im confused

hi every one ,well im so confused ,we had a call of our gp saying he wants to see hubby regarding a letter he had from the cardiologest at hospital ,they now want him to start taking beta blockers ,he has a pm ddd st judes and a merchanical mitral valve ,and at the pm check up they said all was fine apart from a few bursts of af ,.why do they put you on beta blocker ?he had pm fitted because his heart beat was very very low .with missed beats and af im so confused as his heart beat now is good with pm can any one tell me why he may need beta blockers he has said that when he does somthing strenuios he can feel his heart go a bit quick maybe this is why ?

2 Comments

beta-blockers

by ShadowWeaver - 2009-04-27 07:04:18

are used a lot with A-Fib cases to help slow the heart beat down and stop the A-Fib. A-Fib has the chance of causing blood clots to form which can break free and cause a stroke. By using the beta-blockers they are hoping to stop the A-Fib altogether and thereby eliminate that possibility.

Michael

Confused-afib-bb

by Vai - 2009-04-27 12:04:22

There are several similar discussions of this problem and you can search out the topics. This is my sharing of lessons learned.
1. The PM helps him with the slow heart beats and missed beats. It does not help him with the burst of af.
2. AF by itself is not a fatal condition. There are 2 issues to contend with:
(a) In pronounced situations, AF can be quite debilitating with severe symptoms like shortness of breath etc.
(b) In prolonged situations AF can potentially result in blood pooling/clotting in the heart chambers leading to a stroke.
3. AF is generally managed by beta blockers (or other ablation procedures). Apparently the cardio has recommended the BB option for him.
4. The beta-blockers slows down the heart and reduces the probability of the "burst" of AF. Usually the medication will include a blood thinner. Sometimes this is aspirin (mine is) but in many other experiences shared on this site the blood thinner prescribed was coumadin (or warfarin).
5. So you have a dual condition - a PM to support the slow heart rate; and BB medication to inhibit the occasional burst of AF (fast heart rate).

You mentioned that his rate goes up when he engages in some strenuous activity. This could be a different matter from the above. 2 thoughts to consider
1. He could be very used to his slow heart rate. With the PM he is probably set at 60 BPM. When he exercises his natural heart rate goes up and he feels uncomfortable just because he is not used to it.
2. The rate response feature on his PM could have been turned on. When the PM senses the activity, the PM increases the heart rate to correspond with the level of activity. This could be why he is feeling the heart beat quicker.
Personally my PM is set at 60BPM and I have my rate response turned OFF. When I exercised my natural heart rate will respond to about max 100 BPM no matter how hard I pushed (could be due to the BB). However I have to be in control as sometimes I could inadvertently trigger an AFIB episode when I pushed hard. Then end of exercise.

I trust this helps.




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