Afib

Hi all,
I have not been feeling 100% since I had my pm untangled and a new lead put in, the procedure itself was no problem in fact I had a bit of a snooze during it. I have been feeling tired and short of breath at times. At my pm check last week they said I had been in afib for the last 6 weeks, at times I knew I was and at others I didn't. I know there are a lot of you out there who live with afib constantly so looking for some advice as to how I manage my life. I still go walking and out and about, but some days I have to have a day doing little. Best wishes to you all.

2 Comments

Thanks Angry Sparrow

by jane32 - 2015-07-03 09:07:08

My pm technicians also said I am not pacing much at all as the pm can't pick up the beat when I am in afib. I am a non drinker and also don't drink coffee because it affects my migranes. I will see if diet makes a difference.

Cheers Jane

Wrong grandparents

by Theknotguy - 2015-07-04 09:07:49

Sometimes the answer to the afib question is - your grandparents swam in the wrong gene pool. i.e. heredity. So there isn't too much you can do about it.

We've never been able to figure out what triggers my afib. However, being on the forum, I've been able to point to caffeine and dark chocolate as foods that might trigger afib sessions. Like sparrow, I can have them but not in great quantities. And sometimes the reaction is delayed. Had chocolate cake on Sunday, went into afib Monday afternoon. Was it the chocolate cake? Was it something else?

The only other thing I can suggest is keeping a log and see if a pattern emerges. I'm one of those rare people who can feel my afib so I know right away when I go into it. If you can't feel yours, it will be much harder to track you afib sessions. But a log might show a pattern.

Medications that slow my heartbeat have helped. Mainly they have kept my afib sessions from running so fast they would kill me. Another thing that has helped is a magnesium supplement, but you have to be real careful in taking that. It can be too much of a good thing and can cause more problems than it solves.

I have a Medtronic surescan. It has a program called APP (Atrial Preference Pacing) which can be turned on. I had APP turned on at the five month mark. My EP said he didn't know if it would help but it probably wouldn't hurt so he turned it on.

As I understand it, APP when it senses an afib session, initiates a faster heartbeat response. Supposedly your heart can't stay in afib and go at a faster rate. All I know was it felt like I had three heartbeats going at one time. Over the course of a year it reduced my afib sessions by 7%. Which doesn't sound like much, but when I was getting an afib flutter once a day it sure felt nice not to have that flutter as much. I'm sure there's been more reduction to my afib sessions but I don't have the statistical printouts to show it.

I can tell when I'm going to go into a full blown afib session now. APP sees the rhythm that is the start of an afib session and kicks my heart rate into a faster beat. My body's response is to get very warm and, in some cases, start to sweat. Once the afib session starts, it isn't as intense nor does it last as long.

The good news is APP works for me. The bad news is APP might not work for you and you may have one of the Medtronic models that doesn't have APP. But it's a question to ask.

At present the only other option for afib is ablation. Depending upon the type of afib you have, ablation can offer everything to a complete cure to being worse off than you are now.

The final hope is for medical science to have a breakthrough. Prior to when I got my PM, chemical ablation (medication) and ablation was the only solution. The APP software program has offered some help and that was a breakthrough just after I got my PM. After that we can only hope for good news in the future.

Oh, and one other thing. You indicate in your bio you like to take photographs. I was taught to hold my breath when taking a picture to reduce camera shake. Spent most of one day taking pictures which meant I was holding my breath off and on for most of the day. That triggered an afib session the following day. So afib sessions may have something to do with problems with the vasovagal nervous system.

Anyway, hope you can find something that may help from my ramblings. Hope things go well for you on the southern side of the globe.

You know you're wired when...

You trust technology more than your heart.

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