Connect
← Return to Afib leads to heart failure
Discussion
Comment receiving replies
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.
Replies to "Thank you. I wonder, since I have some serious symptoms and confirmation of heart damage I..."
@katiekateny my mother panted whenever she moved, for years and years. You might want to go to afibbers.org, a site that has a lot of AFib stories. I believe it is possible to slow afib down. AS @gloaming said, the main risk is stroke.
I use a Kardia device, a small credit card sized device linked to my phone. You put two fingers on each side and it does an EKG and stores it.
Have you have an echocardiogram? Your ejection fraction should be on there. Those blood tests for CHF fluctuate a lot so don't take one test as an absolute.
Have you had Troponin tests when in the ER? They measure heart damage. I don't have any heart damage as yet from my infrequent Afib since 2015.
I wonder if other factors influence that mortality rate of 50% in 5 years. Maybe study participants were very elderly and died of other things. CHF can be seen as a marker for age in some instances (not viral cardiomyopathy of course). Do they have a control group?
ps diuretics, compression stockings and keeping legs above heart level can all help with the swelling, which also fluctuates
Connect
katiekateny and windyshores,
I am a heart failure patient at Mayo Jacksonville. I was diagnosed in 2000 with HF. I have cardiomyopathy caused heart failure. It is now 2023 and I am 76 years old. I do sprint triathlons (about 10 a year). I do them per cardiologist directions at moderate level but have finished all (about 50). I was a competitive tennis player prior to that but the quick arm movements were bothering my ICD/Pacemaker wires. My cardiologist and EP (both Mayo) recommended stop playing tennis and consider sprint triathlon (I was already swimming, biking, jog/walk).
Been doing them since 2017 and other than a year off getting treated for prostrate cancer have been doing and enjoying them. I do them at moderate level and walk/jog during run portion.
My EF moves between 25-30% for two decades now. By the way EF is subjective. My heart failure doctor (Mayo) tells me not to even look at my EF but base my HF on how I feel. I do have AF (occasionally that rectifies itself). My EP said the serious thing about AF that EPs worry about is strokes because of blood clotting. Thus a lot of blood clotting medications out there.
I am not sure why you were told AF was not treatable. Ablation and medication can really help reduce it symptoms. I have hundreds of thousands of PVCs over the last 2 decades. One ablation done in my RV stop PVCs immediately. I still have PVCs in LV but I take a low dose medication to reduce them.
I am on Entresto and Carvediol for my HF. I do not have any exercise restrictions other that told be stay a moderate level of exercise. However my heart failure doctor (Mayo) does a pulmonary exercise stress test on me every 2 years. So life expectancy and what you can do and not do after a HF diagnosis is a personal thing for each of us. And a statistics are just a number not a predictor for you or your love one specifically.
EF means ejection fraction. It is the amount of blood that moves out of the heart when it pumps. The normal rages in around 60-70%. Mine is 25%-30%. It steadily went down from 2000. However when I was put on Entresto, carvedidol, and got a ICD/Pacemaker it has held steadily for 10 years now around the 25-30%. For your information, a EF is gotten from a echo-cardiogram. If you have not had one you should.