Re: help newly diagnosed on tuesday

[Guest guest]

> I was in the hospital on last sunday with a heart rate of 175

> they give me an IV of something to get my heart rate down to 100

and

> sent me home with some beta blockers. I went to my DR on tuesday

and

> he put me in ICU it had been over 48 hours since it started so they

> were reluctant to do a conversion. I stayed in the hosp until

> thursday on lopresser ,Lanoxin ,Coumadin and lovenox injections to

> thin my blood in hopes they will convert me in a couple of weeks.

My

> heart rate now seems to be 60 to 80. Does this seem to be the

proper

> procedure or not? Is it safe to continue my normal life as far as

> athletics? Is it dangerous to do the conversion or not? Do alot of

> people have strokes? Any help would be great.

Lee: That doctor who first discharged you , while still in

Afib., sent you home on betablockers was the main thing wrong. Since

it was your first episode, he certainly should have kept you until

you converted yourself. Otherwise, it sounds like you are getting

appropriate treatment. The greatest threat in afib is of stroke.

Even though they are doing everything *now* to minimize that

possibility, it was 72 hours before the anticoagulat regimen was

instituted. That should not have been. As it stands now, they will

need to do a transesophageal echo befroe they would resort to

electrocardioversion. The transesophageal echo (TEE) looks at the

back of your heart. This is the most likely location for clot

formation (in what is called the left atrial appendage- a part of

your left atrial chamber) Transesophageal means that they put a

small flexible tube down your throat (under sedation). The tube has

a camera on the tip of it, and they can see a clot, even on the back

of your heart. If no clot is present, they can proceed with

cardioversion. I would abstain from athletics until after the

cardioversion; only because of that 72 hours without anticoagulants.

If they cardiovert you it should be in the next 24 to 48 hrs anyway.

It would be rare for a person with no known heart disease to go into

atrial fib., and have it be an isolated incident. (sorry) Your story

sounds very typical of everyone on this board. For you, I would love

to think it's just a flook, but be prepared for this possibly to work

into an habitual thing. There are various methods of controlling

it. The first one is almost always just with a drug called a beta

blocker, until such a time as it is known that you have repeated

episodes.

Lee, stay posted, and let us know your outcome. Just try not to

worry too much, as anxiety seems to make it worse. Be comforted in

knowing that no one ever died of atrial fib, in and of itself,

although sometimes it feels like it might. You *are* on

anticoagulants, and that's the main thing.

Good Luck

God Bless

Let us hear from you

Pam Walter

[Guest guest]

Lee - Things seem to be going normal for afib now. With regard to exercise, my

cardiologist asked me at my 2 week follow up after initial hospitalization and

afib diagnosis if my calves hurt after walking. I said no, but then I'm not

doing much of that now. He asked why, and said I should.

It has now been almost 5 months since my diagnosis and I'm only now about to go

in for my first cardioversion. Couldn't get my blood coagulation readings to

stay in the right range for the necessary 4-6 weeks. My reading says there's is

some risk of stroke from cardioversion but not a big one. I'm a bit worried

about it nonetheless.

Ed

[Guest guest]

> It would be rare for a person with no known heart disease to go

into

atrial fib., and have it be an isolated incident. (sorry)

Before we scare the poor guy out of his wits, let's note that it's

very common for people with occasional episodes of afib to have NO

heart disease other than afib.

[Guest guest]

thanks for replying

I do have mitro valve this could be the cause but its very minor my heart was a

little enlarged but so is alot of people.

I also read that MSG could cause this. Thats funny because Saturday night we ate

chinese food alot of it after we left I told my wife that I tought I overdosed

on MSG then the next morning there it was.

Have you been converted? Have you been shocked? Thats what scares me the most.

I just missed the 48 hours only by about 4 hours after I went to my DR. so I

hope the chances are very low of blood clots. Sorry my e-mail is all over the

place just writing what comes to my mind at the time.

Lee

Re: help newly diagnosed on tuesday

> I was in the hospital on last sunday with a heart rate of 175

> they give me an IV of something to get my heart rate down to 100

and

> sent me home with some beta blockers. I went to my DR on tuesday

and

> he put me in ICU it had been over 48 hours since it started so they

> were reluctant to do a conversion. I stayed in the hosp until

> thursday on lopresser ,Lanoxin ,Coumadin and lovenox injections to

> thin my blood in hopes they will convert me in a couple of weeks.

My

> heart rate now seems to be 60 to 80. Does this seem to be the

proper

> procedure or not? Is it safe to continue my normal life as far as

> athletics? Is it dangerous to do the conversion or not? Do alot of

> people have strokes? Any help would be great.

Lee: That doctor who first discharged you , while still in

Afib., sent you home on betablockers was the main thing wrong. Since

it was your first episode, he certainly should have kept you until

you converted yourself. Otherwise, it sounds like you are getting

appropriate treatment. The greatest threat in afib is of stroke.

Even though they are doing everything *now* to minimize that

possibility, it was 72 hours before the anticoagulat regimen was

instituted. That should not have been. As it stands now, they will

need to do a transesophageal echo befroe they would resort to

electrocardioversion. The transesophageal echo (TEE) looks at the

back of your heart. This is the most likely location for clot

formation (in what is called the left atrial appendage- a part of

your left atrial chamber) Transesophageal means that they put a

small flexible tube down your throat (under sedation). The tube has

a camera on the tip of it, and they can see a clot, even on the back

of your heart. If no clot is present, they can proceed with

cardioversion. I would abstain from athletics until after the

cardioversion; only because of that 72 hours without anticoagulants.

