AFib abd meds

I'm not a doctor, but there has been some limited success
with Ablation for AFib. Might be worth looking into. Not
sure about the pros and cons.

Larry

Jim T. said:

I've written about this before - but still looking for ideas-
My wife is 76, not overweight and has had hypertension as
long as I can remember, most recent readings were in the
range 170/80. She also has permanent AFib. A cardioversion
lasted a day. She is on Coumadin (Warfarin). In attempting
to reduce the BP her meds were changed to diltiazem 180 mg
once a day (long ago) and Toprol (from atenolol) 50mg. Her
pulse rate seemed too slow so the doc reduced Toprol to
25mg (split from
50). She seemed to have less problem with Afib on the
atenolol. She now has severe swelling in the ankles -
supposed attributed to the diltaizem, and worse she has
such hard heartbeats in bed that she can't sleep.
Furthermore she is very tired and SOB - maybe from lack
of rest. She's due back at the cardio in a couple of
days and we are debating what to ask - or do. We are
seriously considering seeking out another doc, just for
another opinion.

On Sun, 25 Apr 2004 16:05:35 GMT, Larry <[email hidden]> wrote:

I'm not a doctor either, but was just diagnosed w/AFlutter,
and a couple other arrhythmias after three hospitalizations,
one which inserted a pacemaker and said i was fine even
though I still complained of symptoms, and the second that
sent me home while having almost continuous and various
arrhythmias. I also saw the cardiologist between the
pacemaker implant and the second hospitalization So you can
see it takes some investigation. I went to a different
hospital the third time. I was also hypertensive, not being
controlled with Norvasc. At this time I am taking sotalol to
control the irregular heartbeats - only a week and a half -
and it is working somewhat. But it has successfully lowered
my blood pressure.

The electrophysiologist (a cardiologist that specializes in
electrical problems of the heart) also discussed EPS - heart
mapping and possible ablation - for this condition. The
medicine may control the symptoms but does not cure it. My
friend found a lot of helpful information at

naspe.orgnaspe.orgOpen ↗

The nurses in the hospital were so impressed with the stuff
he printed out and brought to me that they took down the
name of the site and made copies of my info.

I'm happy to find this newsgroup because I still have a lot
of questions and look forward to getting support from others
in this situation.

Quoted message said:

I'm not a doctor, but there has been some limited success
with Ablation for AFib. Might be worth looking into. Not
sure about the pros and cons.

Larry

Jim T. said:

I've written about this before - but still looking for
ideas- My wife is 76, not overweight and has had
hypertension as long as I can remember, most recent
readings were in the range 170/80. She also has permanent
AFib. A cardioversion lasted a day. She is on Coumadin
(Warfarin). In attempting to reduce the BP her meds were
changed to diltiazem 180 mg once a day (long ago) and
Toprol (from atenolol) 50mg. Her pulse rate seemed too
slow so the doc reduced Toprol to 25mg (split from
50). She seemed to have less problem with Afib on the
atenolol. She now has severe swelling in the ankles -
supposed attributed to the diltaizem, and worse she
has such hard heartbeats in bed that she can't sleep.
Furthermore she is very tired and SOB - maybe from
lack of rest. She's due back at the cardio in a couple
of days and we are debating what to ask - or do. We
are seriously considering seeking out another doc,
just for another opinion.

E

remove those pesky SPOTTEDELEPHANTS to reply

Eliska said:

inserted a pacemaker and said i was fine even though I
still complained of symptoms

Hi Eliska,

I'm not a doctor either, and have a pacemaker implanted
(bradycardia and some other heart "bug"😉.

To my knowledge, a pacemaker is ineffective against afib and
aflutter arrhythmias (afib is another heart bug of mine).

Unless your pacemaker is actually a defribrillator, they
must have implanted it to handle a type of arrhythmia other
than aflutter (AV block? bradycardia?).

Regards
--
uplbet
(in email reply delete 01234 from the address)

uplbet said:

Eliska said:

inserted a pacemaker and said i was fine even though I
still complained of symptoms

Hi Eliska,

I'm not a doctor either, and have a pacemaker implanted
(bradycardia and some other heart "bug"😉.

To my knowledge, a pacemaker is ineffective against
afib and aflutter arrhythmias (afib is another heart
bug of mine).

Right you are.

