AFIB

[kcowan]

I have chronic AFIB. My cardiologist has settled on Eliquis (2x5mg) and Verapamil (320mg) that keeps my pulse rate in the low 60s (from the 90s). He does not believe in the knife due to the low success rate. He also has my cholesterol really low with Atorvastatin. Just playing the odds. I have a drug plan that pays 90%.

 

[34rlsa]

Innovative Zero-Radiation Procedure Restores Heart Rhythm

Just saw this ad while watching the Penguins hockey game tonight.

"Doug Farnham spent a year pursuing treatments for atrial fibrillation. He had an irregular heartbeat that caused weakness and fatigue, plus raised his risk of stroke. Then his healthcare team at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) treated him with zero-fluoroscopy ablation, which restores the heart’s rhythm and protects patients from excessive radiation during the procedure. Now he’s back at work with a steady heartbeat."

Has anyone have experience with this treatment?

 

[Sunset]

Hi- My first post. I know I need to fill out a profile/intro and will do so soon.

IMO, if you have A Fib, it's better to know about it and manage/treat it than not (and just hope it doesn't lead to a stroke). One of the issues here is that A Fib may be intermittent. Also, how does one know that little flutter feeling was A Fib? Do you make a Dr appointment, show up and say "two weeks ago, I felt something funny in my chest"? The doc needs to actually observe it to diagnose.

My Mom (88) has A Fib. She's had a (successful, so far) cardioversion. Using this little gizmo (and an Ipad or smart phone), she can take her own EKG at home. She does so every morning before and after coffee as well as times she doesn't feel right. It's unfortunate she wasn't doing this over the past couple years-- she had a stroke last year and they can be caused by A Fib.

The software/app seems to give you 3 possible outcomes after the 30 second reading.
1. Possible A Fib-
2. Unclassified
3. Normal

I have zero personal interest in this company and I believe there are now other outfits making similar contraptions. I'll try to post a link, if not you can google "KARDIA".

https://www.alivecor.com/

You can get them through Amazon for around 100 bucks. Also, you don't have to buy the monitoring service. You will need a smartphone, ipad or something to receive the signal from the device. My Dad emails each EKG to their inbox after it's taken with a descriptive comment in the title. (ex...Morning Before Coffee Unclassified). If you keep the labeling consistent you can then search for a specific reading later.

I realize that a first post that mentions a product could raise some eyebrows. Here are a few articles I found on another website that's run by a cardiologist (of course everyone is a 6 ft 4, 190 lb cardiologist on the internet or something like that!!)

https://theskepticalcardiologist.co...fibrillation-potential-for-stroke-prevention/

https://theskepticalcardiologist.co...ng-atrial-fibrillation-at-home-and-in-office/

I hope that is of some assistance and look forward to participating more on this board in the future.

That is really neat.
We need many more home medical devices as a way to check ourselves.
I cannot be running off to the doc every couple of days due to a twinge/pain in my chest or knee.
I am slightly suspicious of how this works accurately, compared to putting wires on the chest, it seems a lot like my treadmill heartbeat pads, that are not accurate, but maybe this is better.

 

[Alan]

That is really neat.
We need many more home medical devices as a way to check ourselves.
I cannot be running off to the doc every couple of days due to a twinge/pain in my chest or knee.
I am slightly suspicious of how this works accurately, compared to putting wires on the chest, it seems a lot like my treadmill heartbeat pads, that are not accurate, but maybe this is better.

I used the Alivecor a lot this year and it was recognized and accepted by the cardiologists at my hospital for AFib. If you look at the trace you can clearly see that the initial beat of the atria immediately before the ventricles is missing. The trace is a straight line before the large spike instead of a small bump immediately before a large spike.

 

[Alan]

Just saw this ad while watching the Penguins hockey game tonight.

"Doug Farnham spent a year pursuing treatments for atrial fibrillation. He had an irregular heartbeat that caused weakness and fatigue, plus raised his risk of stroke. Then his healthcare team at Allegheny Health Network (AHN) treated him with zero-fluoroscopy ablation, which restores the heart’s rhythm and protects patients from excessive radiation during the procedure. Now he’s back at work with a steady heartbeat."

Has anyone have experience with this treatment?

Not this treatment but the treatment I had did not use Radio Frequency Ablation, but cryo Ablation which freezes areas of the heart around 4 blood vessels that enter the heart. Cryo Ablation is only useful for AFib that is occurring in that area and around 75% successful at the first attempt. So far so good, 10 weeks later and not a single instance of AFib.

