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Cardiologist said the diagnosis is…………..
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: May 29 4:01pm | Replies (43)Comment receiving replies
I am 73 y/o man, just happened to one day tell my PCP that while I was at work as a mental health therapist my heart rate had accelerated to 130 bpm and continued all day, but I was able to work, undisturbed, focused and then at the end of the work day the hr returned to normal. I have had similar experiences MAYBE 3 times in my whole life. My PCP referred me to a cardiologist just to be on the safe side. I went through some tests - STress test, echocardiogram, EKG and at the end of the day had a holter monitor put on my and was told to wear it for 7 days. I went home, read the instructions to press the red button if I notice anything in my chest going on. An hour after I got home from the testing (which wore me out - tired) I noticed my HR going up and it kept going - up from 90 bpm to around 130. I got a call almost immediately from God knows who, telling me she was monitoring the activity of the monitor -with an emergency code blue TONE IN HER VOICE "You have AFIB and I CALLED IN A PRESCRIPTION YOU NEED TO TAKE FOR YOUR PROTECTION! That bothered me - scared me. Then I remembered: Because I was told the day before to stop all use of propranolol, I had an aha moment, realizing for 36 hours I had not taken it! (btw if had been rx 30 years ago only for migraine prophylaxis). So I took my propranolol and within a few minutes my hr reduced to normal, thank goodness, right? Anyway , went to the followup and that is when I felt I was treated like a lab rat and the cardiologist only reviewed the results on the computer screen. No eye to eye, no empathy, reassurance or asking if I had questions - just kept telling the nurse what to type, including "AFIB". Then he walked out of the room as he told the nurse to tell me to take xarelto and amodirone (sp?). Nurse asked me to pick up the rx and I refused due to have been scared sh*tless of the side effects, and i was not yet convinced I had AFIB. I am going to a second opinion with all my printed results in hand. For the heck of it I asked my pharmacist how much the xarelto cost and it was $1750 for 3 month supply. Big pharma is not my friend. I have medicare advantage. Even at a discount it is not affordable. What do middle class and other income limited/deprived people do? So I am needing to trust aspirin and propranolol. How many others have gone through similar experiences? Please weigh in.
Replies to "I am 73 y/o man, just happened to one day tell my PCP that while I..."
Wow. I got heartburn just reading your woes. I am so sorry you are going through this. Very stressful stuff. Firstly, I am speaking from personal experience but that is all I have to offer. My experience with Afib was quite different than yours and everyone seems to have their own definitive experience. I hope someone else can chime in with some reasonable ideas. I am 73 and had a friend drive me to ER some 20 years ago and my heart rate was 265 bpm; a serious case of afib. Amiodarone saved my life and once I was stable (still in hospital after 3 days) they switched me to a new blood thinner, Eliquis and Multaq and something for angina. Years later, lots of time at cardiologist as I had already stroked twice (cardioembolic) the multaq stopped working. They had no choice but to give me amiodarone daily which I was on until my ablation a year later. I wish I had done the ablation years sooner as it really seemed to help and I was able to get off the amiodarone. Unfortunately, now it is that I have supra ventricular tachycardia, post afib, Stage 1/2 congestive heart failure, and PVC's; the cardiologist says I have 3 choices: go back on the amiodarone; continue to come to ER when things go south and get blood work done, or ignore it.
I'm not much help, am I? I have opted to not do the amiodarone again due to such bad side effects. I have challenges with GP and Cardiologist as well and am considering looking for a new cardiologist. I can go on but, I think it won't help much as our stories are somewhat similar but obviously different too. The weighing of which way to go is on my heart (literally) now and reading stories like yours (and others) helps me to process for myself, so thank you for sharing. I wish you all the best on this leg of your journey. Hang in there...
My experiences were similarly confusing, scary, & also experienced some Medical Staff who had the "bedside Manner" of a Broom ... ( swept out the door)!
I found I had to keep looking for Health-Care Providers who took those few extra minutes to Listen, Care, & tailor their treatment to ME, after all patients aren't like "Widgets" who keep falling off a Machine! We're Snowflakes ... each different from another & if they'll invest those few extra caring minutes they'll earn our Confidence.
Small Tip, when I visit a Dr. who has given the kind of Care that shows "They Care", I go to a florist, buy a small bouquet of flowers or plant & deliver it to their office. They'll Never Forget & I think you'll find future appointments equal to that last Good one.
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48 states have programs to help with drug costs. Pennsylvania has a two-tier income limit to include higher incomes; I'm guessing they all do.
Here's a link to the National Conference of State Legislators list of those programs:
https://www.ncsl.org/health/state-pharmaceutical-assistance-programs
I probably don't need to say this, but be sure you're on a legitimate website. Lots of people are throwing up websites that look okay but they have no connection to these programs.