| Name | David |
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| Location | Berkshire UK |
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| Age | 65 |
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| Diagnosed condition | Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation |
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| Years with condition | 4 |
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| Frequency of episodes | every 3 -6 months approx. |
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| Duration of episodes | 5 min. to 3 hrs. |
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| Event preceding first AF | nothing obvious |
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| General health | Good: non-smoker: 5 units alcohol/week . Hypertension controlled by drug therapy. |
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| Current state | Waiting for the next episode |
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| Triggers | Have had about 10 attacks over 4 years. Initially hard to define triggers, but stress/excitement/claustrophobia all seem to be factors. The last three episodes definitely followed large meals late at night. Most episodes have occured when asleep. Sleeping on the left side doesn't help. 3 episodes resulted in visits to A & E but in all cases reversion to sinusoidal rhythm occured before any medical intervention was carried out. I was diagnosed with a moderate hiatus hernia some years ago, but this doesn't seem to produce acid reflux etc., and appears to have no bearing on AF as far as I am aware. |
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| Preventions | Will try to avoid large meals as recent episodes seemed to follow these. |
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| Current medications/side effects | Atenolol, Cardura XL and lowdose aspirin. No obvious side effects to date.
Flecinaide has been suggested, but I have not taken up this option. |
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| Past medications/side effects | None |
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| History of surgery | None
Have had several ECG's whilst AF was ongoing, but the cardiologist made little comment. An echocardiogram showed good LV function but slight valve leakage, consistent with my age. |
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| Future plans | To continue to monitor this condition with assistance from GP |
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| Personal comments | AF is becoming a considerable problem for me. It definitely is restrictive on personal confidence and activity, and from what I read is likely to get worse. Episodes are also extremely un-nerving. I find that it helps to pace up and down continuously during an attack and breath as regularly and deeply as possible. Thissometimes reduces the intensity of the fibrillation and restores morale a bit ! |
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| Check list |  acebutolol | amiodarone (cordarone,pacerone) | anisindione (miradon) |  atenolol (tenormin) | aspirin | azimilide | | bepridil | betaxolol | bisoprolol (monocor,emconcor) | | bretylium | bucindolol | carvedilol | | cibenzoline | dicumarol | digitoxin | | digoxin (lanoxin) | diltiazem (cardizem) | diphenylhydantoin | | disopyramide (norpace) | dofetilide (tikosyn) | dronedarone | | encainide | esmolol (brevibloc) | ersentilide | | flecainide (tambocor) | gallopamil | ibutilide (corvert) | | lidocaine | mibefradil | metoprolol (lopressor,toprol xl) | | mexiletine | moricizine | nadolol | | phenytoin | procainamide | propafanone (rythmol) | | propranolol (inderal) | quinapril (accupril) | quinidine (quinaglute) | | sotalol (betapace) | tedisamil | timolol | | tocainide | trandolapril (mavik) | valsartan (diovan) | | verapamil (calan,isoptin) | warfarin (coumadin) | asthma | | diabetes | GERD/acid reflux | hypertension | | hypotension | hyperthyroidism | hypothyroidism | | adrenergic | vagal | familial | | idiopathic/lone | paroxysmal | permanent/chronic | | atrial flutter | cardiomyopathy | CHF | | PAC | PVC | SVT | | syncope | bradycardia | tachycardia | | heart block | myocardial infarction | rheumatic heart diease | | sick sinus syndrome | stroke | WPW | | electrical cardioversion | defibrillator | pacemaker | | ablation | bypass | maze | | Male | Female | |
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