Chronic A Fib

[loretta]

I Haven't been on line for quite awhile,had some health problems. Subdural hematoma for one. Thats fine now. Still not sure what caused it. Had to have at least 4 MRI's, and probably 4 or 5 ct scans.
My blood pressure has gone up so Cardiio dr. put me on Altace, I go into A Fib more often lately & cardio dr. says I will probably some day be in it 23/7.
Which ofcourse I am dreading. He recentlly told me we will have a talk, & try to control the A Fib. I see him next week, what I don't undrstand is Isn't he trying to control it now ? I take digoxin once a day, & Sotalol 3 times a day
40mg in AM 40 mg. around 3 pM & 80 mg. at 9 PM.
Don't know why they didn't do the ablation during my valve replacement
12/9/03. My cardio dr. & my Pulmonary dr. want meto do exercise, I'm afraid to do to much (I walk slow & go on the tread mill very slow) nervous of going into A Fib. Any one have this A fib like this &what haave you found helps the most & what meds. thanks loretta

 

[Nancy]

My husband has been in chronic afib/flutter for years and years. The only thing that they have given him for it is Digoxin, and he was already on Coumadin. He sometimes converts back to normal rhythm. Unfortunately, at this point he is not a candidate for anything invasive, and all the other meds that are used for afib don't work with his other meds.

So, he just goes on with it.

Some of his doctors have mentioned ablation, then his main card. nixxed it.

 

[loretta]

A Fib

A Fib

Nancy, thank yu for answering so soon. Is the digoxin the only med, he takes ( besides coumadin) for the A Fib? I have been on several different medicines my caradio has tried a lot of them. Loret

 

[Nancy]

At the moment, Joe takes Digoxin three times per week. He had been on ProCardia, but it was causing more congestive heart failure symptoms, so that was eliminated.

He is, of course, on many others medications.

Sometimes he is in afib, sometimes in aflutter, sometimes just ordinary tachycardia, and sometimes in normal sinus rhythm.

He does have a pacemaker to guard against bradycardia.

So I guess you could say there is nothing normal about his heart.

He does have symptoms such as breathlessness and fatigue. But none of his doctors can cite one particular problem that is causing that, since he has so many cardiac and pulmonary problems. It's probably a combination of them all.

 

[Cooker]

Hi Loretta,

I had that same problem. I had the ablation along with my AVR and it now seems to be working. I am also taking Amiodarone which the dose has been cut in half (400mg to 200mg) and if I don't have any flare ups in the next two months I will be taken off of it completely. It's a nasty drug. It will take some time to get it out of my system but I hope no return to a-fib.

Things are going so well, feeling great, INR stable etc. I just want off this drug. Not recommending it just sharing my course of treatment.

 

[Mb]

Loretta:

My husband has chronic a-fib, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He has been in chronic a-fib for at least 5 years that we know of.

He has bradycardia, tachycardia, and heart rate pauses.

He takes atenenol, and digoxin, along with lasix, etc.


Lately he has been having long bradycardia episodes, and he will be getting a pacemaker installed soon. They have to pace only his left ventricle through the conornary sinus vein, as they cannot place the lead through the right side of his heart due to severe tricuspid regurgitation.

All that being said, he has obviously lived with the chronic a-fib. He does tire very easily. And, he seems to have a bigger issue when using the upper torso to do anything (heart rate goes very very fast).

Wishing you the best.

Marybeth

 

[geebee]

Have been in chronic A-Fib for about 2 years. Usually don't feel it anymore except when I do aerobic-type exercise. Weight training and Pilates do not bother me. Digoxin stopped working for me so, since I don't feel the fib, I am just on coumadin. I also take inderal, lasix and potassium. I guess as we get older, we just tend to take things in stride. I am just happy to still be on this earth.

 

[Bart in Georgia]

Chronic A-Fib

Chronic A-Fib

Hi Loretta....my husband Bart is currently in A-flutter. He had a minimally invasive mech. mitral valve replacement and ablation maze in August of 2005 and then the mech. valve had to be replaced in Feburary of 2006. Between August and Feb. the ablation maze held. Since Feb. though, he has been either in A-fib or A-flutter. They did a cardioconvert in March and he was in sinus rhythm for about a month. He's been on amiodarone (400 mg) since his second valve replacement and then Toprol XL (25 then 50 then 100 mg) was added during the past month. The meds have slowed his heartbeat but just minimally. He is scheduled for another cardioconvert on Monday of next week. After reading some of the posts, it sounds like A-fib/flutter is a common problem.

Pat

 

[Sandy SHields]

Sandy

Sandy

I Haven't been on line for quite awhile,had some health problems. Subdural hematoma for one. Thats fine now. Still not sure what caused it. Had to have at least 4 MRI's, and probably 4 or 5 ct scans.
My blood pressure has gone up so Cardiio dr. put me on Altace, I go into A Fib more often lately & cardio dr. says I will probably some day be in it 23/7.
Which ofcourse I am dreading. He recentlly told me we will have a talk, & try to control the A Fib. I see him next week, what I don't undrstand is Isn't he trying to control it now ? I take digoxin once a day, & Sotalol 3 times a day
40mg in AM 40 mg. around 3 pM & 80 mg. at 9 PM.
Don't know why they didn't do the ablation during my valve replacement
12/9/03. My cardio dr. & my Pulmonary dr. want meto do exercise, I'm afraid to do to much (I walk slow & go on the tread mill very slow) nervous of going into A Fib. Any one have this A fib like this &what haave you found helps the most & what meds. thanks loretta

Hi Loretta
Sorry to hear about your problems. I had mitral valve replacement in 1983. Everything has been fine until oct. of last year when I went into afib. I had to be cardioverted and i was put on sotolol 40mg twice then they had to increase it to 80mg twice a day I went to afib again then I was put on Rythmol 375mg twice then up to 475mg twice a day after being caardioverted again. this has worked now for a month. It leaves a bad taste in my mouth and i feel tired a lot but it seems you have to deal with the side effects. These arrthymia drugs are more fatal then afib it's self.
When are you going in for surgery?

 

[traumahob]

Hi Loretta,

I had that same problem. I had the ablation along with my AVR and it now seems to be working. I am also taking Amiodarone which the dose has been cut in half (400mg to 200mg) and if I don't have any flare ups in the next two months I will be taken off of it completely. It's a nasty drug. It will take some time to get it out of my system but I hope no return to a-fib.

Things are going so well, feeling great, INR stable etc. I just want off this drug. Not recommending it just sharing my course of treatment.

Please make sure that when taking Amioderone and Coumadin that your PT /INR is frequntly monitored. The Amioderone potentiates the Coumadin and can cause rapid spikes in the levels. In my husband this combination contributed to a severe pericardial effusion, so PLEASE make sure your levels are frequently monitored. Best Wishes.,Deb

 

[Cooker]

Please make sure that when taking Amioderone and Coumadin that your PT /INR is frequntly monitored. The Amioderone potentiates the Coumadin and can cause rapid spikes in the levels. In my husband this combination contributed to a severe pericardial effusion, so PLEASE make sure your levels are frequently monitored. Best Wishes.,Deb

Thanks Deb. I am on a low dose (200mg) per day and will be taken off in August if no fib or flutter between now and then. I get checked every month and my INR has been 2.5-2.6 for the last three months. Do you think I need to test more often.

Thanks,