Atrial fibrillation

@californiazebra

I have an alarm set on my phone for AM and PM doses, 12 hours apart. But I don't carry my phone with me everywhere as some do, so if I'm elsewhere or just in the process of doing something, I think I'll get to that right away, but I often get distracted, instead, and forget. It seems to be hard for most people to take more than one dose of anything a day.

@earther

Just another thought. I wear a Fitbit watch and have been able to set both alarms on the watch. It buzzes on my wrist for AM and PM doses. Since I wear my watch all the time it helps remind me of both doses. If someone has an Apple watch, I imagine it also has an option to set alarms.

@sjm46

Just something to consider if you are over 70:

If they use the lighter, fast-acting anesthesia for cardioversion, like what they use for colonoscopies, it might not be a problem.

But if it's for ablation, they must use general anesthesia (GA), and that tends to cause cognitive problems for older people. As one doctor told me: "After general anesthesia, the heart kinda resets. But with old people, it never resets to the same level."

I had GA twice in less than a month a year ago. The cognitive decline afterward was quite noticeable and very disturbing -- particularly given that my defining characteristic is insatiable curiosity, and I'm a voracious reader. Or was. I haven't been able to focus enough to read a whole book since, I constantly misplaced things and had no clue where they were, and I've just felt DULL since.

Recently, a year later, my memory and thinking ability are much better, and I'm reading again, but only a little at a time. Audiobooks are helpful, and maybe the Brain HQ and Luminosity "brain games" I've been doing -- or trying to do -- have helped, too.

@earther I had an ablation four weeks ago; I didn't notice any cognitive problems afterward and I had general anesthesia. I actually looked up every med that the anesthesiologist administered just because I was interested in the process. It is remarkable how they coordinate the meds and keep the body relaxed, prevent the N/V afterward with medication that takes two or three hours to work, and also manage the anticoagulant drugs to prevent clots, then reverse the process so they can prevent bleeding from the sites afterward. It is also interesting that studies show how long it actually takes for the meds to "clear" the cells after they are administered. Even propofol, that is so quick acting to render the patient sedated, and is rapidly cleared from the body so you "wake up," has effects because traces can detectable in bloood for up to 15 hours after injection and in urine as long as 60 hours. Age can affect the time for clearing, or impaired liver or kidney functioning. If you had general anesthesia twice in less than a month, I can understand how this could affect a lot of things with your body. For me, I just couldn't get warm for a week afterward; I sat in front of the space heater and layer up to feel comfortable. Who knows why? Everyone is so different. Keep working on those puzzles! I do the Sudoku every morning--sometimes I win and sometimes I don't! 🙂

@earther I had an ablation four weeks ago; I didn't notice any cognitive problems afterward and I had general anesthesia. I actually looked up every med that the anesthesiologist administered just because I was interested in the process. It is remarkable how they coordinate the meds and keep the body relaxed, prevent the N/V afterward with medication that takes two or three hours to work, and also manage the anticoagulant drugs to prevent clots, then reverse the process so they can prevent bleeding from the sites afterward. It is also interesting that studies show how long it actually takes for the meds to "clear" the cells after they are administered. Even propofol, that is so quick acting to render the patient sedated, and is rapidly cleared from the body so you "wake up," has effects because traces can detectable in bloood for up to 15 hours after injection and in urine as long as 60 hours. Age can affect the time for clearing, or impaired liver or kidney functioning. If you had general anesthesia twice in less than a month, I can understand how this could affect a lot of things with your body. For me, I just couldn't get warm for a week afterward; I sat in front of the space heater and layer up to feel comfortable. Who knows why? Everyone is so different. Keep working on those puzzles! I do the Sudoku every morning--sometimes I win and sometimes I don't! 🙂

@sjm46

>> Age can affect the time for clearing, or impaired liver or kidney functioning.
That is interesting, because when I had those two procedures that required general anesthesia last year, I had been in sepsis and Stage 3b kidney failure, both due to a large kidney stone that caused what's called an Acute Kidney Injury (meaning not a lasting one, if you're lucky). So maybe it was a harder hit because of all of that. I am not the same person I was as a result, still, and I guess I won't be. I'm aware of the losses, just can't reverse them, so far. Makes me very sad.

It is great that your ablation went well. May that mean no more AFib, ever.

@andrewc999 - I'd certainly like to quit taking Eliquis, not only because my income is low so I pay out of pocket, so now I have to charge part of my groceries because of this. But also because I think it's a rather radical, risky drug. Yet I'm at very high risk for stroke and will do all I have to do to avoid ending up in any kind of "care facility."

I'm going to ask the heart rhythm doc and my cardiologist about Watchman this week, but any more surgery and general anesthetic are nearly as high risk for me as the stroke risk.

@earther May our Lord Jesus Christ, come to heal you and make you well , provide for you, and see you threw all things, in Jesus name amen