![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
QuoteMarkoP With that said, my concern is that I'm being told by an electrophysiologist that I must do ablation ASAP as after a year, NSR is not as likely or i will digress to a point of needing constant medication and/or pacemaker along with possibly more involved treatments. Fire him. Although what he said is partly true (longstanding persistent afib is more difficult to ablate), he'by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I don't believe he has any ulcers. He's saying they're giving it to prevent them. And he's in a clinical trial, but he's blinded from knowing which tech they used so it's 50/50.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi, welcome to the forum. Just to clarify some terminology for you, you have paroxysmal afib, not persistent. Persistent means it lasts longer than 7 days, so you're not quite there yet. Close, but not quite. If sotalol isn't doing the job for you -- and clearly it's not -- then there are only a few choices other than amiodarone. Flecainide would be the obvious next step up,by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Happy anniversary! My 5th is coming up later this month, something you can look forward to.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes. gloaming is right. I should have added go by how you feel, but most people will feel perfectly fine the day following their ablation. Age probably matters.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteKen The issue is defining 100% effective or successful. One might think that it means "one and done forever". However, reality is that (just guessing here) almost all ablations are effective and successful, but for HOW LONG? My first was good for 13 years and my second is into my third year. I like to think that my ablations have been effective and successful. They have been.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
No, no number has been determined and I don't think it works that way. Sleep apnea is more of a chronic problem, not one where low O2 levels trigger afib. It's the effect of having chronically low O2 levels at night for years that promotes afib, not low levels one night.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
You'll be able to walk around the night after your ablation. The next day you can go out, have a nice Tex-Mex dinner in Austin, and do whatever you want as long as it doesn't involve lifting anything weighing more than 10 pounds.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib So that entitles you to misquote me? Actually I said "rarely 100% effective" and was referring to Ablations at large, not paroxismal. If an Ablation was 100% effective, then after one Ablation procedure, there would be no more Arrhythmia ever. Please lighten up. I didn't intentionally misquote you. All I ask is that you stop telling people ablations are rby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yep, not an issue. A mammogram won't even look at your heart -- no x-rays are aimed in that direction -- but even if there were it wouldn't matter. If you ever need a chest x-ray, don't worry about it. The Watchman will be obvious on the film, but the Watchman itself won't be harmed and neither will you. Same goes for MRI and CT scans.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Now who's arguing semantics? I don't see any difference between "successful" and "100% successful." When I say "successful," I mean 100% and so did the authors of the studies I'm referring to. If an ablation only improves symptoms or reduces burden, I wouldn't call that ablation successful at all. Successful means no more afib, flutter, or anyby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteDean “Most people want a regular heartbeat. If you measure accurately, however, the heart also beats chaotically and irregularly when at peace. The interval between heartbeats, too, is by nature always different, never the same; it varies by up to several hundred milliseconds. So the healthy heart is by no means the Swiss clock it was long thought to be”. Interesting little fact about thiby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Actually, it turns you blue. Your skin, your eyes, even your internal organs. And it's permanent.by Carey - GENERAL HEALTH FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib You want to argue about semantics? your welcome to contradict what has been repeatedly expressed on this site, and stated by Shannon also? I'm not arguing semantics; I'm arguing basic facts. I asked for a source and I didn't mean the experiences of people here. As Pompon points out, the people who have a successful one-and-done don't come here. They go aboby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteThe Anti-Fib Ablations are rarely 100% effective, especially long-term. You base that claim on what?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would take that study with a huge grain of salt. It's a small study and it's not even a published paper. It's just a poster at a conference, so it's really scant on details and comes with no peer review. I'm not really up on the current science on CPAP and afib, but I'm pretty sure it flies in the face of accepted science based on much more solid data. If they'by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
If your PCP won't refill it (and it won't surprise me it they won't), just contact the Austin folks.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
There are no studies out there to support the idea of prescribing anticoagulants for people who don't have a known clotting risk, and the accepted stroke risk scoring measure, the CHADS-Vasc score, doesn't apply to people who haven't been diagnosed with afib. Anticoagulants do come with risks, after all, particularly in the elderly. So doctors are going to be very reluctant to walkby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes, I've run into problems like that. Doctors are always hesitant to refill a prescription written by another doctor. But I'm confused. Your "local cardiologist" is the EP who wrote the prescription, but now she says she's not an EP?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteDaisy Except on TV commercials for Watchman! Heh... yeah, so I've noticed. I think it will likely become routine to place it during ablations, but I'm guessing that's 2-3 years off. Considering the dismal compliance rates with anticoagulants (<50%) and the huge costs of strokes, I think the insurance companies and Medicare will come to recognize the long-term cost redby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I understand that, but the Watchman is primarily intended for use in people who've had their LAA isolated. Someone with a normal LAA who can tolerate anticoagulants and doesn't have some other major risk factors is unlikely to be approved for a Watchman. It's not considered a routine treatment for afib.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would skip the flecainide entirely but since you're in tachycardia I would continue the metoprolol until the day you've been instructed to stop it. Taking a half dose of flecainide doesn't accomplish anything. If you're going to take it at all, take the full prescribed dose. I believe Natale will want you to stop it 5 days out.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoteswhanson So, Carey, what has been your history after the period of intense PACs that your mention? There is no additional afib risk from PACs? If so, how is this known? thanks. (I experience 20k-30k a day and increasing.) I never said PACs aren't an afib risk and would never say that. But there are a lot of people out there who live with PACs every day who don't have and maby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Those articles are about patients stopping aspirin against medical advice, not about some sort of need to taper down. The way aspirin works is it disables your platelets. Once disabled, they stop working entirely until they die and are replaced, and that takes about seven days. So that means if you stop aspirin abruptly on a Sunday, the last of the disabled platelets will be replaced by nextby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I can't imagine why a surgical closure of the LAA would require anticoagulants. The LAA is simply gone. How could clots form? Any surgery can cause clots in the short term, but once the sutures have healed there's nothing there for clots to form on. They're only required for a Watchman because there is foreign material in your atria exposed to the blood flow until your heart fullyby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Aspirin does NOT need weaning. If you want to stop it, just stop.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteGrace One of my biggest concerns has been that afib will weaken his heart over time, and perhaps lead to heart failure. That can happen but it only happens when people have uncontrolled tachycardia for weeks or months at a time. That can and will cause an enlarged heart and eventually heart failure, which is why many/most people with afib take metoprolol, a beta blocker that lowers heartby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Just to make sure we're on the same page, permanent afib is a choice. It's when you have longstanding persistent afib and you've decided not to attempt to stop it with ablation or drugs. That's a perfectly valid choice many people make, especially those who are asymptomatic. As long as he remains on the Xarelto and his resting heart rate remains under 100, it causes no harm toby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I seriously doubt there's anything wrong with your Kardia. You were in NSR all this time and now that has changed, exactly as expected. It was just a matter of time. Trust the Kardia. It's not lying to you.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I've posted on this question many times, so I'll make it short: The official FDA advice is to continue aspirin for life. I personally think that's bad advice. There's no solid evidence to support it, and there's a ton of solid evidence to support the notion that chronic aspirin use is an increasing risk as we age. It's the last thing the elderly should be taking iby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM