Re: I'm new and have a few questions for all of you

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 2/4/2004 2:21:33 PM Pacific Standard Time, anita@...

writes:

<< My questions would be:

1. I'm only 32, how common is this for someone my age?

2. Can it just happen for no particular reason?

3. This is very scary for us, how do you deal with it on a daily

basis? I know that I haven't had it very often, but we're trying to

have another baby and the thought that this could happen again is a

little scary. I know they have the info to deal with the situation if

it arises, but it's still scary.

>>

Anita,

Afib is not common in younger people, but it certainly happens. You are not

alone. I have had afib since a very young age, possibly even childhood

although it was never confirmed because doctors attributed my complaints to

imagination. Like you, when my afib started, I was absolutely terrorized, sure

that I

was going to die, and unable to anything except mope and cry while an episode

was occurring. Your pacing the floor and praying sounds very familiar to me.

After a few years of this, I realized that it apparently would not kill me

and began to relax a bit. I have found that relaxation is a key element in

both preventing and stopping afib episodes. Knowing that afib will not kill you

should help you to relax, as it helped me. Afib is indeed very scary, but it

is not a killer. The main danger from afib is stroke, but that can be

prevented by taking a blood thinner, either aspirin or Coumadin. However, I

took no

Coumadin for the first 16 years of my more than 20 year afib career and never

had a stroke.

Afib can happen for no apparent reason, and that type of afib is called

" lone. " If it is intermittent as yours and mine is, it is called " paroxysmal. "

I

don't know about the baby issue, but I would think that your doctor could

prescribe a med that would work for you and be safe for your baby. Controlling

the symptoms of afib can remove a great deal of the scary aspect. It's much

easier to relax when it no longer feels as if your heart will jump out of your

chest.

Try to relax and take comfort in the fact that there are so many of us who

have gone through what you are going through and have survived. You have my

deepest sympathy because I understand completely how you feel. I've been there.

Best wishes,

in sinus in Seattle

[Guest guest]

Stef,

Thanks so much for your welcome and wealth of information. Actually,

I just found out yesterday about the different ways to calm things

down. My family dr shared that with me, but my internist and

cardiologist from a couple of years back never mentioned it. That was

probably because I wasn't having any episodes at that time (3-4

years).

Thanks again,

Anita

> Hello,

> My name is Anita, 32 years old, wife and mother to a wonderful 4

year

> old boy named Riley, who had the chicken pox:-)

>

> I had my first episode of AFIB during my 32nd and 33rd weeks of

> pregnancy with Riley. It woke me up from my nap. My heart was

> thumping 160bpm. I went to the ER and they had no idea what to do

> with me. Finally talked to many specialists, etc..the concern of

> course was the fact that I was pg and they weren't sure what meds

> were safe for the baby. To make a very long story short, they gave

me

> digoxin and heparin. It took 24 hours for my heart rate to return

to

> normal. They had no idea why it started. They did every possible

test

> and my heart, arteries, etc looked excellent! Initially, they told

me

> I could have a stroke and that scared my husband I to bits!

>

> It happened again 1 week later, but this time they knew exactly

what

> meds they could give and it took a couple of hours to go back to

> normal.

>

> I've had thumps and some irregular heartbeats since here and there

> since 1999 (Riley's birth), but nothing significant.

>

> Last Sunday night, I was falling asleep and it started up. I timed

it

> and it was again 160bpm and I thought my heart was going to pop out

> of my chest. It was exactly the same experience I had while pg.

This

> time I tried to calm down and not be anxious. It paced the living

> room floor and prayed. Evenutally, after a very long 2 minutes, it

> went back to normal. I had an ECG done yesterday and am waiting for

> the results along with waiting for an appt with a cardiologist.

>

> My questions would be:

> 1. I'm only 32, how common is this for someone my age?

> 2. Can it just happen for no particular reason?

> 3. This is very scary for us, how do you deal with it on a daily

> basis? I know that I haven't had it very often, but we're trying to

> have another baby and the thought that this could happen again is a

> little scary. I know they have the info to deal with the situation

if

> it arises, but it's still scary.

>

> That's probably all for now. I may think of some other questions

> later.

>

> Thank you so much for your time and listening to my woes.

>

> Take care,

> Anita

>

>

>

>

> Backup web page - http://afibsupport.proboards23.com

> List owner: AFIBsupport-owner

> For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via

email,

> send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help

>

> Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or

should be acted upon without consultation with one's physician.

