Author Topic: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation  (Read 9567 times)

Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #25 on: 22 March, 2015, 01:08:52 pm »
I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation in September last year after struggling while cycletouring being breathless, tired and dehydrated. I was given amioderan, bisopralol and xarelto. The symptoms became worse for me (I never noticed palpitations or an irregular heart rhythm), since I became even more zombie like. The generaliste (I live in France) said ah yes, that will be the bisoprolol, take half the quantity. It did improve. In December they gave me a cardioversion (electric shock) which shocks the heart into working properly which it did. After another month the cardiologue changed the pills for diazeltem, flecainade and to continue with xarelto. I did a stress test two weeks ago and it still seems to be in order. She did say to continue to take the pîlls until further notice. I don't like taking pills and there were a few side effects in that when I bend down and then stand up I feel dizzy. Here they seem to prescribe xarelto (I think the generic name is rivaroxbaran) rather than warfarin as an anticoagulant. It doesn't have to be monitored in the same way as warfarin and is supposed to be slightly more effective. I haven't noticed any side effects and don't seem to have any problems with bleeding when I nick myself.
Have you considered ) (or is it an option) to go to Bourdeaux, it is a centre of international excellence for Afib.  BTW I am in NSR again now Les
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #26 on: 22 March, 2015, 01:25:26 pm »
No idea. I'll think about that when I next see the cardiologue or have problems. At the moment it seems to be behaving itself.

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #27 on: 05 April, 2015, 09:59:25 pm »
All interesting stuff to a fellow sufferer, but can anyone elaborate on whether AF might be caused BY other heart conditions, or if AF causes other heart conditions?

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #28 on: 05 April, 2015, 10:12:07 pm »
We learnt long lists of causes of AF.
Commonest were
Ischaemic heart disease
Rheumatic heart disease
Thyrotoxicosis
'Idiopathic' ie no known cause.
Age is often a factor

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #29 on: 06 April, 2015, 07:54:02 am »
Add to that:
Major surgery
Critical illness

In my line of work, I see a lot of elderly (and not so elderly) people develop AF 2-3 days after one of the above. Often settles down after a week or so but not always.
I am often asked, what does YOAV stand for? It stands for Yoav On A Velo

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #30 on: 06 April, 2015, 08:37:23 am »
Could AF also be caused by a minor heart attack? I seem to remember reading that a large percentage of marathon runners subjected to a scan showed evidence of heart damage, even though they were still very fit and unaware of any problem. Presumably the same would be true for other types of athletes?

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #31 on: 06 April, 2015, 11:07:27 am »
Add to that:
Major surgery
Critical illness

In my line of work, I see a lot of elderly (and not so elderly) people develop AF 2-3 days after one of the above. Often settles down after a week or so but not always.

Now you remind me of the post-op thoracotomy patients I treated as a locum house surgeon a very long time ago...

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #32 on: 06 April, 2015, 11:08:44 am »
Could AF also be caused by a minor heart attack? I seem to remember reading that a large percentage of marathon runners subjected to a scan showed evidence of heart damage, even though they were still very fit and unaware of any problem. Presumably the same would be true for other types of athletes?

It can.

Ruthie

  • Her Majester
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #33 on: 06 April, 2015, 01:18:49 pm »
Add to that:
Major surgery
Critical illness

In my line of work, I see a lot of elderly (and not so elderly) people develop AF 2-3 days after one of the above. Often settles down after a week or so but not always.

Now you remind me of the post-op thoracotomy patients I treated as a locum house surgeon a very long time ago...

Yeah, post op thoracotomy patients  ::-)
Milk please, no sugar.

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #34 on: 06 April, 2015, 03:08:23 pm »
my cardiologue said it was very common among endurance athletes.

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #35 on: 06 April, 2015, 08:14:59 pm »
my cardiologue said it was very common among endurance athletes.

The enlarged heart (as a result of being very fit) can disrupt the conducting mechanism of the heart. Add to that a slow heart rate (again, from being fit) and AF, usually intermittent, can result.
I am often asked, what does YOAV stand for? It stands for Yoav On A Velo

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #36 on: 06 April, 2015, 08:48:39 pm »
Remembered this from CW:

http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/fitness/training/getting-heart-matter-129091

Just so happens a couple of elderly cyclists I know who were very fit, trained very hard and got good results, are now subject to this phenomenon.

Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #37 on: 08 April, 2015, 07:27:50 am »
I think there is a well established link.  My personal difficulty is that I show all the signs of athletic disorders without actually being remotely athletic.  A lot of the evidence about this is focussed on those who compete at a level well above mine e.g. cyclists in the Peleton or Iron Man tri-athletes.  Often this comes from an era when taking a complex cocktail of drugs to support performance was common.  Athletes tend to get vagal AF and you can sometimes convert this to NSR by holding your breath and pushing down as it were.  Af takes people in different ways but I find I responds well to Beta blockers apart from he fact that it can f drop my heart rate below 40 bpm.  However it works on rides quite well : keeps a lid on my HR (makes me very full value) and gives a more regular rhythm by removing ectopics.  This lead me to believe that it is my autonomic (sympathetic) nervous system that is adrift.  I a going to have an ablation at the royal Brompton that includes an attempt to deal with this on top of the PVI.
Les
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #38 on: 23 June, 2015, 06:28:44 am »
I am now a few days post ablation.  There is a 6 to 12 week period while the heart heals before you really know what the outcome is.  It was more complicated than expected with RA involved as well as LA.  I went down to the lab at 3 next thing I remembered it was 1 in the morning so this was a long procedure even allowing for faffing before and afterwards. 
I am off the bike altogether for the next 10 days.  No long rides until September.  HR is more regular than it has been in 20 years but still in a pretty weakened state from last Thursday.
Les
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #39 on: 24 January, 2016, 12:20:40 am »
Sorry to reinstate this thread after so long. I even contributed to it myself a couple of years ago after my first bout of AFib.

