and said my father didn't need a pacemaker. He told me it was caused by dehydration and he had seen the same ECGs in elite athletes that where dehydrated. So I told the doc in Chicago no pacemaker and he was furious yelling at me that "he will be back in the ER again". Of course my father lived another 10 years without any arrhythmias.

Heart rate and heart rhythm are two different things I am on metropolol a blood pressure medicine that will reduce my heart rate however it does nothing for the rhythm of the heart I some people take antiarrhythmic medications but I choose not to at this time

FYI.. I was told that an AFib was not merely an irregular heartbeat but irregular irregular.. so it's like you have your regular rhythm and then all of a sudden you have two irregular rhythms or heartbeats
I would like to be hooked up to the 12 lead monitor that the doctor uses or the hospital uses for a couple hours to see if anything happens I don't trust these new machines any of the monitors that you put on yourself I just don't trust them I don't trust the accuracy. I think everyone has to do what they feel is right for their bodies

At what level of dehydration can set it off? Do you need to be extremely dehydrated?

One way of checking how much fluid you have in you body it to life the skin on the top of your hand. Pinch the skin with your thumb and index finger. Pull up the skin and then release. The skin should refill with blood and fall back onto the top of the hand within a couple of seconds at most. It the skin does not refill and lays there you are low on fluids. This is called skin turgor. Look it up.