^yeah. even ex-docs!
And thanks for the info, great lakes mom. very helpful.
I was diagnosed with afib about 6 months ago–discovered when I was having a checkup, as I did not feel it at all. After some investigation, it was determined that it was probably caused by a hyperthyroid condition (one that will eventually require removal of my thyroid–yup, it’s been a great year). My thyroid function is now normal (via meds), and while my cardiologist was hoping the afib would respond spontaneously, it hasn’t, so I’m scheduled for cardioversion (shocking of the heart) at the end of the month. I’m not terribly sanguine about the procedure, since I understand that the longer afib has been present, the more embedded the new electrical pathways become and the harder they are to change. We have no idea how long I’ve been in afib.
Meanwhile, I’m on the blood thinner Eliquis, and while I have no side effects, I hate the mere idea of it and its attendant risks and also hate that while on it I can’t take any NSAIDS like ibuprofen, since Tylenol does nothing for me for aches and pains and headaches. Worse, I have chronic kidney stones and the only drug that will wipe away that pain instantly is an NSAID. (Not even morphine works on me–quite a surprise to the ER staff!)
Anyway, maybe if enough CC’ers wish for the cardioversion to work, it’ll help. I’ll send my good wishes to OP in the meantime–hope all is resolved soon
MommaJ, good luck on that cardio version! I’ll be thinking of you.
@mommaj one thing I would advise is before they shock your heart ask for a TEE. Since you have been in afib a while you want to make sure there is not a clot in your heart before they shock you. If there is a clot they should not cardiovert you as the clot can move and you can have a stroke or worse. Not trying to scare you but I am an i ICU nurse and have seen multiple things happen! Good luck!
Oh, boy – long saga.
DH has afib. He had the transesophageal echocardiogram (the TEE @college67 refers to) and then the ablation. Then, he has a pacemaker/debrillator implanted. (The said they might has well put in the combo unit, because why not?) He is now on Eliquis to prevent stroke. He did have one scary side effect: he slightly tore a muscle in his shoulder, and BOY, did that bleed internally. His entire arm was black and blue. It makes us kind of nervous – what if he has to stop short in the car one day? Will he have internal bleeding around where his seat belt is?
I suspect he also has apnea but he doesn’t seem too keen to do anything about that. 
I feel he’s being monitored correctly, but sometime he and I wonder if he’s being overtreated.
VeryHappy, does your husband still have afib after all the treatment? The ablation did not work?
Garland, my H had 2 ablation a 21 years ago ( first one didn’t work). This past year was the first time the symptoms reappeared. He had a cardio conversion and all has been great.
He didn’t want to go the drug route…just went with the procedures as he wanted it fixed and done.
Good luck to your H.
I asked H about the cardioversion, because I didn’t understand this is if you are actually in Afib. When he went into it, his heart rate was over 180, and totally chaotic–there is no way he could walk around with that. He was in the hospital until they broke it. I wonder if his is some kind of outlier.
I am hoping for getting the CPAP, and then get off the meds. Ablation if necessary after that.
@dstark, the ablation was successful. At the time he had it, his heart rate was zipping along at some ridiculous rate. The ablation stopped it, but the pacemaker was inserted to prevent it from happening again. If it does, the PM will kick in.
And the Eliquis is because – as you’ve heard on the news-- “people with afib are at a higher risk of stroke.” DH had been “on an aspirin regimen” until he started taking the Eliquis.
ETA: Apologies for all the typos I just noticed in Post #24. It was gremlins, I swear.
@VeryHappy, I am glad to see the ablation was a success. 
Just as an aside–this seems to be shockingly common these days…I wonder if it was always so?
I think all of the things that are now diagnosed were common years ago. But we’re aware of them now because there are many more treatments available. (Not to mention all the pharmaceutical advertising to consumers.)
My husband has been living with Afib for several years now. He had cardioversion several times, and has been on medications for all this time, but is still in Afib. His cardiologist has been wanting to do ablation, but my husband would rather handle the symptoms than have the surgery at this point.
Treating his sleep apnea has not helped with the heart rate and rhythm, but he isn’t as exhausted as he used to be. He thought he would hate using a cpap, especially since the ventilator I use gave him claustrophobic reactions just watching me use that, but he sleeps so much better that now he doesn’t even nap without it.
He takes Xeralto now, but used to be on Warfarin. While he was on that, he did his own protimes at home and called in the results to the cardiologist’s office. The only problem with that is the insurance company would give him one strip per week, and if one was contaminated he’d have to go to the lab to have the test for that week. He needed weekly tests because his body does not metabolize well and the dosage needed frequent adjustments.
With longer lifetimes, more folks who have the ability are checking in their their docs and getting more things diagnosed and treated. The testing and treatments can cause more harm than good (as another thread about over-treatment points out). I too agree that many of these conditions were silent and probably did kill folks but may not have been recognized as THE cause of death, just a stroke or heart attack, not afib which caused those other events.
@college67, thanks for your concern–my cardiologist has in fact scheduled a TEE as part of the procedure, said she wouldn’t do it any other way. That’s actually the part that seems most daunting. Glad I’ll be under anesthesia!
I’ve been in the hospital for tests and treatments an awful lot lately, being very fortunately healthy for most of my life until last fall. (I’m sure my insurer us ruing the day they took me on.). Now the pharmacist greets me by name–ugh–and “patient” is a big part of my identity. Not my best year.
Endurance athletes are at significantly higher risk of afib than other people; our risk is something like ten times as high as the general population.
A friend just went in for a pacemaker for afib this Monday, for the slow heartbeat kind of afib. He had gone for a hike with Mr. Fang a couple of weeks ago, and had to turn back on an uphill because he was, uncharacteristically, so out of breath.
I think that all afibs must not be the same–there was nothing “silent” about H’s–he had a wildly erratic heartbeat at over 180 bpm. Both times it happened, he was in the ER till they broke it–first time he spent a weekend; next time it went back to normal almost right away. I can’t imagine how anyone can walk around like that. It certainly got the ER staff’s attention quickly!
When I had mine before medication…the top part of my heart was beating around 180 beats per minute (irregularly) and the bottom part of my heart was beating around 60. That’s what it felt like anyway. I could feel my heart click between the upper and lower parts of my heart. Then I knew I was in trouble.
It was exhausting. I used to lie down. Within 45 minutes, I would usually be ok.
that sounds awful!
@garland, your husband is going through it. Wasn’t fun. It does seem like quite a few people have afib.
It is funny to be talking about this with your husband being an ex doctor. I think your husband will be ok.