I have “been under the knife” 11 times in my life, 6 under general anesthetic, and this is the only time I have walked out without even a band aid in place. I’m still amazed as the entry point was a vein 3/4” in diameter and I was full of blood thinners to prevent clotting.

 

[Alan]

Just heard yesterday that my sister’s husband has been diagnosed with AFib. There certainly is a lot of it about.

 

[Dawg52]

Got the results via phone yesterday of my stress test and echocardiogram. Both normal. I have a follow up appt in January with a new cardiologist. My other doc was canned from a downsizing I think. So changing groups. Probably for the best as I got a couple of good recommendations on this one. I plan to ask my new dr about the Alivecor. If he will use the data from it I'm more than willing to spend $100 on one.

 

[Alan]

Got the results via phone yesterday of my stress test and echocardiogram. Both normal. I have a follow up appt in January with a new cardiologist. My other doc was canned from a downsizing I think. So changing groups. Probably for the best as I got a couple of good recommendations on this one. I plan to ask my new dr about the Alivecor. If he will use the data from it I'm more than willing to spend $100 on one.

FYI, here is a line taken from a couple of my Alivecor traces. One is normal at 53 bpm, the other is while in AFib at 85 bpm. The normal trace has a small bump before each large spike as the atria fire as they should. It is useful for those of us with paroxysmal Afib where capturing a record when it is happening is difficult. On my omron BP monitor the irregular heart rate indication was only confirmed as afib about 75% of the time, the other times there is a delay between heartbeats. That is still happening now after my ablation in that the BP monitor sometimes indicates irregular heartbeat but the Alivecor trace shows normal, but you can see the occasional delay between beats, and this was noted during the 2 times I wore a holter monitor.

 

[Maenad]

My dad has afib and has been on warfarin for years. Cardioversion didn't work. I've gently pushed him to look into ablation or the Watchman device, but he's 80 and stubborn, so I'm not holding my breath!

I work for the company that makes Watchman, so ethically all I'm comfortable with is presenting it as an option - I can't pretend to be a neutral observer. I told Dad to trust his cardiologist, no matter how much he loves his daughter.

 

[tulak]

Just heard yesterday that my sister’s husband has been diagnosed with AFib. There certainly is a lot of it about.

I suspect that there will be an uptick in cases with the Apple Watch making detection mainstream.

An Apple Watch told a 46-year-old man he had an irregular heartbeat. It was right.

https://abcnews.go.com/Health/apple-watch-told-46-year-man-irregular-heartbeat/story?id=59726093

Lucky guy.

 

[braumeister]

I suspect that there will be an uptick in cases with the Apple Watch making detection mainstream.

Unfortunately, probably a lot of false positives as well.

I read that Apple is trying to minimize this by only reporting it to the wearer if they get five positive readings.

 

[footenote]

Lucky me - I joined the Club Afib today!

Asked DH to take me directly to the ER this morning: pounding heart would. not. stop. EKG confirmed: afib. I responded immediately to IV Cardizem.

I'm already on Warfarin for an un-related chronic condition. So at least the doc had years of INR readings in my medical record; clotting is not a worry.

I'm now on low-dose oral Cardizem and hoping for no further drama. Thanks to all for sharing the information above.

 

[Alan]

Welcome to the club. Hopefully the medication will take care of it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

I'm in the Afib club as well. Diagnosed in March 2015. They did a cardioversion a couple days after my diagnosis that "held" for only 3 days. Needed another cardioversion but my doctor wanted me to take Amiodarone for 3 weeks to help the next cardioversion "stick". So I was in a living Hell for 3 weeks. Shortness of breath, constantly tired, poor sleep quality. This time got success with the cardioversion and was kept on Amiodarone for 3 months along with Xarelto. After 3 months the Amiodarone was discontinued and I was then put on Betapace (Sotilol). Xarelto continued.

The Betapace is supposed to keep the resting heart rate in the 60's and keep me out of Afib (it does) and the Xarelto is basically an insurance policy against blood clots and possible strokes should I go back into Afib and not know it.

My cardiologist told me I could take baby aspirin for stroke prevention but I would have a stroke risk of about 3%. With Xarelto he said my risk would be about 0.3%. I like the better odds afforded by Xarelto. Four years later I'm still taking both Betapace and Xarelto. I feel I could discontinue them without incidence but that's not a bet I'm going to take.

