“ATYPICAL ATRIAL FLUTTER” QUESTIONS

I guess what I’m looking for insight on is how long do the pvc’s, etc continue or is it a permanent thing. The Dr was quite optimistic after the 7 day review via loop recorder. My concern is watching for Afib to start though there were zero signs of this after Holter and since reviews of loop recorder.

@stan52 Every body is different and will develop its own 'story'....but that takes time. There is no way to predict what your body will do over time. Too many variables, including how you live, where you live, your underlying health that might be substantially different from another patient sitting three feet away from you.....etc.

AF can start in any heart and be unrelated to another condition, or quite dependent on that condition. You can have any number of arrhythmias and not have AF, or you can have AF solely because you went on a holiday bender yesterday. It's called 'holiday heart'.

That your recent assessments don't show AF is a good sign. Unless your Dr is lying outright, he must have good reason to communicate his/her optimism to you.

Sometimes an arrhythmia will self-correct; it just goes away. Often they don't, or they morph into something like AF. AF and AFL (atrial fibrillation and atrial flutter) are kissing cousins, and they both like smooching with PACs (premature atrial contractions), which can be the strong thumps and 'skipped beats' we feel now and then. PVCs are going to be related to a re-entrant circuit, probably associated with the AV node, which is the follow-on node that catches the 'beat now' signal emitting from the SA node above it in the right atrium. The sino-atrial node issues a signal that the atrio-ventricular node detects and passes on down through the Bundle of His and on outward through the Purkinje fibers....the left and right bundle branches as they are called. If you get PVCs, it's a problem further down from the atria...usually....not quite certain about it as each patient is different....which leads us full circle to my initial comment.

Thank you for the insights and observations. I wonder if most just resign themselves to living with the bumps and missed beats. I swam this morning and I never feel anything when exerting almost always notice when relaxing typically below 60 bpm. I wonder how much anxiety plays into this as I’ve definitely had some anxiety since this came along. Good luck to you and all others!

@stan52 For me, anxiety is a big part of this. If I’m feeling fine but my #’s are out of whack, I start feeling not so good. If I’m not feeling so good, but my #’s look good, I immediately start feeling better.

@stan52 Anxiety is a huge issue for many I believe regarding medical issues. Something as taking you're BP in the morning can cause anxiety to rest up if you have a high reading that will only cause the anxiety to almost guarantee several more high readings. A good reading means a pleasant day ahead.

People with AF start monitoring every beat of their heart waiting for the "AFIB ALERT" to show up on their watch or phone. Pretty sure that's not a great way to go through life.

Depending on how your daily life is effected by your condition it might make more sense in your situation to let "sleeping bears lye". You never know if that next medication or procedure may produce a condition you didn't have and now means more appointments on the kitchen calendar.👍🏻👍🏻

@sandw40 We were talking to a Nurse while waiting for our Doctor, and I asked about that ( CardioMobile) AFIB tracking app that’s advertised on TV all the time.
She recommended against getting it. Said that her other patients who got one were stressing themselves out checking it all the time.

@beebo
KardiaMobile. https://kardia.com/kardiamobile
Easily acquired on amazon and on their own website. Look for sales, though, and if you have prime, it can help to reduce the costs. Full service requires a paid subscription. The device will still do its job without the subscription.

@beebo
Yes some folks get hooked on it and some find it a useful tool. it's a personal preference.
I always wondered if some of these tracking devices offered a way to track how many heartbeats the old ticker had left how many would use it. with the introduction of the continuous monitoring glucose meters, some who are not even pre diabetic are buying them so they can get ahead of diabetes. Just my opinion but way too much technology out there for the average human.