Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group

Hi, although I have had heart palpitations most of my life, checked a few times over the years with Holter monitors and diagnosed as benign, I was diagnosed with AFib in January this year (2022). Beginning in December, I had 3 AFib events that lasted 1, 5 and 7 hours, respectively, then one that lasted 2 hours while on the Holter monitor that diagnosed the condition, and recently one event that lasted 55 minutes while on 50mg Flecainide twice daily and 25 mg metoprolol once daily. While that so far is the extent of my longer-lasting AFib events, this diagnosis has kind of shifted me from being a very aerobically active, outdoorsy man of 75 years young on no meds to a confused, fearful, incapacitated old man. Of course, i am enormously grateful for my good health into my senior years, and I realize that this new challenge in my life is a shock that will take getting used to. But I do find myself in constant fear that my next heartbeat will turn into the wildly irregular and racing heart of an AFib event. Nights are the worst as I wake up several times at night with a too-fast pulse that turns out, I think, to be from anxiety rather than AFib. The biggest problem for me so far with trying to get a grip on this is total confusion, uncertainty, and doubt because there is so much information and there are so many different opinions out there about the wide variety of medications and other treatments for AFib. That’s why I am truly pleased to have found this Mayo Clinic Connect. I am looking forward to learning more from all of you about this condition by reading about your experiences and asking any questions I come up with as time goes on. Thank you!

Well, I had my 1st Afib encounter in 2015 when I was 63. It was so scary. I went to the ER and spent the night. Left the next day on 100mg Flecanide. Also learned I had severe tricuspid valve regurgitation. So, we left Florida and headed home. Went to Mayo Clinic, in Rochester. That was all 7 years ago. I just had open heart surgery for that tricuspid valve and mitral valve repair. I have put all my trust in Mayo. Afib is no fun. I am in it all the time but the meds are helping keep the heart beat
at a decent rate. So try not to be too overly concerned. However, that is being said by one of the biggest worriers ever!!😉

Hi, although I have had heart palpitations most of my life, checked a few times over the years with Holter monitors and diagnosed as benign, I was diagnosed with AFib in January this year (2022). Beginning in December, I had 3 AFib events that lasted 1, 5 and 7 hours, respectively, then one that lasted 2 hours while on the Holter monitor that diagnosed the condition, and recently one event that lasted 55 minutes while on 50mg Flecainide twice daily and 25 mg metoprolol once daily. While that so far is the extent of my longer-lasting AFib events, this diagnosis has kind of shifted me from being a very aerobically active, outdoorsy man of 75 years young on no meds to a confused, fearful, incapacitated old man. Of course, i am enormously grateful for my good health into my senior years, and I realize that this new challenge in my life is a shock that will take getting used to. But I do find myself in constant fear that my next heartbeat will turn into the wildly irregular and racing heart of an AFib event. Nights are the worst as I wake up several times at night with a too-fast pulse that turns out, I think, to be from anxiety rather than AFib. The biggest problem for me so far with trying to get a grip on this is total confusion, uncertainty, and doubt because there is so much information and there are so many different opinions out there about the wide variety of medications and other treatments for AFib. That’s why I am truly pleased to have found this Mayo Clinic Connect. I am looking forward to learning more from all of you about this condition by reading about your experiences and asking any questions I come up with as time goes on. Thank you!

Thank you for your response, it is helpful and leads me to the next resource which is the manufacturer of my pacer to understand it’s capabilities. Fortunately, I know who to call. I never considered the mechanism might have a fail safe built into it. My heart is strong as a muscle, and I have no other heart or vascular issues. It’s a strange thing to try to second guess my body and try to plan for care later in life. I know the Advance Directives help MD’s deal with families and satisfy lawyers mostly, but it’s not a bad thing to have to consider sickness in my body, and where we might go from here, and be grateful to the miracle of all it tries to do for me. I appreciate you reaching out to me, you have a great heart!

Hi Karin, welcome to connect,, Actually I have faced this question. I did have a pacemaker defibulator for many years prior to my Heart Transplant, At the time I worked at an agency that had portable defibrillators everywhere and wanted to know how to handle a possibly emergency. My EP Cardiologist told me Actually pacemakers are designed to shut down if a external defibrillator was in use and don't worry about it. If that ever happen we can reset the pacemaker after the event is over. I also had a fellow worker with afib who had a pacemaker also and did not have a built n in defibrillator but was converted a number of times and it did not affect the pacemaker. So you may want to ask your EP Cardiologist about that.
Hope that helps.
Blessings