The initial diagnosis was bradycardia, but I kept saying
something still wasn't right.

The pacemaker did correct the bradycardia, but I also had
periodic supraventricular tachycardia and AFlutter that had
finally started to occur more and more often.

Quoted message said:

Unless your pacemaker is actually a defribrillator, they
must have implanted it to handle a type of arrhythmia other
than aflutter (AV block? bradycardia?).

It was just for the bradycardia. What angered me was that no
one listened when I said I was still having other symptoms
after the implant.

Thanks for the feedback.

E

remove those pesky SPOTTEDELEPHANTS to reply

Eliska said:

The initial diagnosis was bradycardia, but I kept saying
something still wasn't right.

let me guess:
a) probably they considered your bradycardia as potentially
more serious and urgent to handle than your other heart
problems. And/or
b) they believed that once your bradycardia got fixed by the
pacemaker, they would be free to try any antiarrhytmic
drug with no risk to worsen your bradicardia problem

Quoted message said:

I also had periodic supraventricular tachycardia and
AFlutter that had finally started to occur more and
more often.

well, your paroxysmal (intermittent) a/flutter and
tachycardia now require attempts with some out of the of the
various drugs that are today available. That generally
require months. if not years. And later on, should those
attempts prove ineffective, you may consider rf ablation.

Last but not least, I believe you mostly need to discuss
your situation and perspectives with a cardiologist who is
*really* capable of a) listening to you, and b) explaining
things to you.

I apologize for my poor english (I live in Italy).
Best wishes!
--
uplbet
(in email reply delete 01234 from the address)

uplbet said:

Eliska said:

The initial diagnosis was bradycardia, but I kept saying
something still wasn't right.

let me guess:
a) probably they considered your bradycardia as potentially
more serious and urgent to handle than your other heart
problems. And/or
b) they believed that once your bradycardia got fixed by
the pacemaker, they would be free to try any
antiarrhytmic drug with no risk to worsen your
bradicardia problem

They (the hospital and the cardiologist I saw for follow up
after the pacemaker) told me my heart was fine.

During the second hospitalization, when the symptoms were
almost constant, they told me to see the cardiologist on an
outpatient basis to figure out what was wrong. But after
discharge I got even worse and didn't last the week til my
outpatient appointment.

It was at a different hospital that the cardiologist said my
symptoms made perfect sense, diagnosed the supraventricular
tachycardia and the AFlutter. He then sent in an
electrophysiologist for treatment

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I also had periodic supraventricular tachycardia and
AFlutter that had finally started to occur more and
more often.

well, your paroxysmal (intermittent) a/flutter and
tachycardia now require attempts with some out of the of
the various drugs that are today available. That generally
require months. if not years. And later on, should those
attempts prove ineffective, you may consider rf ablation.

I've been taking sotalol for a week and a half. There
is some improvement. Not having the constant tap
dancing in my heart.

When you say it requires months - does that mean the
medicine takes that long to be really effective to where I'm
back to my old self (although it looks like I may have had
the problem since birth) I am aware that it is not a cure.

Quoted message said:

Last but not least, I believe you mostly need to discuss
your situation and perspectives with a cardiologist who is
*really* capable of a) listening to you, and b) explaining
things to you.

Needless to say, I won't be seeing the clown who said
I was fine.

I had my first visit with the electrophysiologist who
treated me in the hospital. He definitely listens, even took
a moment to discuss recumbent bicycles and fountain pens
with me (long story)

Quoted message said:

I apologize for my poor english (I live in Italy).

Your English is great. So is my electrophysiologist, who is
also Italian

Quoted message said:

Best wishes!

Thank you for your input

E

remove those pesky SPOTTEDELEPHANTS to reply

Eliska said:

When you say it requires months - does that mean the
medicine takes that long to be really effective

no, I don't. I mean it may take that long to find the "best"
medicine (or the bes association of medicines) "for you".
For example, in my case it took years to find an association
of medicines, i.e. sotalol and flecainide, that lookes
*very* effective for me. And I'm aware that such
effectiveness maybe a coincidence or may not last long :-(

Quoted message said:

I had my first visit with the electrophysiologist who
treated me in the hospital. He definitely listens, even
took a moment to discuss recumbent bicycles and fountain
pens with me (long story)

excellent !

Best regards
--
uplbet
(in email reply delete 01234 from the address)