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

> A-Fib can be a progressive condition, however, and episodes can get

closer together and longer in duration. There are also some things

you can do to get out of a session when it happens... these include

crunching your body as hard as you can (like having a baby!), or

pressing on your eyeballs until you think they are going to pop out

(they won't), or massaging your neck on the sides as hard as you can

(all designed to stimulate the vegus (?) nerve, which can drop your

bp and cause your hear to convert).

>Men can squash their testicles as hard as they can (again, to

stimulate this nerve)... <

I think that I will pass on this advise and would like to meet the

fool who would try this.

And the nerve is " Vagus " I believe.

Ed

[Guest guest]

hey.. I'm just passing on the advice of my doctor! I don't have any of these,

so can only guess at how unpleasant the idea might be!

I know pushing on your eyeballs isn't much fun, and so far has never worked...

only crunching works for me... I can substantially drop my heart rate by

massaging my neck, but again, it's never ended a session of a-fib!

Stef

afibber2003 wrote:

> A-Fib can be a progressive condition, however, and episodes can get

closer together and longer in duration. There are also some things

you can do to get out of a session when it happens... these include

crunching your body as hard as you can (like having a baby!), or

pressing on your eyeballs until you think they are going to pop out

(they won't), or massaging your neck on the sides as hard as you can

(all designed to stimulate the vegus (?) nerve, which can drop your

bp and cause your hear to convert).

>Men can squash their testicles as hard as they can (again, to

stimulate this nerve)... <

I think that I will pass on this advise and would like to meet the

fool who would try this.

And the nerve is " Vagus " I believe.

Ed

Backup web page - http://afibsupport.proboards23.com

List owner: AFIBsupport-owner

For help on how to use the group, including how to drive it via email,

send a blank email to AFIBsupport-help

Nothing in this message should be considered as medical advice, or should be

acted upon without consultation with one's physician.

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you. You've been very encouraging. When I get in to see my

cardio, I will ask about what we can have on hand and waht I can take

that would be safe for the baby, when that time comes. It's scary

because I've never known anyone that had this. Now, that I've talked

to a few of you, I'm much more relaxed about it and have more info to

take to my dr. Thank you again,

Anita in Langley,BC

> In a message dated 2/4/2004 2:21:33 PM Pacific Standard Time,

anita@b...

> writes:

>

> << My questions would be:

> 1. I'm only 32, how common is this for someone my age?

> 2. Can it just happen for no particular reason?

> 3. This is very scary for us, how do you deal with it on a daily

> basis? I know that I haven't had it very often, but we're trying

to

> have another baby and the thought that this could happen again is

a

> little scary. I know they have the info to deal with the situation

if

> it arises, but it's still scary.

> >>

> Anita,

> Afib is not common in younger people, but it certainly happens.

You are not

> alone. I have had afib since a very young age, possibly even

childhood

> although it was never confirmed because doctors attributed my

complaints to

> imagination. Like you, when my afib started, I was absolutely

terrorized, sure that I

> was going to die, and unable to anything except mope and cry while

an episode

> was occurring. Your pacing the floor and praying sounds very

familiar to me.

> After a few years of this, I realized that it apparently would not

kill me

> and began to relax a bit. I have found that relaxation is a key

element in

> both preventing and stopping afib episodes. Knowing that afib will

not kill you

> should help you to relax, as it helped me. Afib is indeed very

scary, but it

> is not a killer. The main danger from afib is stroke, but that can

be

> prevented by taking a blood thinner, either aspirin or Coumadin.

However, I took no

> Coumadin for the first 16 years of my more than 20 year afib career

and never

> had a stroke.

>

> Afib can happen for no apparent reason, and that type of afib is

called

> " lone. " If it is intermittent as yours and mine is, it is

called " paroxysmal. " I

> don't know about the baby issue, but I would think that your doctor

could

> prescribe a med that would work for you and be safe for your baby.

Controlling

> the symptoms of afib can remove a great deal of the scary aspect.

It's much

> easier to relax when it no longer feels as if your heart will jump

out of your

> chest.

>

> Try to relax and take comfort in the fact that there are so many of

us who

> have gone through what you are going through and have survived.

You have my

> deepest sympathy because I understand completely how you feel.

I've been there.

> Best wishes,

> in sinus in Seattle