I have had A-fib for nearly 20 yrs. now and have taken blood thinners all that time, started with Coumadin and a few years ago my cardiologist put me on Xarelto. He recently put me in touch with a Watchman rep, who asked me several questions and then told me I did not qualify because I had been doing okay on Xarelto. I don’t like taking blood thinner but I don’t have a choice. Xarelto is better than warfarin I guess; I don’t have to be tested every month, but it is expensive. If I didn’t have insurance it would cost $900 per month. I am also on blood pressure med, and Valsartan to slow down my heart rate. Dr. says it should be under 100 bpm.
I am in A-fib all the time but it isn’t as bad or scary as it was in the beginning. Two of my brothers had A-fib, were older than I, now deceased, but they both had bypass surgeries before having A-fib; one quadruple and one quintuple. That is my story.