AFIB

[Eagle43]

Good thing I was monitoring my blood pressure. The monitor indicated normal BP but a pulse of 152. An hour later pulse 74. Later 152. Up and down for a couple of weeks. NO Other Symptoms. No racing heartbeats, no pain, no gasping for breath, nothing. I went to my family physician who directed me to hospital immediately. There I got electrical cardio conversion shock therapy which established normal rhythm. Now I am taking drugs Sotalol and Eliquis .

My post is to inform forum about no apparent symptoms. Also with 40 years of aerobic exercise I thought I was in good shape..
I easily could have had a stroke. The BP monitor saved me. I almost waited too long for medical evaluation.

Another msg. I have way more loot than I need in Vanguard. I have reinvested RMD. That's over.

 

[Sunset]

Similar issue with BIL, we took him to the hospital for leg swelling as he had ignored it. There they found AFIB and admitted him for a few days. Gave him the shock treatment to get normal rhythm.

We stopped at Costco on the way back to pick up his new meds. I think he was shocked by the cost of Eliquis as it was $525 for him! But what choice does a person have ?

His refills should be more reasonable as he filled his deductible in that single 30 day supply.

 

[pacergal]

Wow, glad you were able to get appropriate medical help. Really surprised you had no symptoms during the elevated heart rate?
Take care.
And yes, enjoy spending the money you saved for retirement, that's why it is there.
Figure out your safe spend amount and go for it!

 

[Souschef]

My DW is on Xarelto, similar to Elequis. We are in the donut hole right now, and it is about $100 for a one month supply. We are in a Medicare advantage plan.
DW went through a couple of cardio-conversions, and finally had a pacemaker put in and an ablation. Thank goodness she is OK now.

 

[aja8888]

A few years ago, my heart would go bonkers and start beating like crazy from no apparent exercise. Like 200 bets per minute. Each time I would almost pass out. This is a guy (me, late 70's) who was along distance runner for decades and is in great physical shape. Well, testing indicated Super Ventricular Trichardia (SVT) and I had an ablation procedure which fixed it!

Great! No drugs needed going forward.

 

[marko]

Nothing to take casually.

I've mentioned a few times here about my brother. He was an elite level athlete even at the age of 62.

Was diagnosed with AFIB but his cardiologist said to monitor for a few weeks before starting meds.

A few days later he had a massive stroke which has left him unable to speak, reduced mental capacity and no use of his right side. I'm now his guardian.

Now, in July I had an event where my pulse went to 160 for no reason and stayed there for 5 hours.
Went to the hospital . All kinds of tests. One month on a Holter. No AFIB, no heart damage. Just one of those things.

 

[Lewis Clark]

When I had a bout of AFIB last year, my only symptoms were severe dizziness and nausea. No chest pains or discomfort, no unusual pulse rate, no unusual blood pressure.

My heart was in AFIB for two days (while in the hospital, while they checked for other issues) until I received the electrical cardioversion. Never had obvious cardio-related symptoms.

 

[Luvtoride]

I've had AFIB for at least 15 years. It was discovered when I went to donate blood and was told I had an irregular pulse rate and could not donate blood (I had donated many times and was in the "Gallon club". My wife the nurse immediately took me to a cardiologist who diagnosed my AFIB. I have been on blood thinners since that time (Xarelto currently). My heart rates tends to run low and being on BP medications, makes it even lower. About 10 years ago I had a pacemaker put in. I've had no issues with either blood thinners or the PM other than not being able to go through metal detectors at airports and public venues and occasionally needing to come off the blood thinners for dental or other surgical procedures.

Glad you caught your AFIB now!

 

[Born2BRetd]

My mother went to see the doctor because she was feeling exhausted from a cold. Her doctor was surprised at how fast her heart was beating and asked her if she could feel it. Nope, just tiredness. She won a free trip in a wheelchair over to the ER for a cardioversion.

 

[Bamaman]

My wife a year ago woke up coughing and not making any sense. I thought she was in heart failure, and hauled her to the E. Room. Her heart was 150+ beats and later the doctor said her blood pressure was 52 over dead. They gave her an IV and the next day did the conversion.

The cardiologist continued to watch her for the next few months. She can tell if there's any such issue by her shoulders feeling like there's a weight on them. And it feels like negative g's like going over the top of a hill in a car going fast.

To those that have AFIB: Has your physician said anything about getting a heart ablation? My wife had it done 4 months later, and an electophysician went into the heart and burned the inside of the heart in a few places. The chances of having any future AFIB episodes is greatly reduced because the electrical signals don't travel through scars.

My wife since has been able to get off some of the meds, but she's on Xaralto permanently. We got the bills in last month--$100K+--covered by Medicare.

 

[Alan]

Another Afib sufferer here. Paroxysmal, discovered it one Sunday night 7 years ago when I felt light headed and took my BP. The monitor indicated an irregular heartbeat so I went to a drive-in clinic and they saw that my heart was in Afib but was not racing (80s when it is normally 50’s). Saw GP next day who referred me to a cardiologist. No medications as it only occurred infrequently and all tests showed heart and cardio system was in good condition.

