This is close to the version that I tried to enter last night, but lost "in space". It's long - so be warned. I apologize for the length.......Fred

I appreciate the comments & replies that many of you have made – as well as the questions that some have asked. It would be thoughtless and unkind for me to ignore those questions, so I will TRY to answer some of them now. THANKS for your input, Guys – and I mean that seriously.

First, “ZSMICHAEL” – symptoms. There is an overwhelming feeling of tension in my chest. You haven’t lived until you have experienced that feeling of having your heart in your throat just after you swallowed it. It leaves me sitting – rocking in a chair – until it subsides. I clench my fists, I rock in a chair (or not), and I pray that it will pass. Second, a feeling of tiredness which forces me to avoid simple tasks like walking to the mailbox, doing simple household tasks, going to Wal Mart because I do not want to walk from one side of the store to the other. And the other day I broke down & did something that I swore I would never do. I rode one of those Wal Mart electric carts when I went shopping. I KNOW that other shoppers look at me & wonder why a guy who looks so normal (my opinion) is riding that damn cart. I KNOW because I’ve done that myself. But I literally can’t go shopping without taking breaks during my travels in the store. Another is finding myself gasping for air for no apparent reason. This has happened while I am sitting in church (among other places). I have thoughts like ‘I wonder if I can make it to the door before I pass out?’ And I DON’T want the embarrassment of falling on my face in the middle of church. There are other feelings that go along with it (terror), but these are some of the main ones.

“PASig” – I don’t believe I have sleep apnea; at least I’ve never been diagnosed with it, and I sincerely pray that I don’t get it. I don’t believe that I could wear one of those “mask” devices and sleep – and I feel sorry for those who have to do that. Besides, a large number of spine procedures (operations) has left me unable to sleep on my back. It’s either sleep on my side or forget it.

“mlee” – second opinion. Don’t remember how many “doctors” have seen me to date, but I think I’m working on doctor #4 right now… maybe number #5. But you know how it goes: You make an appointment to see a doctor and when you get there you discover that the guy is not a doctor at all. Maybe he’s a doctor’s assistant or a nurse’s assistant or something like that. But at least we know that the illegal aliens who invade our country each day are getting their healthcare needs met. I am comforted by that fact.

“PA220” – your request to keep you ‘in the loop’. I promise you… I will TRY to do that. THANKS.

“sjtill” – “heart palpitations, shortness of breath, generalized fatigue”… I think these are some of the most common symptoms that those with AFIB have & I have elaborated on them in the first paragraph. Some clarification: I have two BP monitors made by “Omron” (supposed to be a good product). One of these works at the wrist & the other works at the upper arm. BOTH have the feature of being able to detect an irregular heartbeat & notifying the user of same. Problem is that this feature doesn’t always work. In the past I have worn a “ZIO” monitor and checked my heartbeat at the same time and found that one monitor says I’m in rhythm while the other says I’m not.

I accidentally found a “shadetree mechanic” way of monitoring the heartbeat. If I cross my arms on my chest and feel the left side of my left titty with my right hand I can sometimes get a good, clear picture of what’s happening in there. And sometimes it aint pretty. I was once told by one of my doctors that a part of my heart was beating at about 320 beats per minute. Seems that different parts of your heart CAN beat at different rates – and it also seems that mine was going to town. I said to that doctor: “It sounds to me like something is going to wear itself out pretty quick.”…. And he replied that that was certainly a possibility.

And finally, a word about personal cardiac monitors: All are not created equal. “Cardia Mobile” is perhaps the most highly advertised & well-known one. But when I began to read about it in detail what I found was that while you ARE buying it, you are in truth NOT BUYING IT. Seems that Cardia Mobile will let the patient have access to the results of the first check, but all checks after that have a rather steep charge. You tell me: Am I reading that right or not? I am human, I am a man, I am fallible. So I passed on “Cardio” and went with another brand that had very positive reviews: “SonoHealth”. It seemed to work well. It’ll tell you if your heart’s beating too fast, too slow, irregularly, and several other things. It will even CHART a graph that looks MUCH like a “professional” EKG. But after you’ve religiously recorded a chart of all this info then you’ve got to “sell it” to your doctor. And that may well be the hardest part of all. And you might be surprised – or maybe you wouldn’t be – to learn how much MORE your doctor knows about this stuff than you do.

I’ll tell you a little story to illustrate the point. Several weeks ago my doctor decided to try me on a new pill. Just for kicks I decided to read all the cautions that came with the pills. This can be unnerving so maybe you ought to pass on the exercise. The pill is called “Flecainide” and it is strictly a heart medicine. One “warning” went like this: “WARNING: Though this medication often gives great benefits to people with irregular heartbeat, it may cause a serious new irregular heartbeat….. Flecainide should not be used to treat a certain type of irregular heartbeat (persistent atrial fibrillation/flutter)…” GREAT. All I need – another more serious heart problem.