If they cardiovert you it should be in the next 24 to 48 hrs anyway.

It would be rare for a person with no known heart disease to go into

atrial fib., and have it be an isolated incident. (sorry) Your story

sounds very typical of everyone on this board. For you, I would love

to think it's just a flook, but be prepared for this possibly to work

into an habitual thing. There are various methods of controlling

it. The first one is almost always just with a drug called a beta

blocker, until such a time as it is known that you have repeated

episodes.

Lee, stay posted, and let us know your outcome. Just try not to

worry too much, as anxiety seems to make it worse. Be comforted in

knowing that no one ever died of atrial fib, in and of itself,

although sometimes it feels like it might. You *are* on

anticoagulants, and that's the main thing.

Good Luck

God Bless

Let us hear from you

Pam Walter

[Guest guest]

Lee - I'm going in for the shock treatment Tuesday -- assuming my INR is in the

right range Monday. I'm worried too. My Dad died of complications of a stroke

brought on my afib. I'll report back. Ed

[Guest guest]

At 05:30 PM 8/2/2003 -0400, you wrote:

>I'm going in for the shock treatment Tuesday -- assuming my INR is in the

>right range Monday. I'm worried too. My Dad died of complications of a

>stroke brought on my afib. I'll report back.

Perhaps I am innocent of the risks involved with DC cardioversion, but I

had this done three weeks ago, and it was simple, painless (apart from the

slight sunburn-like effect on the skin over my sternum and under my left

breast) and I woke up feeling so much better in NSR. Of course, I had it

done within about 30 hours of when my a-fib episode began, so perhaps

there was less risk of a stroke or abnormal rhythm there. But I just wanted

to say, in case you had not had this done before, that the procedure itself

was very easy to go through--the anticipation, however, was not! Good luck

on Tuesday...

Musa

Musa Mayer

mailto:musa@...

[Guest guest]

Thanks, Musa. I'm confident the risk of stroke is low. Probably take a bigger

risk every time I get in my car. But I'm used to that. Remember 20 years (no,

think it was 30, time flies when you're having fun) I was in a fairly serious

auto accident. Shortly thereafter my wife was driving me somewhere and I really

tried to get her to pull over when I saw another car approaching a few blocks

away. Fear -- or worry -- is rarely rational. At least in my case it is.

Thanks again.

Ed

[Guest guest]

> > It would be rare for a person with no known heart disease to go

> into

> atrial fib., and have it be an isolated incident. (sorry)

>

> Before we scare the poor guy out of his wits, let's note that it's

> very common for people with occasional episodes of afib to have NO

> heart disease other than afib.

I agree with you Trudy. I had the Thallium stress test and a whole

lot more and they could never find any reason for my a-fib. This was

also the case with my mother, who stayed in a-fib (and on Coumadin)

until she passed away at the age of 87 (of non heart related

ailments.)

Lorraine

[Guest guest]

> > It would be rare for a person with no known heart disease to go

> into

> atrial fib., and have it be an isolated incident. (sorry)

>

> Before we scare the poor guy out of his wits, let's note that it's

> very common for people with occasional episodes of afib to have NO

> heart disease other than afib.

Trudy: Please read again what I said. A person with no known

heart disease who had atrial fib would be called lone atrial fib.

People who have lone atrial fib rarely have one incident of atrial

fib. I was certainly not trying to " scare the poor guy out of his

wits " , if you would go back and read the rest of my message, I would

rather think it was realistic, reassuring and comforting.

Pam Walter

[Guest guest]

Many thanks Isabelle. I'll make sure the banana supply is adequate. Assume it

is because my wife eats them every day. The big question is my INR. I had quit

drinking after being diagnosed but had resumed recently. Now I've quit again,

and I suspect alcohol and coumadin mixing makes for a higher INR. Not sure

alcohol is what triggered my afib, but why take the chance.

Ed

[Guest guest]

Ed:

On the morning of the Cardioversion: I hope they check your

magnesium level and that it is in the normal range, your INR is

between 2 and 3 and your hemoglobin is slightly below l5 and your

hematocrit is slightly below 45.....you are more likely to

experience success.

Be sure to also watch your potassium level by eating bananas, kiwi

etc and your calcium, by taking some calcium tabs the day before.

Fasting for at least 8 hours is also recommended.

Best Wishes and I'll be thinking about you on Tuesday, Isabelle

[Guest guest]

> Many thanks Isabelle. I'll make sure the banana supply is

adequate. Assume it is because my wife eats them every day. The big

question is my INR. I had quit drinking after being diagnosed but

had resumed recently. Now I've quit again, and I suspect alcohol and

coumadin mixing makes for a higher INR. Not sure alcohol is what

triggered my afib, but why take the chance.

> Ed

Ed: I found out that alcohol definately affects your

prothrombin time; and I can't remember which way it goes, whether it

also acts as an anticoagulant, or inhibits the effectiveness of your

coumadin. I went through the same thing with my vitamin K

vegetables, with my Pt's up and down and couldn't seem to control my

coumadin dose. Finally my doctor said " it's not that you can't have

it, it's just that if you eat it one day and not the next, I will

never be able to get you on a regular dose of coumadin. " " If you

insist on having your greens, then you need to eat some source of

vitamin K every day. " " It has to be every day, or not at

all. " " That way I can regulate your dose. " I think by drinking and

then not drinking, you make it difficult to regulate your dose. Of

course, I'm one who has trouble saying never, so good luck.

Pam

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