4 years ago I had a cryoablation which appears to have fixed the problem for now but I’m sure it will return at some point. I expect I will be put on blood thinners in due course, at age 70 if not before. I go for annual heart check ups but take my BP most days and irregular heartbeat is not uncommon which I check with an ecg trace on my Kardia decide

 

[Richard4444]

Yup, my paroxysmal aFib was first diagnosed 3 1/2 years ago, no meds prescribed. This April I was in persistent aFlutter and still paroxysmal aFib. Had an ablation done, was on Eliquis for 4 months and then my implantable monitor found zero aFib or aFlutter since then, so cardiologist and electrophysiologist (the ablation Doc) took me off of all cardiac meds. If monitor reveals aFib again, I go back on Eliquis or another ablation.
Prior to this, I had never heard of en electrophysiologist.... Ha!

Rich

 

[Pointby2]

My DW is on Xarelto, similar to Elequis. We are in the donut hole right now, and it is about $100 for a one month supply. We are in a Medicare advantage plan.
DW went through a couple of cardio-conversions, and finally had a pacemaker put in and an ablation. Thank goodness she is OK now.

I am also on XARELTO and in the donut hole.



You may want to look into buying through Janssen/Wegmans pharmacy. $80 a month, a little bit of a savings.



https://www.janssencarepath.com/sit...relto-janssen-select-program-requirements.pdf

 

[Texas Proud]

Just because you are fit does not mean anything.... JJ Watt just had his heart shocked because of AFIB... I doubt anybody on this forum is as fit as he is...


You can live with it for a long time... my mom did for 3 years... she was in her late 90s and they did not want to shock her as that had more problems than the AFIB...

 

[marko]

Just because you are fit does not mean anything.... JJ Watt just had his heart shocked because of AFIB... I doubt anybody on this forum is as fit as he is...

+1
As I noted above, my brother was an elite level athlete when he developed AFIB. Though certainly not as strong as JJ, my brother likely had a better cardio profile than his.

He did 50 laps in an Olympic pool every morning, ran 10 miles every evening. Weekends he'd ride 100 miles each day on his bike (and then still ran his 10 miles). He did marathons, iron man's, triathlons and would finish in the top 30% for the age 40 bracket. All at the age of 62. Working out was all he did.

It was inconceivable that he'd have heart trouble, but now he is lucky that he can even walk with a cane.

 

[bmcgonig]

+1

As I noted above, my brother was an elite level athlete when he developed AFIB. Though certainly not as strong as JJ, my brother likely had a better cardio profile than his.



He did 50 laps in an Olympic pool every morning, ran 10 miles every evening. Weekends he'd ride 100 miles each day on his bike (and then still ran his 10 miles). He did marathons, iron man's, triathlons and would finish in the top 30% for the age 40 bracket. All at the age of 62. Working out was all he did.



It was inconceivable that he'd have heart trouble, but now he is lucky that he can even walk with a cane.

Really really sad about your brother.

Unfortunately that’s a well known situation. There’s a J curve associated with it apparently. Highly trained athletes have a significantly increased chance of getting it.

I should say that it seems well known to the AFib EPs etc., but not well known to the general public or the endurance athlete community.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5818379/

“Reports published at the end of the 1990’s suggested that veteran athletes are also at a higher-than-expected risk of AF [4, 5]. Subsequent small [6] and large epidemiological studies including >1 million individuals [7] confirmed this association. Endurance training is now a well-accepted cause of AF [8]. Heavily trained athletes are, on average, at a 3–8-fold increased risk of AF [5, 6] and its prevalence is as high as 15% in veteran elite athletes “

 

[Eagle43]

Just because you are fit does not mean anything.... JJ Watt just had his heart shocked because of AFIB... I doubt anybody on this forum is as fit as he is...


You can live with it for a long time... my mom did for 3 years... she was in her late 90s and they did not want to shock her as that had more problems than the AFIB...

Agree. I am nowhere near a real athlete. However I am not feeble, either. I never expected AFIB, and with no symptoms was surprised when they put me in hospital.

I want to be like J. J. Watt. If I got the news right, his heart was shocked into rhythm on Thursday, and he played on Sunday. Now that's tough.

 

[Bamaman]

+1
As I noted above, my brother was an elite level athlete when he developed AFIB. Though certainly not as strong as JJ, my brother likely had a better cardio profile than his.

He did 50 laps in an Olympic pool every morning, ran 10 miles every evening. Weekends he'd ride 100 miles each day on his bike (and then still ran his 10 miles). He did marathons, iron man's, triathlons and would finish in the top 30% for the age 40 bracket. All at the age of 62. Working out was all he did.

It was inconceivable that he'd have heart trouble, but now he is lucky that he can even walk with a cane.