I'd gone well with no repeat until New Years Eve when after a session on the rollers I felt faint and dizzy. I spent 8 hours the following day in casualty and since then have seen my GP, my cardio specialist and have had a cardioversion on Thursday which went well until today when I realised that I'd gone irregular again.

The cardio specialist (when I had the CV) has recommended that I go in for an ablation, he doesn't know yet that I've gone back into Afib.
I'm a bit worried about the op and am annoyed that it's going to mean another six weeks feeling cr@p and not doing any training.

Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #40 on: 24 January, 2016, 06:58:06 am »
Hi

Ablation really works, or has in my case.  Even when I felt really bad it was better than when I was in Afib.
1.  Who does it is really important, you are best off with someone who specialises (pm for what I know about that.
2.  Recovery varies, I have or had a severely enlarged left atrium and also a complication in recovery.
3.  It is the entry wounds that take you off the bike, they are not big but with thinned blood and an unfortunate position for a saddle you have to come off the bike
4.  You can do other training but it would be gradual.  I was completely detrained and put on weight.
5.  Looks like my fix worked first time: I like the (experimental) procedure used since it minimised scars and fibrosis inside my heart.

I am not sure if you have had an ablation before...I am very happy to chat about it.  You can get a gizmo that works with your mobile phone to keep track of your afib.

SHort advice choose and see an experienced and eminent Electro Physiologist ASAP.  With luck you will be back and fully fit by the SUmmer. 
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #41 on: 24 January, 2016, 09:59:15 am »
Thanks Cycling Daddy. It's good to hear from somebody who's been through it.

I've not been able to speak to my cardio specialist yet to tell him that I've gone back into AFib, but hope to do that tomorrow. I was speaking on Thursday with the Electro Physiologist who will do the op, my cardio specialist reckons he's the best in Ireland so will probably go with him. He said that he wanted to leave it 6 weeks after the CV to allow everything to settle.

The only question I do have for them is that the way the procedure was described by the cardio guy was different to the EP guy. The cardio specialist talked about three catheters, one going into each of the left and right atria and one in one of the ventricles. The EP guy talked about one catheter passing from the right ventricle up through the right atrium and through the wall of the heart in to the left atrium. I realise that there's different techniques and that this procedure is still developing, but I'm a bit worried about something going through the wall of my heart.....


Cycling Daddy

  • "We shall have an adventure by and by," said Don Q
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #42 on: 24 January, 2016, 01:06:08 pm »
Ah wondered where you were located.  Get the Ep to explain...there are fi different routes.  L
Too much sanity may be madness. And maddest of all, to see life as it is and not as it should be.”
― Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Don Quixote

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #43 on: 02 August, 2017, 11:13:12 am »
Another thread revival.

I've been in Afib for almost a week now. I was first aware of something not quite right 6 days ago whilst running a 3 km lap of our local park, much slower pace than normal with unusual breathless and slow recovery after returning home. The same experience the following day and I found it difficult to track my pulse on wrist during the day and Polar HR monitor showed high and erratic readings. The following day (Saturday - LEL registration day) I tried a little run but experienced the same symptoms and quickly realised that I should DNS LEL and get a medical check. I'd not had any palpitations or chest pains.

After calling 111 I was advised to attend the emergency treatment centre at Ealing hospital within an hour. I was seen quickly and given an ECG which indicated the Afib. Anti-coagulation and heart rate control medication was given and I was to stay in for observation. I felt comfortable throughout this period. I had an echocardiogram on Monday which clearly showed the left atrial fibrillation - I found this a very emotional moment as the potential implications on my running/cycling activities struck home.

I'm now taking Rivaroxaban anti-coag and Bisoprolol rate control medication with a cardioversion scheduled in 6 weeks time. I'll aim to get out for a daily walk but anything more strenuous is unwise I think. The immediate disappointment of not riding LEL and curtailing the planned September tour in France is tough at the moment. I hope to get some positivity over the next few days.

Edit 21/9/17: I had a cardioversion yesterday which has restored my normal heart rhythm. I plan to continue with walking and easy short cycling (no hills) and begin some easy running soon. Feeling much better without the Afib.

T42

  • Apprentice geezer
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #44 on: 02 August, 2017, 12:46:42 pm »
Sympathies for LEL and good luck with the cardioversion.  Shame it's so far in the future, though.
I've dusted off all those old bottles and set them up straight

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #45 on: 02 August, 2017, 01:00:36 pm »
Sympathies. There are several members of this parish so afflicted so you're not at all alone.
Not sure if this is helpful to someone who has had to cancel his summer thobut...
Hope you're sorted soon!

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #46 on: 02 August, 2017, 01:35:00 pm »
Sympathies for LEL and good luck with the cardioversion.  Shame it's so far in the future, though.

It needs to be to allow an adequate period of thrombo-prophylaxis when AF has been established for more than 48 hours.

Good wishes from here, S Hat.

Re: HELP wanted. Atrial Fibrillation
« Reply #47 on: 02 August, 2017, 09:42:25 pm »
Best wishes from a DNF for interesting reasons as well.