hi @predictable ,I am so sorry reading your experience with a TIA, I know, how you felt the first days, as long as you did not know, if a serious stroke would happen. (husband had a TIA 2012) .you and my husband were lucky ,
referring to your questions about the "watchman", ( in memory of my cardiac problems: : A-fib's , mitralvalve insufficiency, minimal invasive mitralvalve reconstruction/repair April 2016)
I asked my cardiologist last november, if the implantation of this device would be useful. for me, so I could stop the bloodthinner (Eliquis).
he denied, no advantage for me , as I had to take aspirin lifelong instead of a bloodthinner. that does not make sense, he said. he showed me a paper about the risks of aspirin.
I know according to the guidelines of the european cardiology society, that after the implanation of the watchman, the person needs a 6-months treatment with an anticoagulant. until there is enough tissue to cover the device. afterwards aspirin..for such a short period they prescribe one of the new anticoagulanties, no monitoring necessary, patients do not need instructions/lessons (warfarin)
.In this context an interesting observation: in the years before april 2016 (operation) .I had paroxysmal A-Fib's. the cardiac surgeon did not an ablation at the end of the operation, as there were some problems and he did not want to extend, too dangerous, he said. until january this year I had no A-Fib's anymore. unfortunatedly,(january this year) there was a disconnection between the atriums and the ventrikels. so I had to go into the hospital and they implanted a two chamber pacemaker. immediatedly I had a lot of A-Fib's (AT/AF burden too high)..they are asymptomatic. Last september I visited a meeting in cologne/germany (main themes were A-Fib's and the new guidelines) I learned that 30-40 % of the pacemaker recipients have A-Fib's, even the persons with no history of them.
so long as these A-Fib' are asymptomatic, no treatment necessary.
I must confess, that the presence of so many A-Fib's daily scares me a bit, how can my heart cope with them???
yoanne

I was on Warfarin for 14 years, with no problems. Honestly, I would still be on it had I not experienced several bleeds resulting in 8 transfusions and a stay in ICU. My body just could no longer tolerate the blood thinners. The following 3 years I took nothing for the A-Fib. Yes, very risky and extremely scary worrying about a possible stroke.

Three years after the ICU incident I saw the Watchman ad on television stating it was for people with atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem (me) and could not tolerate blood thinners (me, again). I discussed this with my cardiologist, had a TEE to insure that I was a good candidate and was referred to an electrophysiologist for evaluation and confirmation.

As for Eliquis, the only time I took it was after the implantation. I took it for 6 months only, followed by a low-dose aspirin daily for life. From the Watchman website you will learn that this is the the protocol for the device.

This is my A-Fib story and the implant is working for me so far. I'm also living with other heart ailments, sleep apnea, arthritis and cancer. If you are interested in the Watchman do your due diligence and talk to your cardiologist and/or medical team. I don't know your medical history nor am qualified to suggest that this what you need or would work for you.

Tresjur