I think the deal is that many elite athletes have very strong, slow beating hearts. And they can be susceptible to heart problems. While they may appear in such great shape, the ole heart doesn't necessarily like beating so hard.

I had a friend that was a serious road racer (bicycles), and he had to have open heart surgery. The strong, slow heart just about did him in. He's doing fine now many years later--living life in moderation.

 

[RonBoyd]

Rather than duplicate all the previous answers. Let me simply add my thoughts (first I have had asymptomatic AFIB for over 20 years. (I have always suspected it was about 10 years longer than that. [Keep in mind that I have no medical training, and these are merely my private thoughts.]

Anyway:

1. I have taken Warfarin for those twenty years and two cardiologists agree there is no reason for me to try the new drugs like Eliquis. Well, my cost of Zero co-pay as opposed to the $500+ makes it a no brainer anyway.

2. I am tempted by the "Watchman" device and if it didn't require surgery, I would go for it. https://www.watchman.com/en-us/home.html

3. Everyone (regardless of age) should get a BP monitor that checks for AFIB. Having no symptoms (quite common) is very dangerous -- life-threatening.

4. A periodic sonogram to compare heart size should be mandatory. The heart is a muscle and extra exercise (rapid heart rate) can cause it to increase in size to the point that the valves don't close properly.

5. I have asked many times: "How long am I gonna dodge this bullet.' I am assured it won't be soon... but hypochondria is ever present.

 

[marko]

Rather than duplicate all the previous answers. Let me simply add my thoughts (first I have had asymptomatic AFIB for over 20 years. (I have always suspected it was about 10 years longer than that. [Keep in mind that I have no medical training, and these are merely my private thoughts.]

Anyway:

1. I have taken Warfarin for those twenty years and two cardiologists agree there is no reason for me to try the new drugs like Eliquis. Well, my cost of Zero co-pay as opposed to the $500+ makes it a no brainer anyway.

2. I am tempted by the "Watchman" device and if it didn't require surgery, I would go for it. https://www.watchman.com/en-us/home.html

3. Everyone (regardless of age) should get a BP monitor that checks for AFIB. Having no symptoms (quite common) is very dangerous -- life-threatening.

4. A periodic sonogram to compare heart size should be mandatory. The heart is a muscle and extra exercise (rapid heart rate) can cause it to increase in size to the point that the valves don't close properly.

5. I have asked many times: "How long am I gonna dodge this bullet.' I am assured it won't be soon... but hypochondria is ever present.

Thanks for this! In July my heart rate jumped for no reason to 160 for about 5 hours. Hospital and months of tests (month-long Holter, Echocardiogram etc) says there is and was no AFIB. But my brother's experience coupled to my chronic PVCs has me paranoid and feeling like the sword of Damocles could drop any second. I check my BP every morning and night (and have 2000+ rows on an Excel sheet to prove it!)

My PCP is not worried and says that I shouldn't.

Your commentary is helpful.

 

[bmcgonig]

Thanks for this! In July my heart rate jumped for no reason to 160 for about 5 hours. Hospital and months of tests (month-long Holter, Echocardiogram etc) says there is and was no AFIB. But my brother's experience coupled to my chronic PVCs has me paranoid and feeling like the sword of Damocles could drop any second. I check my BP every morning and night (and have 2000+ rows on an Excel sheet to prove it!)

My PCP is not worried and says that I shouldn't.

Your commentary is helpful.

My worst PVCs are caused by regular coffee. Do you drink it?

 

[marko]

My worst PVCs are caused by regular coffee. Do you drink it?

I've had PVCs since about 6th grade. Since my event in July they have become more intense. I drink decaf and have been for years but right now I'm doing and experiment with two weeks of no coffee of any kind ( decaf or otherwise) and two weeks on.

I'm beginning to suspect that I'm "allergic" to something in coffee in general, and yes, I know that even decaf has a bit of caffeine. Restarted decaf this morning.

 

[becca]

DH (age 75) has had Paroxysmal afib for the last 3 years, resulting in 4 cardioversions. Finally had an ablation a month ago. It went well and so far so good. He is still on the blood thinners but hoping to get off them if the EP oks it down the road. Although he can definitely feel when he is in afib the Apple Watch has been great for confirming it.

 

[Alan]

DH (age 75) has had Paroxysmal afib for the last 3 years, resulting in 4 cardioversions. Finally had an ablation a month ago. It went well and so far so good. He is still on the blood thinners but hoping to get off them if the EP oks it down the road. Although he can definitely feel when he is in afib the Apple Watch has been great for confirming it.

At age 75 his CHA2DS2 score is automatically 2 so if he has just one more condition such as being on BP medication to put his score at 3 his EP may advise he stay on blood thinners.

https://www.mdcalc.com/calc/801/cha2ds2-vasc-score-atrial-fibrillation-stroke-risk

 

[COcheesehead]

An Apple Watch and possibly other wearables will act as a monitor as well and give you a warning for AFIB.