Hi, Last week my husband went to the dr. for a routine checkup to get refills for his asthma puffers. While there, the nurse practitioner that saw him noticed an "irregular heartbeat" and sent him for an ECG. He did that, and a few days later got a message from the nurse at the drs office saying that they are referring him to a cardiologist and suspect he has atrial fibrillation. He is 52. Now we are waiting. They told him to start taking the low dose aspirin in the meantime, daily. I am terrified. I have been googling, I am so scared that he is going to have a stroke or die. I have listened to his pulse...it isn't fast, it just seems that some beats are completely missing, like there is double silent time in between some beats. He told me that he had noticed it in the past after exercising and assumed that he had made a mistake when trying to listen....I asked him when that was, and he said about a year ago!!! We are waiting now, to see the cardiologist. We have 2 kids, ages 8 & 11....I am terrified we are going to lose him.
Ever since I experienced heart arrythmias due to side effects of drugs many years ago I have been using heart rhythm and rate monitors to find out exactly what was going on with my heart. I was never told of the details of my ecgs as the time.
Having recently experienced nightly difficulty in breathing and admitted to a cardiac ward after visiting A&E I was diagnosed with atrial flutter which after a week resolved into atrial fibrillation and I was discharged pending cardioversion.
I felt quite normal and made detailed studies of my own heart rate and rhythm during recovery to normal sinus rhythm.
I was amazed to find out the differences of opinion between medical professionals on the traces I produced. I was also amazed at how many people seem to live with atrial fibrillation and suspect that I may have been living with a variety of it for many years.
I suspect that atrial fibrillation is potentially a phenomenon of as yet undiscovered significance which people are likely to have been living with for decades.
HI Bob, so then maybe I am worrying prematurely? He is going for a chest xray on thursday, getting one of those Halsters that he will wear for 2 days to record beats (on Friday) and is seeing the cardiologist on April 8th and also getting an echocardiogram that day.....My kids and I are supposed to be going away for 7 nights on March 30th...I am afraid to leave him....I hate google, it only causes me grief, not relief.
Hi Carolyn,
Yes, I'm afraid Googling things can raise many ungrounded fears from peoples' experiences. One of the problems with medical examinations is that medical professionals must report conditions they find even when testing for some other conditions.
One aspect of atrial fibrillation diagnosis I've noticed is that more often than not the condition resolves itself in about 24 hours. The investigations your husband has been referred for are what I would expect and quite often they are not serious enough to involved hospital treatment. If is actually diagnosed as atrial fibrillation then the condition must have been observed continously for 48 hours to require timely treatment.
Often irregular rhythms are exascebated by stress which may be more significant if your husband has asthma.
I know it is easy to say but I think you should be assured that your husband is getting the right diagnostic tests so try not to worry.
P.S. My body sorted itself out during atrial fibrillation and I went into sinus rhythm before requiring cardioversion (if you've got as far as that on Google)
All the best,
Bob
AF does not kill you as millions of us live with it. My doctors father had it and he was 93 when he died recently. There are actually several Olympic champions with it.
The stroke risk is actually quite low unless you have other factors to take in.
Google CHADS2 and work out his risk factors
Another trigger can be your digestive system if you suffer from GERD or bloating it can affect your vagal nerve,
Thanks Derek
Thanks Bob
The brother of someone I know had the routine scan that over 65's get and was told that his was 6.0. Called back to the hospital it was just over 3.0.
Hola Carolyn, como una persona que tiene arritmia intermitente (además de otras cosas) y entrenadora de atletismo, diría que no dejes que domine tu vida, pero sí planifica para trabajar y vivir con ello. Sí, puede ser aterrador, pero con un poco de planificación y reflexión es fácil de vivir. Sí, es un riesgo, pero es un riesgo para las personas que no hacen ningún esfuerzo por planificar y ser un poco más sensatas con su forma de vivir. Planificamos cuando salimos, llevamos agua extra, nos aseguramos de tener Flecainida en el bolsillo, aspirina soluble... y eso es todo... puedes vivir hasta la vejez con ello.... pero se trata de cómo lo manejas, preocuparte, por supuesto, solo empeorará las cosas para ambos. Así que sí, acéptalo y planifica con ello... y escucha lo que aconsejan los consultores, y sobre todo, siempre haz preguntas, nunca tengas miedo de preguntar y si no entiendes la respuesta, dilo.... aparte de eso... sé positivo y trata de no preocuparte.... ya sabes de ello y eso en sí es un gran paso... son las personas que no saben que lo tienen las que tienen los peores problemas...
