He’s easy to find with simple Google searches on a-fib. That’s how I found him. After years of my own experience and reading his posts, I’m not really impressed to be honest. He does have the honor of being rebutted in a published medical journal by a non-MD, though. That’s something.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
I’d worry more about the social stigma of ordering anything Russian right now than the potential adverse effects of a tiny amount of alcohol. Enjoy!by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteKev My cardiologist has told me to head to the ER when I'm having an episode and get cardioverted; the less time I'm in AFib the better he says—I'm assuming he knows what he's talking about lol. The ER is the last place I’d go (having done it and regretted it) unless I was dizzy or gasping for breath. ERs treat a-fib with a sledgehammer and a side of poor bedside mannerby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes, you can totally convert a vagal AF episode with exercise. I did it many times. Running or biking. It almost becomes comical at some point. You’re fighting with your own heart. “Oh, yeah? Well take this!”by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Adam, You got there the same way I did. Exercise maybe. We were just born with thin atrial walls and we stretched them out even thinner with cardio. My guess. For what it’s worth. Don’t despair. An ablation will likely kick it to the curb for a good long while. “Caffeine abuse”. That’s a good one! Doctors always trying to figure a way to blame the patient when they don’t have an answer.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes. Massaging the neck area around the carotids can precipitate arrhythmia. I’ve experienced it. It’s real. In my case, it’s PACs and I inhale deeply to stop it. Individual results may vary. It does not happen very often.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
I really like the 6L. It’s much cleaner. And that’s not just because my original Kardia has been locked in my office that I haven’t been allowed to return to since March 2020. So it’s probably dead with a leaking alkaline battery in it. I’ll find out in March 2022 when I go back!by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
It certainly can be. AF will reduce cardiac output because the atria aren’t “priming” the ventricles. In certain patients this reduction is symptomatic.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
No. I’ll step into my EE (electrical engineer) role here and try to make some sense of electromagnetic radiation and penetration depth into conductive material. Basically, it sucks. Your cell phone doesn’t work well in a building, does it? Well, the building is made of metal. You (and I) are a bag of salt water. Also conductive. High-frequency radio waves just aren’t going to make it very farby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteGeorgeN I think WPW is generally hereditary. Yeah, you’re born with it. You can’t “get it” later in life. So don’t worry, AF folks, that your fibrillating atria are going to spontaneously develop some short-circuit to your ventricles and kill you on the spot. Ain’t gonna happen.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Metoprolol is a beta-blocker (slows the heart rate), not an anti-arrhythmic medication which tries to "chemically" convert to NSR. It's unlikely metroprolol on its own converted you. More likely it just got the rate down and some other "magic" happened coincidentally. PIP (pill-in-pocket) approaches to cardioversion use Propafenone or Flecainide. You really want an EPby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Alcohol is an odd beast. I think it's probably (and I readily admit I have ZERO proof) related to vagal vs adrenergic AF. The latter group I would expect to be really bothered by it. I'm in the former and I can tolerate pretty much anything. I'll own up to finishing a six-pack with no ill effects other than the excessive peeing the next day. Rather a delicate problem when one is 3by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Very (very) basically, the EP world can be broken down into 3 broad categories. A. Ep’s who don’t do ablation at all B. Ep’s who only do PVI (pulmonary vein isolation) ablations C. Ep’s who ablate beyond the pulmonary veins (includes LAA) Category B could further be broken down into two B1. PVI using cryoballoon B2. PVI using RF (radio frequency) catheter B1 is a way to get EPs thrby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoterattana 2. BLOOD THINNERS Are blood thinners necessary a month or so after an ablation when our heart is back to normal beat? How long do you think it is a good idea to take Eliquist 5 mg? Are there any natural blood thinners like Hawthorn Berry that anyone has used to substitute for the expensive medication? Thanks! Rattana :+) YES. Blood thinners are required for at leastby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
It’s been 6 years now but I seem to remember taking it daily during my blanking period where I was on Eliquis. No problems.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuotePixie Thanks, Wolfpack. I knew the right side was easier than the left. Have you had an ablation for AFlutter, particularly the left side? No, so far AF-only PVI ablation for me. My dad did develop flutter a decade or so after his AF ablation, so it may be in my future. Hard to say. I've never experienced flutter myself. Knock on wood...by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteLenlec My resting heart rate is 42 to 45 beats per minute at the mo. Run most days gym at night Just don’t want it going to 60 or. 70 Feel great Do I have the ablation? Yes, if it were me. Your HR post-ablation will probably be 85-90 initially. But it will crash back down pretty quickly. It wouldn't surprise me at all if you were back at 50 in 3 months. That's vagal AF anby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
