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@normanchester I was given Diltiazem immediately when I was first diagnosed with A-fib. I took 180 mg SR once a day in the beginning but when it didn't slow the pulse enough, I started taking 180 mg twice a day, once in the morning and once at night. This worked best for me but I didn't get a NSR until I was cardioverted about 6 weeks after my diagnosis--had to be on blood thinner for 4 weeks before they would do the procedure. I was in NSR after that for about 5 months, then had three breakthroughs in a month--short periods of less than 6 hours but still very annoying. I finally said I wanted to see an electrophysiologist after reading all the information online about A-fib's progression. The EP gave me a choice and I thought I would try the anti-arrhythmic since I had been symptom free for a couple of months, but then I had two more breakthroughs, always at inconvenient times so I went to "plan B" and scheduled an ablation. I am two weeks post procedure and I am taking a blood thinner but no b/p medication and my blood pressure has been fine. I am in NSR. I am more than thrilled. What I noticed is that I no longer have that awareness of my heart beating in my chest like I did before; this was especially notable at night. I personally wish that I had insisted on seeing an electrophysiologist after the very first breakthrough after cardioversion. Medication is not a cure and while an ablation isn't either, it is a lot more likely to contain the problem if it is done early before your heart gets scarring from the A-fib episodes and spreads. I am very hopeful that I have a good result; I am back to exercising in the gym and I feel very much more "normal" than I did before on the meds. I'm no kid; I am 79 years old and I didn't want to live on more and more meds. As my husband's cardiologist told him years ago, "all medicine is really poison, but you have to hope the benefits outweigh the side effects." As for side effects, you should know that everyone is different; one person tolerates something very well, others can't stand it. That was me and Flecainide; that was a no go for me! Too scary for me, too many black box warnings for my peace of mind. IMO if you have A-fib, go see an electrophysiologist as soon as possible. But that's just me.
Replies to "@normanchester I was given Diltiazem immediately when I was first diagnosed with A-fib. I took 180..."
@sjm46 Looks like you’ve done well. I’m over a year since AFIB diagnosis and finally working with an Electrophysiologist in the practice along with my Cardiologist. Good news is since my diagnosis I’ve lost weight, eliminated alcohol completely and walking 3 miles 3 times per week along with light weight training. All that has reduced my AFIB episodes to less than 4% of the time according to my recent 30 day monitor. I rarely know when I’m in AFIB. I do also have LBBB and that’s another issue. Some days I still have little energy but I push through. The EP has mentioned installing a long term Implantable Loop Recorder (ILR) so that when I feel odd, I have the ability to record the event using my cell phone and the event info will be transmitted to the practice. I do have another issue creating in and that is numbness in lower left leg and foot 60% of the time. Even wakes me in the night sometimes. I assume that is. Vein issue, but sure my heart condition is involved. I’ve got a follow up with both EP and Cardilogist along with an echocardiogram early in January. Neither of them seemed to be too concerned, although I feel sometimes my days are numbered.
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@sjm46 thank you very much I'm going to try to make it through the Christmas holidays, before I proceed