There are discount programs available for Xarelto. I'm paying $35 a month for it.

 

[Qs Laptop]

There are several changes since I got Afib.

1. I almost always hit a wall around 4:00 in the afternoon and feel a need for a short catnap. I can get completely refreshed after just 10 minutes of napping. I blame the Betapace for this.

2. After every meal my nose runs. I have to blow or wipe my nose after every time I eat. Doctor has no clue why this happens.

3. Whenever I take an (involuntary or reactive) deep breath through my nostrils it is a halting process with three consecutive intakes in rapid succession. It's no longer one smooth intake of breath. However, if I consciously take a deep breath through my nose it is a smooth intake. Doctor has no clue on this one either.

 

[firemediceric]

At 47 years old

At 47 years old I sought medical consultation after a syncople episode when getting up after a full night of sleep. While wearing the halter monitor they could see my heart rate fluctuating from as low as 38 BPM to >260 BPM. The monitoring company in California would call me in Florida and tell me to call 911. I replied "I am 911. What are you seeing? A-fib with RVR?"

Cardiologists and electrophysiocardiologists couldn't be sure if it was runs of SVT or paroxysmal a-fib with RVR. Like Alan, I was put on some heavy duty anti-coagulants and a couple of other meds while my employer's insurance carrier tried to find an electrophysiologist that would accept workers comp. After several months and several more episodes of chest discomfort or near syncope, they got me in for an ablation.

While under anesthesia they tried to induce SVT without success. They were able to induce a-fib. That told them which part of the heart to ablate. I continued on the Eliquis for a month then just 81 mg ASA from there on out.

The electrophysiologist who preformed the ablation remarked that my condition in conjunction with the slight thickening of my left ventricle, was likely due to over conditioning my heart. It was not uncommon for my resting heart rate to be <50 BPM. He said while sleeping it would drop to <40 BPM. That would cause my heart to go into overdrive leading to a-fib with RVR even when sleeping. Following the ablation my heart rate never got below 80 BPM for the first year. Now it sometimes gets down to 60 BPM but never the rate that I associate with an athletes heart.

 

[calmloki]

So last week I was lining out what we wanted done to some cleaners at the house we were readying for sale. Then I opened my eyes and was laying on my back on the garage floor. The cleaners asked if I did that often.. They drove me home (limpiadores Uber service!) and I sent a transmission to the heart clinic. Next morning I got a call saying that they could see why I passed out - apparently 200 bpm humming bird heart upper heart chambers don't transfer blood to the lower ventricles. They bumped up my metoprolol dose and I'll see various heart people next week. Kinda scary

 

[footenote]

Calmloki - Glad you're ok! (And, yes, A-Fib is heckin' scary)

 

[Richard4444]

Just joined the AFib club. Follow up visit Friday to EP to review 2 week monitor. CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1. A new chapter. Uggghhhhh

Rich

 

[Uncle Albert]

Xarelto ... a good reason to hate the pharmaceutical industry.

That and Eliquis are the two drugs that are recommended for AFIB. Not to fix or cure, or even improve the problem... simply to avoid blood clots.

FYI... the average price is $525.00 for 30 tablets. That's about $6,300.00. per year. If you thought your plan D would reduce the price, better check it. The lowest price for most plans is about $5,000. Both drugs are about the same price.

When you start doing the numbers... 6,000,000 persons with AFIB... you can do the math. The patent for Xarelto doesn't expire until 2021, so no help for a while.

A side note for anyone who is facing these prices. The warnings about clots that could form without the preferred drugs are real, but diving into the medical risk for death from afib, tells a story that you won't hear from the industry. It come in the "risk percentage" part. I won't pretend to give medical advice, but you or a loved one is at risk, and the price would cause hardship, you might want to spend an hour or so becoming familiar with the subject.

I was diagnosed with A-Fib after a colonoscopy, immediately went to cardiologist who recommended cardioversion which worked. Several years, later A-Fib returned based on an extensive EKG and the cardiologist gave me Eliquis a month’s worth for free, just like a heroin dealer.
I am asymptomatic, no clue it returned.
I checked when I got home and was $493.00 for a months worth and I was supposed to take it twice a day. So since it was open enrollment for me on Medicare, I signed up for Part D with Silver Script. DW filled out the paperwork with Silver Script for a three months supply and it totaled $105.00 for three months supply.
And yes, it does nothing to cure A-Fib at its source only to prevent clots.
On March 6th, 2019, is experienced a stroke which affected my Broca's center in my brain which affected my speech since I was not on Eliquis at the time. Am doing speech therapy now and am way grateful and fortunate since that is my only symptom from the stroke.
Your mileage may vary.

