Thank you for the prayers, Denise , Honey, and Joe ! Denise, I have had atrial fibrillation for over 15 years, and I think it was caused from a bad car accident; but I really do not know what caused it. I had no insurance, and no way to have it treated, and over the years, it wore my heart down to where I now also have congestive heart failure, and a leaking mitral valve. I have had that for many years, too. My heart rhythm pulse was up almost to 150 when I went to the ER last month, and my BP was way up also. Now, it has not been that high, but over 125, which is not good. So, mine is doing almost the opposite of what your heart does, Denise, since mine races, and yours beats too slow. Two years ago, my heart was only working at 23%EF, and I could barely move around and never had enough oxygen to have a clear head. Because I then had Medicare Advantage, I was able to have the heart procedure which stopped the a-fib, and for the last two years, the heart has had a good steady rhythm, and even the heart failure has improved with exercise and diet. I have no idea what made it go back out of rhythm in November; and hoped that it would be fine again once they shocked it back into rhythm; but that has not worked, and it is just beating erratically, sometimes at a normal speed, and sometimes racing along. Since it could not be controlled with medicine before, it seems like that is not likely to work now either, although I will know more after i have seen my cardiologist tomorrow . It normally takes several months to get an appointment with this doctor; so being able to go in by tomorrow is actually pretty fast. It sounds like you were very fortunate to have been able to find such a renowned heart doctor, @Ren Tanner , and it is great that he was able to take care of your a-fib issues with no problems recurring afterwards. Possibly, if mine had not just deteriorated untreated for all of those years, they could have stopped it much better if I had been able to see a doctor when it was first diagnosed.
I'm praying for you @Yvonne Smith with all my heart and being. I'll holler about you not saying anything before hand later. Stay calm and let Bobby do the worrying right now. I'll catch up with you tomorrow after you know more. Me to you, my friend.
Thank you for the prayers, Ina, and either myself or Bobby will update you as soon as we know more after seeing the doctor tomorrow. Since it is the holiday season, I don't expect them to actually do much until in January; but you never know, it might be sooner. I am doing okay, at least as well as can be expected, and since I had this for many years before the operation, and survived, I am sure that I will be fine this time, too. It is just disappointing to be doing so well and then have it all come crashing down suddenly. Ina, I know that you are struggling your way through life right now, too, and the last thing I want to do is to add any more worry and stress into your life. So....hugs and prayers back at you, too, my beloved friend ! !
Ok, it all came back to me now. I'm sorry I don't keep better track of things like this. I saw the thread pop up today, and I just couldn't remember everything about your condition. Thanks for the refresher on it. Like I said, I will be praying @Yvonne Smith especially for your appt tomorrow that you can get some answers quickly, and into some solutions. Let us know when you feel up to it again, how everything goes tomorrow, denise
Yes, but I think that it was more of a sudden uncomfortable sensation than what we generally think of as pain. However, for atrial fibrillation, I doubt you would get an internal defibrillator. This man was prone to ventricular tachycardia, which is a far more dire condition than atrial fibrillation, which is not to minimize the seriousness of any kind of heart condition. But with V-tach, his heart wouldn't even produce a pulse, so the shock was necessary.
So sorry to hear you are having problems with your heart again @Yvonne Smith and I pray that when you see your Cardiologist today the news will be good and the solution will be simple. Praying for you and Bobby that all will work out well.
After you wrote this, that term seemed familiar,@Ken Anderson; so I got out the last set of papers they gave me and checked. I do also have something called "paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia", so that might be the same thing as you are referring to. I hate electrical shocks; so I am sincerely hoping that having to wear an implanted device that shocks me is not one of the options. I really do not want to go back in for another convergent ablation heart procedure; but even so, I think that would be preferable to wearing a "shock collar" that zapped me if i got upset about something. We are headed for the doctor's office within the hour, so I should have some answers by this afternoon, hopefully. Here is my list that shows the heart issues, and since you were a paramedic, it should make more sense to you than me just trying to explain what it is.
I'm praying for you, Yvonne. The internal pacemaker that I referred to was more than twenty years ago so it's likely there are more comfortable alternatives today.
Well, we have a plan of action to treat the fibrillations. First, my doctor put me back on amioderone, which is a medicine that helps keep a heart in rhythm. He said this might be all it takes to get it working right; but next week, I go back for another EKG and if it is still in a-fib, then I will have to be hospitalized (probably outpatient, not overnight) and have it shocked back into rhythm. Robin is going to take us, just in case i do end up having to go to the hospital. Then, the amioderone should have built up in my system, and will keep the heart working right. I also have an appointment with the specialist who did the operation, who is an electrophysiologist and specializes in the electric currents of the heart. If nothing else works, then it is possible that they will perform another ablation procedure; but hopefully, it will not need that again. When they did the EKG, my heart was beating at about 150, but the nurse said there were jumps up as high as 170; so my cardiologist almost sent me straight to the hospital today. It seems like my pulse is already doing better after just taking the first dose of the amidiodorone, so if all goes well, maybe this will not be a hard fix after all. I am looking forward to going back to the fitness center, and have missed being able to swim this week. The good news is that they said my heart is actually doing much better, aside from the fibrillations, and I basically am not having congestive heart failure; so all of that careful diet and exercise has helped things a whole lot.
I'm glad you are sticking with the exercise, and nutrition stuff Yvonne. I believe even if we still have issues, we'd be worse off if we weren't trying to do the right things for our bods That must be such a strange feeling (frightening I should say) when you are just sitting or not purposely getting your heart rate up to burn cals etc., and it just speeds up like that I'll be praying for you too. I'm glad you have Robin, and your Bobby there with you. And many of us here are definitely with you in Spirit big hugs, and keep us posted when you are up to it denise
As one so fortunate as to have reached nearly 75 without heart problems, I have always tried to imagine what it is like, to feel a heart attack, for example, and the extreme fear it must instill. Our friend Gary, spending the winter here in AZ from IN, called out to his wife about 10 years ago in the night, that he was having a heart attack. She drove him to ER, they wound up inserting a stent. He told us, he had no doubt, when it happened, as to what exactly was wrong. Brave man, big guy in stature, too, 6'-4", but overweight (who isn't?), he has dropped 25 lbs. since last year. In my own case, neither my Mother nor my Dad had any heart problems, though he developed a Parkinson's-like disease at about 65, and it killed him by 70. My Mother died at 79, hemorrhaging internally from cause unknown, suddenly in her apartment, 1/2 mile from my sister's house. My sister failed to respond to my Mother's phone call for help, telling me after the fact that it was "dark outside"......love a sister too drunk to come to her mother's aid.... I was 2000 miles away, unaware of any problem until too late. So, it appears something other than heart trouble will wind up croaking me. Ain't afraid, but also ain't ready to go yet. So much left to do....... Frankl
@Yvonne Smith Yvonne, (pssst.....), only you will be cognizant, yer much too young at, what, 71 ?, to no longer be a confidante! Get well, hoping things improve for you, your poor heart needs to slow down..... Frank