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Lead failure is almost never a sudden, catastrophic event. Leads usually fail slowly and produce warning signs so they can be replaced. But even if one somehow does fail catastrophically, there is a third pacemaker in your heart called the His Bundle. If your PM fails and your AV node has been destroyed, the His Bundle will keep you alive with a heart rate of about 20. That's good enough toby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Although most do, not everyone with afib experiences it as tachycardia. I've known people who were diagnosed incidentally because somebody happened to do an EKG at the right time. They'd been living with afib completely unaware for who knows how long, but with a normal heart rate and no symptoms they simply never knew it. How much of that 4 hours is spent at a rate below 100?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d Good point. Btw, they took an INR lab and it is always high-doesn’t that prove that one is compliant with NOAC dosing? Nope. There is no way to test for NOAC compliance.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d Some ER doctors do not like to ecv even if the patient is on Eliquis. I thought there was a reason why they refused so I googled and came upon that Hopkins study. The reason is they're emergency medicine docs and they don't think your problem is a life-threatening emergency that they have to deal with NOW. First, they know perfectly well that more than half the patients wby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d Isn’t it a cumulative affect on the heart after a while if one gets frequent ecv? No. Cardioversions do no lasting harm. As I said before, there's no mechanism I know of that can explain how a cardioversion would contribute to heart failure. I consider Hopkins a reliable source, but keep in mind that this is an article written for the lay public. The person who wrote it waby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotesusan.d What about after 49? Or 12-27 hr tachycardia while admitted until you self convert? Or you guys who wait it out for a few days until your ep let’s you get an ecv appointment? That long tachycardia can’t be cardiac friendly. No arrhythmia lasting just hours or days is going to cause heart failure. It has to continue long enough for physical changes to occur to the heart muscle. No,by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yeah, it has to be something like that because there's not even a mechanism I can imagine whereby a cardioversion could cause heart failure. You don't acquire heart failure from an event lasting milliseconds.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Judging by the list of meds your mom is taking, she has more issues than just afib. She's been diagnosed with hypertension and heart failure, right?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I have absolutely no idea why they would list heart failure as a complication of cardioversion but that's just plain nonsense.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Tachycardia isn't a concern when it's measured in hours or even days. It becomes a concern when it goes longer than that in to weeks and months. Normal BNP is under 100 but it's not really a concern until it's over 400, and during an episode of flutter I don't know how meaningful the numbers are. They're going to be higher but they'll come back down once the epiby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuotePixie It appears I will have an LAA when I have my procedure with Dr. Natale. My question is will I have to return to Austin for a TEE or can I have that done in Madison? You can have it done in Madison, and Natale's group will provide the radiologist with exactly what they need, but don't be surprised if you end up having to do it twice. They've had very poor luck with ouby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
A pacemaker failure would be like you finding unicorns in your backyard tomorrow. But contact the doc who installed the PM and advise them what the ER doc said. Don't let them blow you off. Although I think the ER doc simply didn't interpret correctly, a possible device failure is serious stuff that Medtronic and the PM doc need to know about.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quoterkgtstrand I'm George, the user name it assigned is the first part of my email address. I am on warfarin because when I signed up for Medicare, I had never been on a prescription drug for anything beyond an antibiotic so I did not sign up for Part D. The EP first said Eloquis, but that is ~$150/month for someone retired on a fixed income, warfarin is about $4/month. Hi, George, much bby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi rkgtstrand, welcome to the forum. By any chance do you have a first name we can use? I hate addressing people by unpronounceable screen names. Since you're in Minnesota, Mayo clinic is the obvious answer. I would try to make an appointment with Douglas Packer, if possible. He's a top guy there so if he's not accepting new patients, ask to see someone else with considerable eby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
I don't see anything about your lungs you need to be concerned with. I think you're overinterpreting a normal report. But I do have to wonder why you're still taking Tikosyn if you've been in persistent afib since July. What's the purpose?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotebettylou4488 I just wonder.. does this happen with Tykosin? I'm not sure what you mean by "this." Tikosyn has no side effects involving the lungs (except maybe a positive one, as you mentioned). The report you got sounds like it's probably the same results you got that were simply declared "normal." This doc just happened to provide numbers, and 3.3 L is righby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteMuntz Hubby has made plans for Key West trip next spring and I'm terrified to go thinking I'll spend the whole vacation checking my pulse and hoping I can find a hospital if needed!!! Back to my question...how long before my meds will work? Is there a forum for worry warts 🤣 Why would you need a hospital? Ectopics present no threat to you and never require a hospital visit, orby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuoteGeorgeN I got a Moderna booster today, on top of the Pfizer series in March and a J&J in May. LOL! Of course you did. So when are you going for the AstraZeneca?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Wow, that's a tough question. They can measure and observe literally dozens of things, so answering your question would be pretty much an entire med school cardiac sonography course. Throw in CT and that's another course or three. Not sure what you read about mapping with a TEE. They can't detect and map afib, if that's what you meant. Thanks to doppler ultrasound they canby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Collagen is just a protein. You eat it every single day, and your body is literally made of the stuff (25-35% of you is collagen). If collagen caused afib, every person on the planet would have afib. But you're taking a supplement, so unless that supplement is marked USP on the label you have no way of knowing what's actually in it. Therefore, the easy way to be sure is do as George sugby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Yes, you can be cardioverted with a Watchman. It doesn't impose any restrictions on what you can do, procedures you can undergo, etc. What they generally want is for you to wear a monitor for a week at the 6-month point and if that proves you're consistently in NSR, then they do the TEE to assess your LAA function. If it's inadequate (and 60% of patients are), you'll meet theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Does your cardiologist think the afib is a big problem that has to be addressed with your heart valve issues?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
The standard for a successful ablation is 12 months of NSR without antiarrhythmic drugs, so you're pretty much there. The chances of you needing a touch-up anytime in the next several years is extremely low. Maybe 10 or 20 years from now you could develop a new source of afib that's outside the isolated areas, but I don't think you're going to need a touch-up anytime soon.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
A couple of questions I should have asked you before.... 1. How fast is your heart rate during your episodes? 2. Do you feel unpleasant symptoms?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotealfrae13 The amidiarone was prescribed by a cardiologist but I am not taking it. I think I will go back and suggest that he put me on flacainide though I read you have to start this in a hospital which i would not want to do. There is aso an other anti arrhythmic whose name I forget but it starts with M Good decision. You don't need to start flecainide in the hospital. The other one yby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Quotetriplea I have not yet received the ablation report, once received I'll update on why I had only one insertion point (and what was inserted). Yes, please do. I'd like to see how they manage that.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Six ablations, absolutely no complications or adverse events. Everyone is different, of course, but I've always found it a very easy procedure that leaves me feeling perfectly fine afterwards. I've always returned to work and my normal routine the next day (minus lifting for a week). I once even did a 50-mile bike ride in hilly terrain 3 days after an ablation (with EP's full approby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Your doctor wants to start with the biggest cannon there is. What kind of doctor are they, a general cardiologist or an electrophysiologist (EP)? If they're not an EP, I highly recommend you find one and get a second opinion. Yes, amiodarone is the most effective antiarrhythmic, but it comes with the most serious side effects, some of which can be permanent. I spent 7 years on various antby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
QuotePompon Likely harmless, but utterly discomfortable. Yeah, that had to be uncomfortable. I don't think I've ever seen PVCs in a sustained bigeminal pattern like that.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
It's debatable and there might be 4 PVCs there, but I didn't think two of them were wide enough to be PVCs. Like you said, single lead.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM