Living with Atrial Fibrillation: What are Your Experiences?

Thanks for sharing your story. It’s very helpful to me. Because I have chronic AFib I have no energy most of the time. My quality of life has gone downhill. I am considering cardio version but my doctor wants me to have a CT scan first.

This is in response to the 1st "Heart Rhythms" entry (above)... 4 years ago (age 83) I was diagnosed with A-Fib. Over the next 30 months, (2-1/2 years) Cardiologists & Cardiology-Physician Assistants kept prescribing various pharmaceuticals, almost immediately I'd begin to have multiple debilitating Side Effects to Each & Every One of them ... when I'd go back to the Cardiology practice, the Cardiologist or P.A. would pass me on to another P.A. or Cardiologist who would write a New Prescriptions. Finally 2-1/2 years & 7 different Prescriptions (plus 7 different Dr.'s or P.A.'s later) ... Not 1 of the Prescriptions "worked", All of them resulted in multiple debilitating Side Effects ... the Last Cardiologist I visited told me to STOP Everything & let my body find Normal. At that Same time that last Cardiologist referred me to a Cardiac-Surgeon (Medical Professional #8). He ordered a 3-D CTA, which required an injection of Vsovue 370 dye. The Cardiology-Surgeon Assured me there would be No Side effects to the CTA. He was correct about the CTA - it was the Vsovue 370 dye that was So TOXIC. That little procedure literally put me in bed for the next 5 days with Severe side effects. Over the next YEAR side effects to the dye would come & go ... from time to time my fore-arms & lower legs felt like they were Sunburn'd while my hands & feet were NUMB (essentially No Feeling ... walked like a Robot & difficulty picking-up objects such as a fork to eat). Thankfully the arm/hand & leg/foot reaction would come & go ... it wasn't Constant. The 3-D CTA was 14 months ago, it's been 3 months since the last reaction, so hopefully it's run it's course!
I'm aware my heart isn't operating Normally, I'm No longer dealing with 'Laundry-Baskets-full' of Side Effects from Toxic Pharmaceuticals, however I'm AFRAID to go back to Cardiologists ... I feel like they've done more Harm than Good. When I told my Internal Med. Dr. that the last Cardiologist told me to STOP All of the heart-Prescription Med.'s that I'd been taking, my Internist suggested I take a Low Dose Aspirin at least every other day ... maybe about 4-5 days a week ... (If I miss a day now & then, not to worry). Frankly I feel better than I've felt since initially being diagnosed with A-Fib 4 years ago. When initially diagnosed I had NOT A CLUE I had A-Fib., the EKG was just a regular part of the 2-year check-up.
A few Friends & family members say they're concerned that I'm not taking any med's for A-Fib but I tell them, "quite frankly, when I was taking those med.'s I was afraid They Might KILL ME Before the A-Fib would/could!"

So, if I understand right, you had no idea of a heart problem, but an EKG said you did. Then months 2-1/2 years of horrible side effects. You stop them and are doing better. But friends and family are concerned you don't take meds!

I knew a lady who tried to please her family, and doc after doc gave her drugs, when she had been taking none and was doing fine before. In about 6 months she was dead. The doctors and the concerned family in my opinion killed her. She was my best friend and lived next door.

The side effects of Pharmaceuticals were So Toxic to me, they made my life "A Living Hell". After starting the drugs, for Months I'd sleep (at Best) 4-5 hours a night. I adjusted my diet to eating & drinking healthy foods & liquids ... eliminated colas & alcohol. I was never hungry, only ate because I knew I HAD TO. & I noticed after the A-Fib drugs Nothing tasted the same. After the Dr. told me to stop the Med.'s , I was sleeping 8-9 hr.s (of Good Restful sleep) again, food & beverage tastes were restored, I didn't have random shooting pain in my low back, arms, legs, & feet ... & I could think clearly, remember phone numbers, dates, names, & appointments. Family & Friends commented, asked what I was doing differently, I seemed Like Me Again! I had the energy to do common ordinary chores, & my sense of Humor returned. I could sit down, read a book, & remember on page 82 something that was on page 11. After my cognitive function began coming back & I was finding pleasure in simple things in Life, I decided I'd rather live a shorter life ENJOYING a Quality of Life, than live longer & have family & friends remember me in my last years as An Angry, Miserable Old Person (all due to my bodies inability to deal with Drugs that caused Constant Fatigue, fragmented memory, a Lot of Frustration, Anger, & Depression!) It's a choice: Quality vs Quantity!