![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Many people live perfectly healthy, happy lives with persistent afib for decades. As long as there's adequate rate control, afib does not lead to heart failure or much of anything else, and if there's also appropriate anticoagulation, the stroke risk is reduced to near normal. The choice not to attempt to stop afib is a perfectly valid one and it's usually chosen only by people whoby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib If the Paramedics show up, and I can only wisper to them, and barely move, what would they do? They would ask the ER doc what was going on and follow his or her directions. You can't call 911 and expect them to overrule a physician. They don't have the legal authority to do that and they won't. At best you're going to get a lot of attention for yourself andby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib So I have a question: If a patient is in an ER Room or in the Hospital being neglected, the patient can still call 911 for an emergency response from the Paramedics? This is what I should have done. The Nurses said I was fine based on an initial EKG, before I took the 300mg of Flec. 30 minutes later I was deteriorating fast. When I asked for help from the Nurses, they chastby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib How much flecainide do you take? And how long does this feeling last? Does it continue even after you convert? When an episode starts, I just start taking Flecainide at 100mg every 8 hours. After several days I can feel the effects more as the blood concentration is rising. Then I switch to 50mg every 4 hours. So at 300mg/day total, and I have never gone over that. I am tby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotemwcf Why did they use RFA for the second procedures? Because they have RF catheters that can do single burns with accuracy to close a small gap, but the PF catheters can't do that (yet). The paper isn't written well. It's rather confusing and leaves out some important details, but the take away is that once they settled on using the biphasic 3 waveform they achieved 100%by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoterocketritch So all participants had two complete procedures. The second consisting of remapping and PVI repair if needed. I didn’t see anywhere where they stated how many PVI isolations needed to be re-done during the follow up procedure. True. I wish they had broken out the number that needed RF touch up. I assumed some or even most didn't, but even if they all did, a 100% successby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotemwcf Please correct me but does the above mean that only 18% of patients had successful PV isolation 3 months after the index procedure?? If so, looks very much like 2 goes are required - and more so than is the case with RFA?. No, that section is really badly worded. I had to go find the full text and read it to understand what they meant. What they're talking about there is that theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
The tech is over-interpreting a policy. There probably is a policy prohibiting photos of medical records, but the intent of that is simply to make sure uncontrolled copies of records don't end up in hands they shouldn't. But that ECG is your data, and you can take photos of it, or even post it publicly on the internet if you want. Federal law in the US guarantees that (it's part ofby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Chrrev, Welcome to the forum. Sorry you had the need to find us but you're in the right place. It definitely sounds like you had an episode of afib or some other tachycardia. Glad you kept your cool enough not to go rushing off to the ER. Have you seen a cardiologist about this now or in the past? Tell us more about yourself.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
How much flecainide do you take? And how long does this feeling last? Does it continue even after you convert?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteBarry G. Hi Carey, thanks for your post. I am guessing your first 3 ablations where for Atrial Fibrillation and also zapping possible Right Flutter 'on the way out' which seems to be the normal practice. That said, to be battling Flutter for 3 years make me guess you were getting Left Atrial Flutter which in my experience is a far more difficult arrhythmia to treat. Prof Jais admiby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteElizabeth So we are supposed to have one view on this broad which is "ablations are great when done by Natalie and some others". Even Dr. Natalie has to do more than one ablation for a patient. On this board some have had 3 done by him. There are some tragic stories about some ablations outcomes, which we usually don't read about them on here. I recall a few years ago a doby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteJoe I take 50mg Flec only at night (my decision) and no beta blocker. Sounds like i might be doing it wrong? EPs differ on this. Many EPs think a rate limiting drug must be taken with flecainide, while others think the risk is so low that it's not needed, at least in some patients. Taking a beta blocker with it would be safer, and since you take it before bedtime and would be asleepby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Barry, there's no question that ablation lines can cause flutter. Anything that creates an imperfect electrical barrier in your atria can create a flutter circuit, so a less than perfectly done ablation line that has a gap in it somewhere can set the stage for flutter. I battled exactly that problem for years after foolishly letting my first EP make three ablation attempts on me. The secondby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
