Afib leads to heart failure

I was diagnosed with A/Fib by my Apple Watch, and both my cardiologist and family doctor missed it. You're right; doctors seem not to take A/Fib seriously. On 13 November, I had cardioversion, which succeeded in zapping my heart back in sync for four days, then back into A/Fib. I'm now considering the abrasion procedure. My Ph.D. nurse practitioner daughter-in-law says A/Fib is common, not to worry about it, throw the watch away, etc. My main issue was extreme fatigue, which is common with A/Fib. My VA doctor prescribed Metoprolol, 25MG daily, eliminating the fatigue almost immediately; plus, my watch now gives off the A/Fib alert about once or twice daily, rather than eight or nine times as before. I am age 81 and a male. My NP daughter-in-law was puzzled that I wasn't put on Metoprolol immediately after the A/Fib diagnosis. I wish you the best!

I just read your comment about your A/FIB. I have had this for several years and the doctor said not to warry it is minor. I have since changed providers and after several test my new provided just yesterday put me on Metoprolol and aftwer reading you were perscribed 25MG and my perscription is for 100MG 2 times a day. This being a weekend and their office is closed I am holding off until I can confirm this. I thank you for your imput.

Hi again,

Gosh, your Metoprolol dose is very high, and I've never heard of the high dosage, especially twice daily. The morning after taking my first Metoprolol, I woke up at 0300 fully rested, whereas before that, I slept until 0830, then still felt exhausted. I was puzzled at first, then remembered that I'd taken the first pill the night before, so I got up and Googled it, and it said that the drug could work in about two hours. You're making a smart move by holding off until you can confirm the dosage. Good luck to you. My VA doctor is much better than my other two private practice doctors, who always seem to be in a hurry to get the next patient.

Thanks for the reply. I did google Metoprolol and they said 400MG max a day but I still want to check with Dr before I go with this. I just seems like a big dose to start with. I would rather start small and work up after seeing some of the side affects they list. I am on a BiPap ASV that does gives me a little more rest but I begin to tire early in the day .

Thanks again.

You can take up to 400 mg/diem of metoprolol if you are in heart failure. Those with AF are normally topped out at 200 mg, but my own EP in Canada said you might need up to 300 for AF. At that point, a mechanical intervention is definitely indicated. IOW, a catheter ablation. When drugs don't work (anymore). what's left?

AF won't kill you. Many live for decades with it. However, you are highly unlikely to live long with the AF allowed to go untreated....which is the key. It must be managed. If left unchecked, it progresses almost universally across patients, and it becomes more and more untreatable, often leading to heart failure...which will kill you.

My own EP performed an ablation and sent me home with instructions. A week later, I was in the local ER and I never did get through the 'blanking period' of eight weeks Scott-free. In fact, he later took as evidence that his original effort had failed from my Galaxy watch. His outreach nurse, when she listened to me, asked if I could send her a graphic depiction of the ECG my watch had recorded when I knew I was again in AF, now 14 weeks out from the ablation. As soon as he looked at what my Galaxy watch recorded, he immediately saw that it was AF (no discernible P waves, and the R-R intervals were unevenly spaced). He called me himself and we agreed he should take another stab at me...so to speak.

As far as I know, those who have the latest smart watches ought to have accompanying apps on their phones that manage the watch's functions. They all, I'm pretty sure, record AF when the wearer makes the effort to run the ECG applet. This record is held on the phone's side, and you can look at it. It should...SHOULD... show a proper twin-lead ECG with the squiggles on the graph paper depiction. My Galaxy does, at least. Twin lead because I must place the tip of a finger against the 'back' button when recording an ECG.

My posts are long...sorry. One other, and last, bit of exceedingly important information. Over at apneaboard.com, we see people all the time with the absolutely wrong machines delivering the wrong therapy. Every day, five or more people who were misdiagnosed, given the wrong prescription, or given a machine that can't properly splint them so that they can rest and sleep well. One common problem is that people don't necessarily only have obstructive apnea. They may have, or may develop, 'complex' sleep apnea where central apnea is the main culprit. Most bipap machines are incapable of properly treating complex apnea or fully central apnea. In those cases, the patient needs what is called an ASV, an adaptive servo-ventilator. The insurers won't like having to pay through the nose for those costly machines, but if that's all that will work..!! Also, the prescribing individual will often duly try to work you through elevated levels of PAP therapy, and it may take months until they see, or admit, that a bipap machine simply isn't up to the job. They also figure whatever the patient can afford, or whatever their insurer will support, is probably better than nothing. Often, they're amazingly right, but just as often they're plain wrong. Without proper sleep and rest...and recovery...you can count on continued, and almost certainly progressive, atrial fibrillation if sleep apnea was the progenitor.

Is anyone taking multaq for AFib? My AFib is occasional. I wonder about the drug side effects? Thanks

@katiekateny my mother lived to 95 with many years of congestive heart failure, and it is not what she died of. Just giving a little hope!

Thank you. I wonder, since I have some serious symptoms and confirmation of heart damage

I read on the Cleveland Clinic website that the average is 50% still alive 5 years after diagnosis….but, cannot figure what may be part of that.

I have found a web site that calculates expect life expectancy for HF….but, it is clearly asking about 20 questions that a purely highly technical in nature…..stuff only my doc will know. For example..it wants to know the percent EF. I don’t know if it was ever measured or what the value would mean. That sort of question. I am going to ask my doc to run the numbers for me.

Since I am already dealing with panting whenever I go for a walk…however short, I am at the stage C level already. According to Cleveland clinic the progression to final stage can come very sudden and progress fast. Hopefully, I am not one of those…but, still need to prepare myself for it.

Yes…Afib is not listed as cause of death, but it is the cause of death…because Afib cannot be cured only slowed down….and sooner or later (if you live long enough) you will have HF from the damage to the heart as a result. I cannot stop wondering if those 8 years of no treatment has brought me here.

Good morning, 1886,

I forgot to mention that I have no side effects from the Metoprolol other than the significantly increased energy level. Still, I wouldn't say I like the thought of staying on a thinning drug and the Metoprolol. I will probably request an ablation procedure in the future, but I will go to the Mayo Clinic for that. I have complete confidence in the Mayo Clinic but didn't have the cardioversion done there because I worried about my senior dog surviving a kennel. She has Separation Anxiety, is blind, and is deaf.

Which watch do you use that gives you alerts. My apple 8 doesn’t seem to.