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Atrial Fibrillation and long-term management with medication
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: Jun 5 9:32am | Replies (84)Comment receiving replies
My doctor said it affects cognitive ability so I said oh I would like to know what I’m doing and he said well you’ll be too old doesn’t matter
Replies to "My doctor said it affects cognitive ability so I said oh I would like to know..."
Not to old to know that you are a jerk and you just lost a customer.
Well, if a person's brain is not being adequately perfused with blood and the nutrients it carries because the circulation is compromised with A-fib or any other cardiac issue, it could affect that person's brain functions, including cognitive ability. So your doctor could be right in that A-fib might do that over time. But his comment about your being too old so it doesn't matter is inexcusable, and I'd probably be looking for another doctor if my doc said that to me.
I remember those foggy days when I thought I was plunging down the rabbit hole into dementia some time before I received the pacemaker to treat my bradycardia ( and when I didn't have bradycardia, I had tachycardia, there didn't seem to be a happy medium). Besides being tired and light-headed much of the time, I felt as though I couldn't even complete a thought before it just disintigrated into...nothingness. And that brought about depression, it was an awful time.
I had reported some of the symptoms to my cardiologist before the pacemaker, but hadn't thought of the cognitive issues. When I saw him after I received my pacemaker, ( the EP he referred me to implanted the pacemaker but my continuing care was with this guy) he asked me to go into detail about the symptoms I had had before I got it. He asked me if I felt the symptoms at rest, and without thinking about the implications of what I was saying, I told him "no, in fact, it feels rather cozy, as you go into "nothingness", no thoughts, semi-aware of your surroundings" ( my heart rate would go into the mid-high 30's at rest). I wasn't anticipating his reaction, but he stopped, looked at me in what seemed like alarm, and said, "omigawd that's no good", shook his head and commented that it was a good thing I got the pacemaker. And I was 71 at the time, glad they didn't think I was too old to worry about cognitive issues.
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What are you stating affects cognitive ability--medicine, aFib itself? Terrific doctor, amazing lack of empathy and tact.