 

[Alan]

I was diagnosed with A-Fib after a colonoscopy, immediately went to cardiologist who recommended cardioversion which worked. Several years, later A-Fib returned based on an extensive EKG and the cardiologist gave me Eliquis a month’s worth for free, just like a heroin dealer.
I am asymptomatic, no clue it returned.
I checked when I got home and was $493.00 for a months worth and I was supposed to take it twice a day. So since it was open enrollment for me on Medicare, I signed up for Part D with Silver Script. DW filled out the paperwork with Silver Script for a three months supply and it totaled $105.00 for three months supply.
And yes, it does nothing to cure A-Fib at its source only to prevent clots.
On March 6th, 2019, is experienced a stroke which affected my Broca's center in my brain which affected my speech since I was not on Eliquis at the time. Am doing speech therapy now and am way grateful and fortunate since that is my only symptom from the stroke.
Your mileage may vary.

Thanks for sharing this, and pleased to hear that you are okay. It is a good reminder that AFib can go undetected for a long time, causing clots to form in the heart. As far as blood thinners go I was relieved that Eliquis was so easy to use with no periodic blood tests needed and just 2 tablets a day although the importance of taking them as regularly as possible was stressed to me. (I was on it for 6 weeks before Ablation surgery and 3 months afterwards)

 

[marko]

So last week I was lining out what we wanted done to some cleaners at the house we were readying for sale. Then I opened my eyes and was laying on my back on the garage floor. The cleaners asked if I did that often.. They drove me home (limpiadores Uber service!) and I sent a transmission to the heart clinic. Next morning I got a call saying that they could see why I passed out - apparently 200 bpm humming bird heart upper heart chambers don't transfer blood to the lower ventricles. They bumped up my metoprolol dose and I'll see various heart people next week. Kinda scary

Scary indeed! Try to stay calm and low key, ok?

 

[calmloki]

Scary indeed! Try to stay calm and low key, ok?

Trying. I am on warfarin and tolerate it well - the biggest and to me oddest thing is the blood testing. Kaiser Permanente had me traipsing back and forth getting venous blood draws to check INR. PIT time wasting A. Now I'm using a Coaguchek self testing kit. That allows me to sit at my desk, do a fast lancet prick on the edge of a finger, put a drop of blood on a test strip, read the result and call it in. Three minutes vs. an hour and no probing for a rolling vein by the phlebotomist. I don't like needles.

My heart just gets mixed messages electrically. When Vfib dropped me they wired me up with an automatic implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (AICD). Then Afib. Several cardioversions (very restful!), an ablation, Amiodarone and all that jazz. Had the AICD changed earlier this year (still no music player or calmloki accessible memory) and after the passing out incident they changed the threshold for the unit to deliver a shock - currently set to deliver a heart punch 4 times earlier. Haven't experienced a shock yet and not really looking forward to the experience, but the alternative isn't very appealing either.

 

[ivinsfan]

So last week I was lining out what we wanted done to some cleaners at the house we were readying for sale. Then I opened my eyes and was laying on my back on the garage floor. The cleaners asked if I did that often.. They drove me home (limpiadores Uber service!) and I sent a transmission to the heart clinic. Next morning I got a call saying that they could see why I passed out - apparently 200 bpm humming bird heart upper heart chambers don't transfer blood to the lower ventricles. They bumped up my metoprolol dose and I'll see various heart people next week. Kinda scary

So are you cleared for driving right now, or a you in a holding pattern until your bigger dose of meds kick in. I've heard different
stories about driving after your ACID administers a shock...

 

[calmloki]

AICD hasn't shocked me ever. Nurse suggested no driving for maybe 3 months as a standard, I've held off and the gal has been duty driver. Not fun. We have things to do. OTOH, I don't want to flop while she is a passenger, and to a lesser extent I've no desire to put others at risk, so I've only done one short low speed drive to the store, solitary. Will discuss with the AICD nurse and cardiologist next Tuesday & Thursday.