Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group

My name is Marcia. I am 71 years old, was diagnosed with AFib 7 years ago. It has been managed with Sotalol and aspirin. Last week my cardiologist received an alert re my AFib as he was going into surgery. His NP called in Eliquis 5mg twice daily. I am exhausted a couple of hours after taking for about 6 hours and pray this is temporary. I see the doctor next week. I have never had a high heart rate or BP with AFib although sometimes have felt terrible. Is there a way to accurately know at home if I am in AFib?

Hi Richard here not sure of the connection but A F appeared after covid vaccination feel convinced that this is not coincidence as just before vaccination had major surgery with no sign of heart condition anybody sharing my concerns?

@mjohns There are a couple of brand watches and finger rings to detect AFIB.
Also you can get a Kardia mobile which works with an app on your smartphone.

@mjohns Least costly is going to be Kardia L6 and you can skip the paid subscription if you wish, but the paid subscription, even for a month, will give you more data. Most costly would be a decent smart watch or smart ring. I wear a Galaxy 4 at the moment that was updated to read blood pressure, ECG and AF detection, and of course O2 saturation during sleep. They're not cheap, but they probably won't make your banker groan either. They all do a good job detecting irregular patterns in your rhythm, but not always spotting actual AF. Sometimes they're unable to say definitively yes or no, so they say something like 'indeterminate, please see your family doctor.'

My Galaxy watches, a 4 and newer 6, both do a pretty good job, though, and my electrophysiologist accepted my 4's graphic representation of my ECG when I was in AF at face value. Didn't want to see me, didn't need a proper ECG. He took one look and said that I was obviously back in AF and that he'd schedule another ablation....which worked.

@gloaming this is exactly the kind of thing I need to know, thanks. Full disclosure, I considered Apple Watch until I read of a man setting up his watch and going into cardiac arrest. His RN wife told a compelling story and it scared me.

@mjohns If you start reading reviews or articles about "anything" from refrigerator to cars to heart monitoring you will eventually read something that will be negative. Just like medications not everything works well with everyone 👍🏼.

@sandw40 truth. Sometimes I have been that patient with a weirdo response. Do you monitor your rhythm at home?

@mjohns Yes I do. At one time pretty religiously but that has worn off and now just an occasional glance. In my own opinion one can become a slave of some these devices in their never ending nagging to be doing something or trying to do better at something. I often wonder how many of us would continue using them if they have a countdown feature for how many "heartbeats left" was available.

@mjohns My EP also accepts at face value my Galaxy 4 Classic watch. Both the Galaxy 4 and 6 are FDA approved for accuracy of their arrhythmia detection functions (and won't break the bank, as @gloaming noted).

@osgilian thank you