Guest guest Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 My first Afib attack was in June of 2003. I have been in NSR since last September. I am taking Flecainide 100 mg twice daily and Toprol 25 mg once a day to prevent Afib from coming back. I am thinking about to join a group tour to visit a foreign country where the medical facilities are not very good. I can not make up my mind whether to go or not, because I am worried that if Afib attack happens during the trip I would not know what to do. Has anybody been through this kind of dilema? Advice will be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I have only traveled to Western Europe which, while not the US, has pretty good medical care available. In addition I have a membership in MedJet Assistance which will fly you back home in a private jet with medical staff if you are hospitalized more than 150 miles from home. When you say " the medical facilities are not very good " do you mean that they are really bad or do you mean it's just not the US? Perhaps your doctor here could advise you. Brenta Afib and travel ....I am thinking about to join a group tour to visit a foreign country where the medical facilities are not very good. I can not make up my mind whether to go or not, because I am worried that if Afib attack happens during the trip I would not know what to do. Has anybody been through this kind of dilema? Advice will be greatly appreciated. Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 I recently experienced an episode of afib in a foreign country (Bonaire), and was quite afraid of the care I would get. I called home to my own cardio practice, got one of the doctors (not my own) who gave me minimal advice on what to do, so I had to rely on local help. I never did get back in rhythm on the trip, but the care I got was excellent, and allowed me to enjoy as much of the trip as possible. What I absolutely did learn is the following: know the drugs you are on, and understand specifically what they do and how they work. Know how to read all the details of an EKG and how the drugs you are on effect your EKG. Discuss with your cardio a solid plan for " rescue " should you have an episode on travel.. either to get you back into rhythm, or to control your rate enough to let you continue.. usually rate control is good enough to let you enjoy your travels until you get home. Have 'rescue' drugs with you, and know how much you can take, in combination with your regular medications.. know what dose you can go to on your regular meds too... In other words.. don't exclude yourself from travel just because you had an episode 9 months ago, but do know what to do if you have another episode and medical assistance is unavailable or ill advised! You need to be able to understand specifically what a local doctor might do to you, or give to you... Also, take the fine print documentation that comes with all the drugs you are taking.. for me taking the information on dofetilide (a U.S. only drug) saved me from potential disaster, as the doctor on island had no idea of the contradictions to it... we poured over the information and came up with a working solution. A good rate rescue drug is digoxin.. I will never travel without it again, despite it not being in my regular arsenal.. I also know that I can go up to 200 meg of atenelol (I'm at 50) if my heart rate is not controlled, but I also know that the QT time on my ekg can't be too much or I have to back off. And know that an adjustment in medication can likely take a few days to settle in (other than the dig, which works quite quickly)... but if you experience an afib episode while traveling, your goal should be to simply control the rate (below 100) and go about your business until you get home. And lastly, buy trip insurance that includes medical evacuation to the nearest acceptable medical facility.. there are many countries that have excellent medical care, where you would guess otherwise, and many you assume have great care, that don't! If you're in serious trouble you will need to be shipped out to one that does, and medical trip insurance will offer that for you. And it's not that expensive.. usually a percentage of the overall trip price! Hope this helps,' Stef bpsoong wrote: My first Afib attack was in June of 2003. I have been in NSR since last September. I am taking Flecainide 100 mg twice daily and Toprol 25 mg once a day to prevent Afib from coming back. I am thinking about to join a group tour to visit a foreign country where the medical facilities are not very good. I can not make up my mind whether to go or not, because I am worried that if Afib attack happens during the trip I would not know what to do. Has anybody been through this kind of dilema? Advice will be greatly appreciated. Web Page - http://www.afibsupport.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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 25, 2004 Report Share Posted May 25, 2004 Hello.. I travel abroad frequently....mostly to the UK where I feel the medical help would be excellent...but I have taken the precaution of joining a program, or whatever you might want to call it, it's not insurance. Med-Jet Assistance, you have to be admitted to a hospital but from there they will fly you home or to a hospital of your choosing from any where in the world. Their web page is: www.medjetassistance.com, I felt the price was right. $195.00 for 1 person and $295.00 family plan, this is per year. I have no affiliation with this group at all but it certainly makes me feel better knowing I have it. I am also on flecainide and would certainly suggest you know as much about your medications as possible. Good Luck...Marie..Pacific Northwest ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ -- In AFIBsupport , " bpsoong " <bpsoong@y...> wrote: > My first Afib attack was in June of 2003. I have been in NSR since > last September. I am taking Flecainide 100 mg twice daily and > Toprol 25 mg once a day to prevent Afib from coming back. > > I am thinking about to join a group tour to visit a foreign country ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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