Puedo entender su preocupación, sin embargo, si hubiera habido alguna preocupación importante o necesidad de intervención médica, lo habrían enviado al hospital de inmediato. Suena como si hubieran tomado medidas muy apropiadas para resolver el problema y es mejor tener una imagen completa de las pruebas antes de comenzar con muchos medicamentos sin necesidad. Es un problema que necesita monitoreo y no debería ser tan amenazante para la vida como un ataque al corazón. Es sorprendentemente común también y muchas personas lo tienen. Muchas personas tienen desencadenantes de ejercicio/comida/bebida, así que todo con moderación mientras espera su cita. (y después, por supuesto) Buscar en línea es un poco de doble filo - un poco de preocupación cuando algo es nuevo, pero un poco de consuelo cuando tienes los mismos síntomas que muchas otras personas, pero cuando visitas al médico de cabecera casi sientes que eres el único.
True Kate, thanks for that. He has obviously been living with it for a while if he noticed it last year.....Hopefully we know exactly what is going on after the 8th.....
Thanks Andrew. Im glad I posted here. Google is suh a worry nightmare for me! He is such a calm and chill guy, I'm surprised it is him and not me! He does have a family history of heart issues, and I guess that's why I am in a panick. He is a acountant and is currently deep in the middleof busiest most stessful season (Jan-April 30)...couldn't have come up at a worse time. WIll be happy when we know more. I am trying to show zero stress in front of him...
Háganos saber cómo le va y disfruten de sus vacaciones.
Mi esposo fue a un chequeo de rutina hace 5 años a los 44 años y fue derivado a un cardiólogo. Le diagnosticaron miocardiopatía. Fue la noticia más aterradora. No entres en internet. Hay demasiada información falsa. Él está bien 5 años después con una excelente atención médica. Pero ahora también tiene fibrilación auricular. Nuestra vida es muy diferente ahora, pero también hay más aprecio por cada día. He aprendido mucho sobre la fibrilación auricular. Afecta a muchas personas, incluso a personas con corazones sanos. La buena noticia es que va a un especialista, sabe que algo está mal y ahora se puede abordar. ¡Mantén una actitud positiva!
Thanks Kelley, yes so scary. Glad yours is doing well. I am not Googling ever again! I think I am most stressed bc we are going away and I dont want to leave him but I dont know that there is anything i can do and i dont want to scare the kids,which i would do if i cancelled....i just feel so helpless.....And I guess (like was said above) if it was super bad they would have sent him to the hospital immediately.
Just to defend the internet and Google, I was able to find the best recording pulse oximeter that confirmed to me that the intolerable symptoms I was experiencing on two occasions demanded urgent treatment.
On the second occasion I monitored my pulse rate at a constant unchanging 163 pulses per minute for over 24 hrs and yet had daytime blood oxygen saturation above the critical limit of 88%. An internet search strongly suggested I had supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) and my wife drove me to A&E where I waited for examination in triage.
The doctor took an ecg and declared I did indeed have SVT and was immediatedly wheeled through on a chair to resuscitation.
My wife had thought that I should have made an appointment with my GP but I trusted my body, my trusty pulse oximeter and an internet search.
This is me using it:
Hay muchos tratamientos diferentes. He probado algunos de ellos...aún sigo aquí después de muchos años. Es aterrador, pero la gente vive con ello durante mucho tiempo. Obtén toda la información que puedas y sigue adelante. Muchas drogas, anticoagulantes...procedimientos...Individual, no hay dos personas iguales. ¡Buena suerte!
My heart rate was in the mid 40's for years and I had 3.5 second gaps between some beats but many people have longer ones.
Were you on a monitor during any of your 3.5 second gaps between beats?
I understand that no electrical heart activity for four seconds may be reported by an ecg monitor as a cardiac arrest. I've been trying to fathom out why my cardiac monitor alarm went off whilst asleep on the cardiac ward and woke me up.