OK, so here I sit… knowing full well that I have been advised that I have “atrial fibrillation/flutter…” - and I read a warning like that?!! I broached the subject with my heart “doctor” as politely and respectfully as I could, and it seemed to me that what I got was a lot of “crawdadding”. You tell me, what’s a fellow to do?… because I seriously at this point don’t know WHAT to do. And, as I said in an earlier post: “I’m not whining, not griping. I’ll play the cards I have been dealt – with no kickback. But it sure would be nice to be told ‘the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth’…

And the latest fly in the ointment is a reply by one forum member telling me that he had had THREE ablations and now seems worse off than ever. PLEASE don’t get me wrong: I appreciate his reply as much as anyone’s – maybe even more. But it certainly opens up the list of possible outcomes, doesn’t it?

Well, I’ve droned on long enough. I apologize to you ALL for the length…. But some asked as if they wanted to know. I’ll close here. Thanks for asking………..Fred

Your journey is similar to mine except I just had my second Cardioversion procedure instead of an ablation. Cardioversion is basically a jump start to your heart to get it back in rhythm. My first cardioversion was about 2 and a half years ago and I was surprised when my afib returned. This second episode sounded very similar to your symtoms with the pounding heart, shortness of breath and the tight feeling in my chest.

After my first cardioversion, I bought one of those Kardia monitors and attached it to the back of my cell phone. Here is how it actually works. After you test yourself, it shows your actual heart beat graph and tells you if it is normal or if Afib is detected along with your BPM heart rate. There is nothing else to buy unless you opt for the extra cost exam by sending your results to them for evaluation. I just use it to confirm my own feelings. The device was recommended by my cardiologist and I found mine for about $60 by shopping around.

The question of sleep apnea is valid. I also didn't think I had it but after finally getting a sleep study done, well I joined the CPAP club. I have been using a machine for about 15 years now and I can't get a good sleep without it.

I asked the doctor who did my second procedure what causes the Afib to return. He said it is still unknown but there are many factors going on in your body that must all work together to keep your heart rate and respiration working with each other to keep you going and if they don't get along, then afib is the result. Could even be a chemical imbalance too.

Anyhow, enough rambling. I would suggest talking to your doctor about cardioversion verses ablation and see if you might be a candidate. Good luck and best wishes.

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
I’ll tell you a little story to illustrate the point. Several weeks ago my doctor decided to try me on a new pill. Just for kicks I decided to read all the cautions that came with the pills. This can be unnerving so maybe you ought to pass on the exercise. The pill is called “Flecainide” and it is strictly a heart medicine. One “warning” went like this: “WARNING: Though this medication often gives great benefits to people with irregular heartbeat, it may cause a serious new irregular heartbeat….. Flecainide should not be used to treat a certain type of irregular heartbeat (persistent atrial fibrillation/flutter)…” GREAT. All I need – another more serious heart problem.

A year and a half ago when I first started getting heart palpitations, my Dr. Put me on Flecainide. The palpitations stopped. A few weeks later when I got in to see a cardiologist, he flipped out when I told him I was taking Flecainide. Said it was dangerous to take Flecainide alone. He had me stop it and started me on Diltiazem. It only helped a little and about a year later he added the Flecainide back in at a smaller dose than my regular Dr. originally prescribed. Since I’ve been taking both, I rarely feel the palpitations. I do read all the warnings that come with prescriptions, but it seems like they do more to scare the dickens out of me than anything else. This thread has me making a new list of questions for my cardiologist when I see him next month.

I get fitted for a ZIO on Monday to see if anything has changed since the last time I wore one.

Thanks for responding. Your symptoms are now very clear and spell out the need for another ablation. Hopefully this one will take.

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:


“PASig” – I don’t believe I have sleep apnea; at least I’ve never been diagnosed with it, and I sincerely pray that I don’t get it. I don’t believe that I could wear one of those “mask” devices and sleep – and I feel sorry for those who have to do that. Besides, a large number of spine procedures (operations) has left me unable to sleep on my back. It’s either sleep on my side or forget it.

Well, I didn't even know I snored heavily until I got married and started driving my poor wife crazy and I never thought in a million years I'd have sleep apnea but ended up diagnosed with severe sleep apnea. The mask is actually very comfortable and I haven't slept this well in years and actually can't really sleep without it now. I sleep on my side about 50% of the time and have no issues, so the fact that you can't sleep on your back is a non-issue. I'm just saying it cannot hurt to go to an ENT and a sleep specialist to at least get checked out. They now have at-home sleep studies where you wear a gizmo for one night that measures your breathing and heart rate etc and can give you a good indication if you have it or not.