That warning is intended for patients taking sotalol for ventricular arrhythmias. You can disregard it unless you have more serious cardiac issues than afib. Yes, you can stop sotalol one day and start the others on the next, but ask your GP how to proceed. It's possible she'll want you to give the sotalol a day or two to wash out of your system.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
sigh... Mandrola.... As far as I can tell, he's an EP who thinks the only treatment for afib that has any value is lifelong amiodarone. The STAR AF trial was very limited in the lesion sets it looked at. Mandrola is -- as usual -- greatly exaggerating its importance. Instead of looking at the approaches that don't work someday he might want to look at the ones that do, as proven thouby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Tracy, a few brief runs of SVT and even v-tach are nothing to worry about. More people have them than probably realize it. The important part is they didn't sustain. If an arrhythmia doesn't sustain more than a few seconds, they just don't even count it. And that's why you're worrying about it but your EP, who happens to be one of the top EPs in the country, isn'by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes, flecainide can be taken as a PIP. In fact, it's the med most commonly used as a PIP. The usual PIP dosage is 300 mg, chewed and swallowed with warm water. If you're a petite woman you might want to lower that dose a bit. Not only is flecainide + metoprolol a normal combination, it's a combination many EPs insist on. The reason is flecainide has a rare side effect known asby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
This wasn't a clotting or viscosity issue. Her vertebral artery ruptured causing a hemorrhagic stroke. Events like that are almost always due to trauma or a congenital defect. In her case, apparently the latter.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteCallydex The most bothersome thing about my ablation afterwards was the increased heart rate, which stayed up for almost a year. Reddy's assistant said that would most probably happen this time as well: are there things that people can do to relieve that, or shorten that? Nope. An increased resting HR following ablation is just about the most predictable, consistent effect there is. 1by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Not an easy decision, but if it were me I'd probably give it some time and see how it goes since you've only had one actual episode. There's always an outside chance it was a one-off thing that won't happen again. But once the next one occurs, I'd be on the phone scheduling the procedure the next morning.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Just because something has a calcium atom in the formula doesn't mean you're taking a calcium supplement. You're not, so no worries there. 140/90 is more than just time to address your BP. That's stage 2 hypertension and should be treated with two meds according to current hypertension guidelines. Never mind calcium and all that, hypertension is your biggest enemy when it cby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Vivek has a great reputation. Excellent choice. I agree with wolfpack on everything else. You've had one episode requiring intervention to stop, and now with increased PACs I'd say a repeat of that episode is in your future. No way is it a failure of the original ablation. You've developed a new source of ectopics outside the areas isolated in the first ablation. Should be an eaby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
You can't get a definitive answer from the medical community because nobody knows for sure. The supplements industry isn't required to run clinical trials on anything they sell, so they don't. The end result is we often just can't get firm answers on things like that. But you can still get decent info from some of the drug interaction checkers that include supplements, like thby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteSueChef I did ask the ER doc about medications that might help me avoid these episodes, maybe a "pill in pocket" med, and he said they don't really prescribe these. The ER won't prescribe something like that because ER docs rarely prescribe anything to be used outside the hospital, but your EP probably will.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteSueChef Is there a good chance that this was a one time thing or is that quite unlikely? Sorry, it's unlikely to be a one-time thing. Like I said, the fact that adenosine terminated it is diagnostic, and AVNRT/AVRT doesn't just go away on its own. But it's certainly possible that episodes will be rare and another one might not happen for a very long time.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteSueChef Questions: 1) Is it "normal" to have a-fib and then get SVT?? 2) Is there any way at all to try and stack the deck to avoid SVT? (I don't smoke anything, I don't vape, I don't drink alcohol or tea or coffee or soda and I don't use salt) 3) Are there any other vagus nerve techniques I might try, and in your opinion, how successful are they? ...and if tby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteElizabeth George N doesn't get AF anymore due to the diet he is on. Maybe I missed it, but I don't recall George ever saying that. The notion that afib can be completely "cured" with diet, supplements, or lifestyle modifications is an attractive idea but not one I've ever heard a single credible report of happening.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
A profitable ablation... that may be a first. :-) Good luck!by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotegmperf I am a little bit concerned about hearing about clots forming on the device. I have been hearing about this more often lately. It think this is due to poor endothelialization. Not sure what you've been hearing and from where, but clots associated with the device are a rare occurrence. Follow the instructions given afterwards religiously and you'll be fine. I think itby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM