| Name | Phil Walker |
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| Location | Northampton UK |
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| Age | 56 |
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| Diagnosed condition | 'Lone' atrial fibrillation |
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| Years with condition | 16 |
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| Frequency of episodes | most recent August 2003, previous January 2000, 17 in total |
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| Duration of episodes | from a few seconds to several hours |
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| Event preceding first AF | First event took place on holiday in Italy following a long flight and then going out the next day for an hour long run! |
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| General health | Almost all the time excellent. I am a non-smoker and drink just a little mealtime wine. I run 10k and half marathons and do quite a lot of cycling. |
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| Current state | I am in a sort of 'limbo.' When will the next attack come along? |
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| Triggers | I guesss that old devil 'stress' plays a big part for me. I have carefully logged each of the episodes I have suffered and every single one has followed a stressful situation or event. The most recent AF occurred during the night a nd awoke me. I had spent most of the day driving in extreme heat (although the car was ice cold due to air conditioning)and probably became dehydrated due to lack of sufficient to drink. I returned home, went out for a long walk with my wife. We returned home, had a nice meal with two glasses of wine and then I worked late into the evening accompanied by two glasses of sherry! I also think that chocolate and very cold drinks might be possible triggers, and drinking too much tea. I have had two attacks following bending down and lifting a fairly heavy weight. There are probably a million other things that I don't even know about! |
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| Preventions | Avoid stress. Avoid people who tell you they have something much worse! Avoid caffeine. |
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| Current medications/side effects | Asprin (75mg)once a day
Flecainide Acetate (50mg) twice daily (morning and evening)
Side effects initially were slight light headedness, slight sensitivity to bright sunlight and generally feeling a bit 'spaced out!' Now I am not sure what is side effect and what is 'life!'
I do suspect that there has been a small increase in the number amd frequency of 'ectopic' beats since starting taking Flecainide. |
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| Past medications/side effects | None. I had several episodes of 'lone' AF before I took myself to Accident and Emergency and was given 'IT'S' name. As a fit athletic person I just thought my heart was having a bit of a sulk! |
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| History of surgery | None |
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| Future plans | I am determined not to be completely controlled by the condition. I find the most debilitating aspect of AF is the limit it places on one psychologically (when will the next attack come, will I be near a hospital, will I be half way up a mountain, will I be out of the country etc. etc.) I intend to continue with all my sporting activities, but having been very fit for all of my adult life, I feel really dejected sometimes that I still have aquired this condition. My cardiologist is very dismissive of my concerns and calls 'it' a common nuisance!! |
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| Personal comments | I think it is very difficult to fully understand anyone elses 'predicament' unless one has had personal experience. I really wish a time were near when all AF sufferers could be taken a bit more seriously by the medical profession. My own experience has been that because my attacks are (or have been so far) relatively infrequent, I shoud just get on with my life. I guess easier said than done! Keep beating as normally as you can, friends. |
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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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