| Name | Paul |
|---|
| Location | Cardiff, UK |
|---|
| Age | 56 |
|---|
| Diagnosed condition | paroxysmal atrial fribulation |
|---|
| Years with condition | 5 - first noticed it April 2007. |
|---|
| Frequency of episodes | between 3 and 6 times a year |
|---|
| Duration of episodes | anything between 15 minutes and 31 hours |
|---|
| Event preceding first AF | Nothing really - woke up about 2 a.m and was aware of an erratic heartbeat. However, ince then I have wondered if my use of beta blockers (atenolol) to treat my high blood pressure may have slowed my heart down too much and this might have been a factor? |
|---|
| General health | Have been on blood pressure medication for about 20 years and had what may have been a mini stroke in 2008 (my doctor doesn't think it was, but he can't rule it out completely), but pretty good apart from that. |
|---|
| Current state | I'm having an episode as I type this, but, if anything they've been shorter and a bit less frequent lately. |
|---|
| Triggers | I've had episodes while laying on left hand side, laying on stomach and laying on back. Alcohol and, possibly, eating just before going to bed. |
|---|
| Preventions | Quite often an episode stops after I've climbed a long series of steps on the route I use while walking my dog first thing every morning - so exercise I suppose. |
|---|
| Current medications/side effects | I take various pills for my blood pressure and one to prevent gout daily, but the ones I take specifically for A Fib are 10 mg of Bisoprolol and 7 mg of Warfarin.
I'm not aware of any side effects with the Warfarin, but I do get a wheezyy cough occasionally which I believe may be connected to my Bisoprolol intake. |
|---|
| Past medications/side effects | Before Bisoprolol, I took Sotalol for a short while, but it seemed to increase the number of episodes I had. |
|---|
| History of surgery | None. |
|---|
| Future plans | As soon as I went on Warfarin, I cut right down on my alcohol intake, but did still have a couple of drinks on a Saturday night. However, with the large majority of my episodes occurring on a Sunday, I have now stopped drinking alcohol completely in the last month - my current episode proves that this is not a prevention, but I'm hopeful it will mean fewer of them.
I also aim to continue with the jogging which I took up after my "mini stroke" - I'm not sure it does any good as far as the AFib goes, but it's got to help my general health. |
|---|
| Personal comments | Reading the comments on this database, I'm struck by the fact that, although I view my AFib as a nuisance, I'm pretty well off compared to many sufferers. On my doctor's advice, I'm able to carry out all of my usual daily activities except for my jogging while having an episode.
My Doctor tells me that a high heart rate is more of a concern as far as potential blood clots go than the erratic heartbeat I tend to suffer from when I have an episode and so, with my heart having been thoroughly checked after my possible mini stroke (I was told that, apart from one slightly enlarged chamber, it was "in good shape"), he is happy for me to live as normal a life as I can and only contact him if and when an episode goes into a third day.
I realise that there is a good chance the condition will worsen in the future, but, as of now, I'm pretty optimistic about it and am thankful that it's not having a major impact on my life. |
|---|
| 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 | |
|
|---|
Statistics for the first 161 entries.
Please contact the site editor at james@dialsolutions.com
to comment or to suggest amendments or corrections.
First Form™ software © Dial Solutions Ltd 1999
|
