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Drugs.com puts the incidence of musculoskeletal pain at upwards of 10% so I don't think it matters much if anyone else here has experienced it. It's a real possibility. There are a LOT of BP meds. What else has been tried? It could also be your dosage needs to be adjusted downward to compensate for aging.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteBarry G. On my visit to Escorts hospital in New Delhi (India) for ablation number 1 I was in full blown AFIB for around 36 hours before the procedure began. 10 minutes before I was taken to the Cath. Lab the AFIB stopped dramatically and I fully believe the 'natural' AFIB went in hiding throughout the procedure making the EP's chances of creating a 100% successful ablation imby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteElizabeth This happens with all EPs, highly skilled or not. Yes it does, but the difference is how often. Top EPs have success rates over 90% while average EPs manage about 75% and EPs who shouldn't be doing ablations at all come in around 50-60%. An expert ablationist doesn't have ablations fail because they made inadequate lesions or couldn't find sources outside the pby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteElizabeth Then why do people have more than one ablation, sometimes they have 3 or maybe 6? Because the ablation wasn't complete or wasn't performed correctly. That can happen through lack of training and experience, and it can happen even to highly experienced EPs because a source of afib exists that wasn't apparent during the procedure. But the statement is true. A proby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yep, this is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. The ectopics could even continue past the blanking period but that doesn't mean they're going to be a permanent affair. As long as they don't progress to sustained afib, the ablation was a success. Do you own a Kardia and are you sending recordings periodically to the nurse practitioner? What do they say about them?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
You can get Pradaxa for less than $550/month, but what do you mean by having a doctor override the prescription? Override what?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yeah, all those leads do mean important things to someone who's been trained to interpret them. They're not just fluff. But what they mean is a whole class in ECG interpretation. It's probably taught at your local community college if you really want to learn. This is why I'm a bit skeptical of the Kardia 6L. Although I think it will provide useful information to doctors aby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes, you have to have been on an anticoagulant for at least 3 weeks. Less than that and a TEE will be required first. You also need to have not had anything to eat for 5 hours. All they can do is take your word for it. You don't make arrangements in advance. It's an ER, after all, so you just walk in. Now, if you walk into the average big city ER with afib, stable vitals, and a heartby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I've been cardioverted in an ER over a dozen times and wouldn't hesitate to do so again if needed. It takes about an hour, and almost all of that is spent just lying there bored waiting for the drugs to wear off. It really is a trivially simple procedure that doesn't even begin to require the skills of an EP. Literally all it requires is knowing how to calculate a drug dosage,by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yeah, cryo definitely isn't new and everything Keefer said about it is true. Its primary advantage is it makes doing an ablation easy, so EPs with less training and experience can do them. That's not the sort of thing I would look for as a patient.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteGeorgeN I'm all about minimizing time out of rhythm, but the ER trip is my last, not first resort. Exactly. For most people the ER isn't where you want to be during an afib episode. It's very unlikely they'll do anything useful for you and sure as heck unlikely they'll cardiovert you unless you have a super-high heart rate or are in distress.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d My question is why do you wait it out? You must not be symptomatic otherwise why wouldn’t you want to go to the ER for 2 g of magnesium and drugs to get rid of the AF if it works and if all else fails get cardio converted? I don't know about Liz but I can answer this for me. 1) Because it's not an emergency. 2) Because I had better things to do with the next 8+ hoby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Nattokinase is considered a supplement, not a drug, so there's no actual data on interactions with drugs. That said, there's no reason to suspect there would be an interaction with metoprolol. They work by completely different mechanisms on completely different body systems.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
No. It can be helpful to the EP doing the procedure, but it's not strictly necessary.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would consider taking the flecainide twice daily for the first month or so instead of waiting for episodes to occur. A lot of EPs prescribe a daily antiarrhythmic for the first month or two following ablation just to keep the heart quiet and let it heal.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Oh, I'm sure if they saw evidence of a heart attack they'd have done more than talk about it.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteCarola IMHO, as you age, the less able you are to tolerate the standard dosages of drugs that are usually prescribed "one size fits all." That's not just your opinion. It's well known fact. It's usually over 75 when lower drug tolerance starts showing up, though it can vary a lot between individuals. Some people never see any lowered tolerance well into their 90sby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
No, you did not have a heart attack. Anti-Fib is right that that stuff isn't accurate, but I wouldn't even bother asking your doctor about it. Ignore the "diagnosis" ECG machines print out. They're absolutely meaningless and every doctor on the planet ignores them for that reason. Every single ECG I've had in the last 15-20 years has declared I had an inferior inby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
There are no "techniques." The answer is rate control drugs, which are usually beta blockers (eg, metoprolol) or calcium channel blockers (eg, diltiazem). Do you have a prescription for any type of rate control drug? There are also rhythm control drugs that might prevent these episodes entirely. Are you seeing an EP? The fast rate isn't immediately dangerous, but you don'tby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteDaisy I wonder if they could convert an Afib patient (who also had an implanted defibrillator) by activating it? If it were programmed to do so I don't see why not, but they'd have to be super-careful with the programming. For example, an ICD shock is a decidedly unpleasant event, so they'd have to set a limit on how many shocks it would deliver. It's one thing to try eby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib Drugs that slow down the Heart are Contra-Indicated for Vagal LAF. That's just not true. I've seen that opinion voiced around here, and everyone's welcome to their opinions, but there is no medical authority that would agree with that statement. What truly is contraindicated is uncontrolled tachycardia for prolonged periods of time.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteDaisy How many joules does an implanted defibrillator deliver? Much lower, down in the 10-40J range. Since it's attached directly to the heart you don't need a bunch of energy to get through the impedance of the skin, chest wall, etc.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
There are several videos of cardioversions on youtube if you want to know how it really looks. This one is my favorite. It's amusing and it demonstrates why you should never allow yourself to be talked into a cardioversion under conscious sedation. Demand full sedation.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteTomSeest In any case, I remain hopeful. Nice to hear from you. Can you check back in, say, in six months and let us know how it turned out? (Sooner if it doesn't turn out well.)by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Although I think your friend is being a bit overzealous with his conclusions that "it definitely impacts the likely maintenance of normal sinus rhythm" there is some evidence to support his thinking. Where I think he's being overzealous is in assuming a causal relationship from a correlation. It could be that a third, unknown factor causes both. But it's an interesting theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I'm sure you're glad that's over with. And now you know what a breeze cardioversions are. Incidentally, no ECG machine can deliver 500 joules. That would be like a bomb going off on your chest and would probably leave burns. The maximum is 360. Standard (adult) power settings for cardioversions are 50, 100 and 200 joules, though they can go to 360 if 200 doesn't do the joby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
George is right that it's a safety concern with the anesthesia and with putting a probe down your throat. If you were to vomit while under anesthesia, you wouldn't have a gag reflex and so could inhale food and stomach acid, which is a really bad thing. Telling patients nothing after midnight is just stock instructions they give everyone. Makes it easier in case the procedure gets rby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I had no problems with it. What have you tried so far and what have the side effects been?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
That's a good question. Traditionally the answer was 48 hours, but that's been called into doubt in recent years with newer research showing it can happen much sooner than that. How much sooner hasn't been answered authoritatively, and it definitely depends on age, overall health, and CHADS-Vasc score. So 48 hours might be right for a healthy 40-year old but not for a 70-year old wby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Nothing new at all. Basket catheters and mapping systems that use them have been around for years. They've demonstrated no special superiority over other types of catheters and mapping systems. The best known example is Topera and the FIRM ablation technique, which was touted as revolutionary just a few years ago, but in the end turned out to be little more than marketing hype.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM