@windyshores
Afib has been diagnosed 3 times in the ER. The other times the symptoms and sine wave are the same so I’m assuming that’s also afib. Although my cardiologist has told me to go to the ER and he would meet me there, I’m not doing that on a regular basis and since I refuse meds and procedures there is no point. I should get Kardia Mobile just to check and see if it’s afib every time. It would be comforting if it’s not.

2.5 months ago, the day after I had been in afib I had something scary happen and we don’t know if it was a TIA because it was very brief. I was talking to my neighbor and suddenly my left arm from my elbow to fingertips had intense pins and needles, was going numb fast, felt like it was swelling and the palm of my hand turned red. I told my neighbor I wasn’t sure if I was about to have a heart attack or stroke but note that I’m allergic to NSAIDS. In about 25 seconds it was instantly 100% gone including the redness. No other symptoms but very scary. I’ve had neurological issues my whole life but nothing like that before. Why one location and my neuro stuff doesn’t stop suddenly like that. I went to my PCP a week later (didn’t feel like going to the ER and declining meds) and we did head and neck MRAs that were normal. I’ve had all cardiac checks in the past couple years.

I’m just so afraid of meds especially heart ones after my Multaq experience. I was promised no side effects with that. I’m always an outlier with stuff. I’m a poor metabolizer with many enzymes so meds tend to become toxic in my body and ineffective. I’m afraid I’ll be that person that bleeds to death just by taking a blood thinner. Too scary. The devil you know…

Also, since I have advanced breast cancer I guess I feel I only have to beat the afib stroke odds for a limited amount of time. Maybe I would make different decisions if I thought I were going to be around 20-30 more years. I know you have a wide array of medical issues too so I’m sure you understand just being tired of it all and wanting to avoid things. I’ve had nearly 300 medical appointments in just the last 3 years and that’s trying to ignore things. Breast cancer targeted meds are going better than expected but I know the data on those and I’m already in the lucky zone. I will check into Kardia though, thank you.

Some good news. I had decided I shouldn’t get another dog after my last one passed nearly a year ago but a good friend told me to adopt one and she’ll take it if/when I can’t care for it anymore. I’m picking up my rescue dog Tuesday! No more talking to spiders because they are the only other living creature in the house. Lol Will be fun to have a dog to walk with again. 🙂