@windyshores
I'm so sorry to hear you have COVID, the heart issues and a lot of doctors that don't listen. Most doctors just won't listen to anything you say if it's outside the norm. They treat 100% of people based on how 80-90% respond. They should have listened to your history especially since they can tell they are talking with an informed patient like you. Scary and frustrating. Good to know about Paxlovid. I can't believe they wouldn't do an EKG at your first ER visit. Also scary that afib can raise the QT score. I hope you feel better soon. Sorry if you're missing out on Thanksgiving plans as well.

Since I live alone too, I understand your concern about that. I live in a retirement community with lots of single women. One single neighbor and I exchange a daily text message between 9 am - noon each day to be sure the other is okay. If no word by noon and no response, time to check. Do you have a neighbor or relative close by that can do that and has a house key to check on you if needed? Maybe they can check every few hours until you're better. I actually started doing it because I was afraid if something happened to me, my dog would be trapped alone in here. My dog is gone now so one less worry.

I've been in afib the last 36 hours which is concerning since I've never had an episode last this long. Hmmm. Normally, my heart is back in rhythm within 12 hours and my heart rate slowly goes back to normal within 18 hours. Right now, my heart is still out of rhythm and my HR is still over 100 when 60 is normal for me. Makes me very tired. Blood pressure usually drops too. Haven't checked. I'm not on meds due to reasons mentioned previously. I don't like the timing either. Fortunately, I'm not hosting Thanksgiving, but still need to shop and contribute a dish. I'll put off shopping and food preparation until tomorrow and hope everything is back to normal by then. I went a little over a month without an episode so I thought things were looking up with this darn afib.

@janet23 I like the pill in a pocket approach vs. taking meds full time, but it's the fear of taking them for the first time that scares me. Ever since I took Multaq for afib years ago and felt horrible with all the symptoms of a heart attack for 3 days before I stopped, I'm afraid of heart meds. I'm also afraid of blood thinners since I rarely have the normal reaction to meds. My cardiologist did give me flecainide a couple years ago, but I never tried it. Expired and tossed it. He didn't tell me you can take a blood thinner on an as-needed basis though. Still fearful of that. Thanks for your input. Leaves me with good questions if I have to go in again for this.

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