If you are trying to rule everything out and get second opinions on this, I'd really urge you to go this route.

JAB is correct about the Kardia Mobile EKG device. You buy one of the units (I have the 6-lead) and download the free app. They offer a subscription service which includes reviews by a doc but you don't have to use that. I just do a reading whenever I feel the need and email the readout to my doc if it's not normal. No additional fees beyond the initial device purchase.

"JAB" and "Redleg"- I opted for the "SonoHealth" personal, portable EKG instead of the "Cardio Mobile" for the reasons stated previously. As to cardioversions: I guess I've had at least 3 or 4 of those. The first was shortly after I discovered that I had AFIB... and I will never forget it. The cardioversion itself? Nothing to it. But the stress test that they did at about the same time?... well I seriously thought that I wasn't going to survive that. You see, they did the "chemical version" of that test instead of the "exercise version".I was holding on for dear life - hoping & praying that my heart would not burst. I would like to know the statistics on what percentage of people actually have a heart attack caused by that test. But I'll bet those figures would be hard to come by... and might not be accurate even if you could get them. You see, I've grown a little distrustful...... FredT

Those stress tests are no fun. I was in good health at the time and I think my Dr. had me do one just because of my age. I came out in good health, but I don’t think I’d want to do another one of those.

quote:

Originally posted by airbubba:
i'm on eliquis, twice/day for afib.

Me too

quote:

Originally posted by Redleg06:
JAB is correct about the Kardia Mobile EKG device. You buy one of the units (I have the 6-lead) and download the free app. They offer a subscription service which includes reviews by a doc but you don't have to use that. I just do a reading whenever I feel the need and email the readout to my doc if it's not normal. No additional fees beyond the initial device purchase.

When I bought mine, they had just hit the market. I got lifetime storage and subscription. I upgraded to their new unit and I get the same benefits as long as I keep my email address. It also works with my Omron BP.

joyed, the last stress test I had I asked the doc if he wanted to do chemically induced or exercise induced. He replied it was up to me. I asked him if I did the chemically induced and had a problem could it be dealt with. Yes probably was the answer. I did the exercise induced!

"Probably" can be dealt with? Boy, that's a real confidence builder, isn't it?!! No wonder you passed on the chemo version!

quote:

Originally posted by jtedescucci:
<<snip>> well I seriously thought that I wasn't going to survive that. You see, they did the "chemical version" of that test instead of the "exercise version".<<snip>>

I had one of those about 10 years or so ago, and like you, I truly thought my heart was going to explode and I'd die right then and there! Took several minutes to get things back under control... some of the LONGEST minutes that I can remember!

Bonnie is 83 y.o. and going in Wednesday for this procedure,
Any prayers you can spare would be appreciated.

Her 3 other medical concerns have me 2/3 quaking in my sheets.

They are really pushing the Watchman device here. Even having television commericials with the Doc. Insurance covers it, and if it works does away the super expensive Xarelto. I do not know long term results so I would take it slowly.

I am amazed at how cavalier attitudes are about multiple ablations. Every time they do one it creates scar tissue and adhesions between the heart muscle and the pericardium. That can prevent access to the areas of the needing mapping and treatment.

My EP (director of the Afib lab at Mass General) has been very resistant to doing a second ablation. Unfortunately, recurrent ventricular tachycardia has brought me to the point that I need one. The first attempt was unsuccessful due to the adhesions from my earlier procedure. Currently I am awaiting approval on a compassionate use waiver from the FDA on a new procedure that is finishing up clinical trials.

Good luck but definitely get a second opinion.

^^^^^^^^^^^
Can you provide a little info on the new procedure you may be having? Thanks

Bronicabill—That feeling like you were going to die was most likely due to the validating agent used back then, dipyridamole. The moots recent agent, Lexiscan, rarely has side effects like that.
When possible, an exercise test is usually better because it more closely emulates the stress your heart feels with exercise.

BTW my wife had her first episode of AF in September; we went to the ED with our Kardia Mobile tracings. She ended up not being cardioverted in the ED, but converted in her own the next day. She’s on Elequis but has had no recurrence. She has an Apple Watch that duly reported the AF. Between the Apple Watch and the Kardia Mobile—plus she’s symptomatic with every episode we know of—it will probably be safe to have her stop the Eliquis at some point. That approach is the point of a clinical trial note underway to demonstrate whether it’s safe to stop anticoagulants and restart in the case of recurrent AF lasting hours.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^^^
Can you provide a little info on the new procedure you may be having? Thanks

It’s a new ablation tool. They were doing clinical trials at MGH and Mount Sinai in NYC. Likely some other hospitals as well. My doc has been very pleased with the results and expects it to become the new standard in the not too distant future. He anticipates it getting FDA approval for Afib sometime in 2024.

Thank you for taking the time to respond. Please keep us posted.