Living with Atrial Fibrillation: What are Your Experiences?

Lindy9, I am sorry that I cannot read your reply, but wish that I could

Mecha - Yo creo que todo los sintomas que usted tenia son de Covid. Los doctores no tiene la libertad de decir la verdad.

He is not on a specific medication for A-fib. He has been on every medication out there and nothing worked. He is more tired and every time he has been cardioverted and goes back into A-fib he said it seems worse each time.

I was first diagnosed with AFib when I was 59. I had no idea what it was and went to the hospital ER with trouble breathing and extreme tiredness. I was told that I had AFib, a left bundle branch block, and that my ejection fraction was 25%. I ended up in the hospital for 5 days so they could put me on Tikosyn. My cardiologist also prescribed Metoprolol, Atorvastatin, Xarelto, Spironolactone, and Diovan (before this, I was on no medication). For about three years, I had no problems and didn't make any significant lifestyle or habit changes. Then, towards the end of 2023, I started having AFib episodes with heart rates in the 180 bpm range. This repeated in early 2024. But then, in June 2024, when I got COVID for the first time, things went crazy. I ended up in the hospital ER three times in three weeks. During my first visit, I met an electrophysiologist who said it was time for a radiofrequency catheter ablation. The procedure was performed shortly after my third ER visit. In the past 21 months, I have been AFib-free. I got my sleep apnea treated and under control, reduced my alcohol consumption to typically no more than one drink a week, lost weight, and kept my blood pressure usually in the 110/70 range. About 6 months after my ablation, my ejection fraction was 60% (yay!). After 90 days, they took me off Tikosyn, but I still take everything else. I kind of wish I had had the ablation earlier, but I also know that skills and techniques have improved since 2017 when I was originally diagnosed. I hope that continues to be the case so that when I need my next one, the results are even better. Wishing you good health!

Thanks for your reply. I've never been able to determine a particular trigger among commonly encountered items like food, drink, caffeine, other items people mention as triggers for them. I do tend to stay away from alcohol as more than a small amount could (but not always) bring about an A-fib attack. I have a long history of SVT- well before any A-fib and learned early on in my life to avoid energy drinks or supplements as definite triggers for tachycardia, and THC containing gummies are definite no-no's for me as I imagine marijuana would be as well.

I think sometimes the surge of adrenalin associated with strong emotion, could be joy, sorrow, anger, excitement, take your pick, will bring on an A-fib attack for me- might be associated with a rise in blood pressure at these times, I've had high blood pressure since I was a young woman ( tends to run in our family) though it's controlled most of the time. These days a a viral illness tends to bring on A-fib for me too. Most of the time though, the A-fib seems to come and go randomly, most often it lasts no more than a minute.
I do take Eliquis, as my CHAD2vasc score is 4, and we also have a family history of strokes. I take metoprolol tartrate, 150 mg/day, to control my heart rate, and it does a pretty good job I think.
As I think I'd mentioned previously, my cardiologist knows exactly how often and how long my A-fib attacks are from my pacemaker remote monitoring reports ( quarterly and alerts when a preset limit for an event is exceeded), and it's entirely possible that there is more breakthrough in the "atrial high rate events" ( ie A-fib, SVT) with this doseage of metoprolol. The time may be coming that the metoprolol won't be as effective as it had been for controlling these events, though my cardiologist says he is reluctant right now to increase the metoprolol to cover this breakthrough. He says that is because over time the metoprolol loses its effectiveness and ever increasing doses are needed to work. So he's instructed me to take an extra 25-50 mg tablet for a tachycardic event that doesn't seem to be stopping within the minute or two as they have been. Overall, this works for me.

@marybird, the various terms used may differ from provider to provider or even by the same doctor. It can be confusing. This article explains why:

"What Is Chronic Atrial Fibrillation?"
- https://www.healthline.com/health/atrial-fibrillation/chronic

Excerpt: "AFib used to be described as chronic or acute, with chronic AFib lasting longer than one week. After new guidelines were released in 2014, chronic AFib is now called long-standing, persistent AFib. Long-standing, persistent AFib lasts longer than 12 months."
I'm glad yours is controlled. Typically paroxysmal atrial fibrillation happens without an obvious trigger.

Have you noticed any triggers in your case or things that you should avoid?

I was diagnosed with A-Fib a year ago last March. My first known & documented episode was the day after I was released to home following surgery. I awoke in the middle of the night with pounding in my chest & a very fast heart rate. (There was no doubt I could feel it happening. In retrospect, something similar happened a few months prior to this, but did not last as long.). We called 911 and the paramedics confirmed I was still in A-Fib. The ED started Metoprolol and other meds to bring my heart rate down. I was released after a few hours on Elliquis and cardiac follow up. I am 69, and don’t have frequent episodes of AFib, but do have ongoing palpitations, which my Cardiologist says not to worry about. Being diagnosed with A-Fib was not shocking to me because there is heart disease in most the males (later age in females) on my paternal side, my father suffering a “sudden death” heart attack when he was 51 (I did CPR while waiting for paramedics) He did survive, and was a life-long heart patient (A-Fib, pacemaker, stents, meds) living to age 91. My grandfather died of heart disease at age 59; my male first cousin had a massive stroke in his late 50’s, his father/my uncle died of a stroke in his 80’s..after having various stroke episodes in his life. So, I am not surprised that I also have heart health issues (LPa, A-Fib) but happy that I have more options than they did…

Hello @donell,

Facing a new diagnosis almost always involves a new learning curve and can leave your head "spinning" a bit.

@gdcm, @northof60 and @suerte all talked about their experiences with being new to an AFib diagnosis and may be able to share how they processed that information and proceeded forward.

@donell, When you learned of your diagnosis, were you able to talk through what that meant moving forward with your provider? Whether it is lifestyle changes or new medications, how are you processing this new diagnosis?

I live in my jeans, but not genes. Most disease is developed over time, years of eating junk and your body is suffering the consequences. When people say it is genetic, I believe most of the time inherited their bad habits which cause disease in time.

"Can" but not "always". I was prediabetic for years then jumped to diabetic. Drs prescribed metformin. I wanted to try diet first. I changed from cookies, ice cream, and donuts to raw celery, broccoli, carrots, and cherry tomatoes. I eat mounds of those veggies and nuts every day. I dropped 35 pounds and was no longer even prediabetic. Sometimes you just have to live with your genes.