Guest guest Posted August 31, 2005 Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 I've been lurking here for a while now but thought I'd " go public " after having just experienced a 30 hour AFib episode. Typically, I only experience them ever couple of months and they have never lasted more than 24 hours. I've been trying to figure out what is triggering them but I can't detect any consistent variable. By way of background, I'm a 55yo male, 225 lbs (down from 235) and I had an angioplasty 4 years ago to open the right coronary artery that was 100% blocked. The problem was discovered during a stress test, which they stopped about 3 minutes into it and admitted me immediatley to the hospital. The cardiologist said that tests showed I had had a " coronary event " but I couldn't tell you when it happened as I never experienced any overt symptoms. At the time of the angioplasty, my cholesterol was about 260. It is now 143 due to diet, exercise and Lipitor (20mg/day). I also take atenolol (25mg/day), Diovan (80mg/day...added about a year or so ago after the first AFib episode), Folic Acid (1mg/day) and aspirin (325.mg/day). I go to the gym 4 times a week where I do 45 minutes on the elliptical crosstrainer (usually about 4.5 miles) and another 20-30 minutes of weight-training machines. My resting pulse is generally in the 50s although it has gone as low as 47. BP is around 100/70, sometimes a bit less. My cardiologist has said that if the AFib episodes get more frequent or extend more than 24 hours, he'll want to put me on coumadin. I'm not at all interested in doing that! So when this episode lasted 30 hours, it concerned me. I know I should tell my doctor but I'm not willing to add coumadin to my daily drug diet. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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