It's actually pretty darn hard to determine right-sided versus left-sided flutter on an EKG. An EKG is a surface electrogram (it's measured on your skin after all) and shows an very attenuated version of the electrical activity on the surface of your heart. To really figure out left vs. right you need to have a mapping catheter in there measuring the electrical activity INSIDE the heartby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteNatalie B How do you keep from freaking out? You come here and read, read, read. Glad you did. AF and a pacemaker? Yeah, that's a reason to fire a cardiologist. More often than not, anyway. The only reason I could possibly think of for that would be extremely long pauses (3 seconds or more) upon converting from AF (a-fib) to NSR (normal sinus rhythm). And in most cases that would bby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Very noisy. The 1st generation Kardia uses the microphone in an ultrasonic sense and will just get destroyed by wind noise or bird chirps. Anything with broadband frequency content. The Kardia 6L, although more expensive, uses a radio link called Bluetooth which is far cleaner. In either case, good electrode-to-skin contact is imperative. What matters in an EKG is the spacing of the QRS complexesby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Have you been diagnosed with an accessory pathway between the atria and the ventricles, such as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome? Normally SVT (superventricular tachycardia - ie, the atria) can’t conduct 1 for 1 with the ventricles owing to the refractoriness of the atrio-ventricular node which will reject pulses that are too close together. That’s what gives AF its “regularly irregular” characteriby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Kind of like driving your car to the mechanic while it’s making the noise you tried to describe over the phone. He’ll hear it and won’t be able to misinterpret anything you said. Perfect.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
The case against Xarelto has more to do with it being linked to a slightly higher risk for stomach ulcers. Hence the full meal. I wouldn’t worry too terribly much about it unless you have a history of GI bleeds, in which case I’d request the Eliquis. It’s not as bad as the Pradaxa, which was much worse for GI bleeds. I don’t think Pradaxa get rx’ed anymore. At least not much.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteMuntz Wolfpack - so glad you shared so I don't feel so lone ranger! Did an EP at Duke do your ablation? I was seeing Dr Jackson a year ago but had a follow up visit with a member of his team who was a condescending jerk. Hoping to find a good EP at Wake. With this condition, I need all the compassion I can get! They refused to agree to my Kardia. They said they weren't fans. Once Iby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
My mother did. Decided to get out of her seat in their RV just as Dad was about to miss an exit and slammed on the brakes (don’t do that, by the way). She fell forward and hit her head hard. Laceration requiring stitches. When she informed the ER staff about the Eliquis, they immediately ordered a CT. When that came back clear, they just stitched it up and said continue as usual with all meds.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteGeorgeN I still have an '88 300 ZX with 104,000 miles... How many of those involved pushing?by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
I had all kinds of weird stuff happen in the months after my ablation. Short bursts of tachycardia out of the blue. Bi-geminal PVCs for hours at a time (yes, these were PVCs as I could get them on my Kardia). Even woke up the on-call EP at Duke to read the EKG (he wasn’t happy). It all turned out to be nothing and went away over time.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
So the thing to know about amiodarone is that the drug does not clear the body renally. You don’t “pee it out”. It takes weeks, if not months, to clear. Likewise, when you start it, it takes a long time to “build up”. It literally has to get into every cell of your body to start working on the heart. That’s why, in normal circumstances, amiodarone is started in a hospital setting with an intravenby wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoterocketritch I'm a central control operator at a 1900 MW super critical power plant. I’m an electrical engineer and 1900 milli-Watts would blow my budget. Nevermind MEGA-Watts. The plant isn’t nuclear, is it? Not to add any stress or anything.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuotePoppino Why my EP completely redid my old pvi???? T I’m not familiar with your EP, but it may be as simple as that’s the limit of what he knows how to do. You could have new areas that are generating AF rhythms outside the PVs, in which case re-isolating the PVs won’t do anything. You made the right choice going to Austin.by wolfpack - AFIBBERS FORUM