New Information from Cardiologist

[Guest guest]

I visited my new cardiologist, who is an electrophysiologist, yesterday for

only the second time since last July's first visit with him. Although he

seemed not quite so optimistic and upbeat as in the first visit, perhaps

because all those late night cardioversions are wearing him down, he did have

some new ideas which I haven't yet heard from another doctor. (He is fresh

out of training with much knowledge but not much experience. My primary care

physician described him as " very smart. " )

Anyway, of interest to me and possibly to others here, was his statement that

afib can indeed be caused by stomach problems in some people! This is the

first time I have heard any doctor validate in either spoken or written word

what so many of us here know to be absolutely true. My own brother (not the

one in afib) who is a medical doctor has told me many times that this idea is

ridiculous. Usually when I have told doctors in the past that I am sure

there is a connection between afib and my stomach upheaval, I would be

rewarded with a blank, uncomprehending stare or a patronizing " Really??!! "

This noncommittal reaction would typically be followed by a hasty change in

subject as if to prevent further embarrassingly ignorant conjecture from this

upstart patient (me!) My new cardiologist is the first doctor to dignify my

theory about the stomach/heart connection born of the experience of numerous

afib bouts starting with stomach pains or gas.

Another bit of information actually came from his cardiac nurse when she was

looking at my wildly careening TSH values due to my constant experimentation

with thyroxine doses. My latest value was a respectable 4, but values over

the past year have varied from 5 -10. This cardiac nurse said she thought

that this could be playing a role in the increased frequency of afib because

keeping TSH levels stable helps to prevent afib. When values vary wildly or

are either too high or too low, afib is often the result. However, I have

been taking a stable dose of Levoxyl for the past three months now, so I'm

not sure that the December afib outbreak is due to this.

Yet another interesting piece of information was my doctor's attitude toward

ablation. When I asked him if I would be a candidate, he said that ablation

could help my situation but he does not believe the risk involved would be

justified at this point because medications Atenolol and Verapamil are

controlling my afib so well at this point. He did say that all current forms

of ablation carry a rather high risk, and that one should be fairly desperate

for relief before undergoing this procedure. (This is from an

electrophysiologist who does ablations every day.) However, he did say that

he has hope that new procedures will be available in the near future due to

research.

After looking at yesterday's EKG, my cardiologist said that nothing has

really changed and that he would be reluctant to try any new drugs since I am

feeling virtually no afib symptoms on my current medications. My heart shows

no signs of developing heart disease after eighteen years of afib, which

might be encouraging to others here who have wondered about the long term

effects afib on the heart. My only heart problem is still afib. Oh, and

also he said that the printout from the ECG machine was wrong because it said

" sinus arrhythmia, " but he said I was definitely in afib. His nurse

described my pulse as " slightly irregular " when she took it. I mention this

because I think this issue came up here once: whether ECG readings are ever

wrong. He said the error was a computer error.

Anyway, he wants me to continue on the same regimen with Atenolol and

Verapamil because although those drugs are not preventing afib episodes, they

make my life symptom-free when I am in afib. I will also continue with the

Coumadin, of course, although I have been off of it three days now in

preparation for a colonoscopy which I had today in hopes of discovering a

stomach cause for my afib. (This was my first colonoscopy, and all I can say

is that it was really " fun! " ) My gastroenterologists preliminary report

after the procedure was that no problems were discovered there. Everything

is " normal, normal, normal. " I don't know how this can be when my stomach

symptoms so often seem abnormal, abnormal abnormal! However, he did do some

scraping and biopsy, apparently looking for some type of infection, I guess.

So I won't give up on the stomach-afib connection yet. My dream is that he

will discover some easily treatable stomach parasite or such which has been

irritating my poor vagus nerve and driving me into afib. I guess it doesn't

work that way in reality, but I can always dream.

in afib in Seattle