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Well, reading this link almost fits me to tee, I have no symptoms and doctor found it on routine annual check in with her today. She did an EKG and no panic but making me think.
I've been taking a beta blocker (Atenolol) for years and it's most likely kept me from any issues some have. She also suggested baby aspirin daily.
Also, she and I both feel I've been taking a little more thyroid support than I need so we've decided to cut back.
I have two friends who came down with afib in the last two years and both have noticeable issues.
Anyone relate to the Silent Afib.
Doc says many people can live into their 100's and never know they have afib.
In a word (or a couple words) yes it's very possible (and even common), to have a-fib and not know it. In my job as a cardiac sonographer I probably do more echocardiograms for a-fib than any other diagnosis, and I would estimate that roughly half the people I see for it never knew they have it, and it was picked up at the time of a routine physical (this is all anecdotal, and just an observation on my part).
Well, reading this link almost fits me to tee, I have no symptoms and doctor found it on routine annual check in with her today. She did an EKG and no panic but making me think.
I've been taking a beta blocker (Atenolol) for years and it's most likely kept me from any issues some have. She also suggested baby aspirin daily.
Also, she and I both feel I've been taking a little more thyroid support than I need so we've decided to cut back.
I have two friends who came down with afib in the last two years and both have noticeable issues.
Anyone relate to the Silent Afib.
Doc says many people can live into their 100's and never know they have afib.
So I take it are you saying you have afib now?
I had several brushes with it over the last year and a half or so, with 4 ER visits this year, and went into persistent, perhaps permanent, afib in early September. Now that I'm taking Metoprolol twice daily for ventricular rate control, I have no discernible symptoms from the afib itself. I do still have scary spikes in blood pressure, though, and I do feel palps at those times.
Yes, I would guess that your Atenolol minimized your symptoms. In my case, I took Metoprolol for a short time after my April ER visit, but dropped it soon because of heart rates in the low 40s and, at times, as low as 38. My hunch is that those low heart rates played a part in triggering my first "official" afib incident in July, which I'm convinced was vagal afib.
The point being that, yes, when not on Metoprolol I definitely felt the racing heart when afib began. Talk about being suddenly scared to death. I can feel my pulse quicken now just remembering and writing about it. Thus one of my life goals today is to seek more distractions from it. I think obsessing over heart health is one of the worst things you can do for it. But the very nature of its threat makes avoiding that very difficult. It does for me, at least.
But I've learned that for many people afib is nowhere near as serious a threat as I had always thought it was. I had no idea that millions live with it long-term and that there is no urgency for risky interventions absent major symptoms.
But I'm just starting down this afib road. My regular doctor (as opposed to the Cardiology group that the hospital referred me to) says that rate control is a perfectly legitimate and sensible strategy for now and I want no part of cardio-version or ablation. I worry about deterioration toward heart failure, but I'm told many people live with afib for a long time without that happening. So I just hope for the best and hope this strategy looks as sensible 5 years down the road.
Did they put you on anti-coagulants to reduce stroke risk? I'm taking Eliquis, as all my research points to that one as the overall best of the NOACs.
I had several brushes with it over the last year and a half or so, with 4 ER visits this year, and went into persistent, perhaps permanent, afib in early September. Now that I'm taking Metoprolol twice daily for ventricular rate control, I have no discernible symptoms from the afib itself. I do still have scary spikes in blood pressure, though, and I do feel palps at those times.
Yes, I would guess that your Atenolol minimized your symptoms. In my case, I took Metoprolol for a short time after my April ER visit, but dropped it soon because of heart rates in the low 40s and, at times, as low as 38. My hunch is that those low heart rates played a part in triggering my first "official" afib incident in July, which I'm convinced was vagal afib.
The point being that, yes, when not on Metoprolol I definitely felt the racing heart when afib began. Talk about being suddenly scared to death. I can feel my pulse quicken now just remembering and writing about it. Thus one of my life goals today is to seek more distractions from it. I think obsessing over heart health is one of the worst things you can do for it. But the very nature of its threat makes avoiding that very difficult. It does for me, at least.
But I've learned that for many people afib is nowhere near as serious a threat as I had always thought it was. I had no idea that millions live with it long-term and that there is no urgency for risky interventions absent major symptoms.
But I'm just starting down this afib road. My regular doctor (as opposed to the Cardiology group that the hospital referred me to) says that rate control is a perfectly legitimate and sensible strategy for now and I want no part of cardio-version or ablation. I worry about deterioration toward heart failure, but I'm told many people live with afib for a long time without that happening. So I just hope for the best and hope this strategy looks as sensible 5 years down the road.
Did they put you on anti-coagulants to reduce stroke risk? I'm taking Eliquis, as all my research points to that one as the overall best of the NOACs.
She mentioned afib but irregular heart beats too. So I'm not panicking. I've been taking grape seed extract for decades and it's a blood thinner. I may see the cardio MD she recommends.
And as I'm reading so many have this issue and live on long lives.
When we were leaving her office and talking in the lobby, one woman said too many EMF's in our lives.
Thing is too the MD I was seeing before this one, had given me 3 EKG's over 3 yrs and never made a negative comment. So, I'll work now to take off those lbs I put back on that I lost in the rehab for my knee issue.
She mentioned afib but irregular heart beats too. So I'm not panicking. I've been taking grape seed extract for decades and it's a blood thinner. I may see the cardio MD she recommends.
And as I'm reading so many have this issue and live on long lives.
When we were leaving her office and talking in the lobby, one woman said too many EMF's in our lives.
Thing is too the MD I was seeing before this one, had given me 3 EKG's over 3 yrs and never made a negative comment. So, I'll work now to take off those lbs I put back on that I lost in the rehab for my knee issue.
Symptoms of Afib include:
• Irregular and rapid heartbeat
• Heart palpitations or rapid thumping inside the chest
• Dizziness, sweating and chest pain or pressure
• Shortness of breath or anxiety
• Tiring more easily when exercising
• Fainting (syncope)
She mentioned afib but irregular heart beats too. So I'm not panicking. I've been taking grape seed extract for decades and it's a blood thinner. I may see the cardio MD she recommends.
And as I'm reading so many have this issue and live on long lives.
When we were leaving her office and talking in the lobby, one woman said too many EMF's in our lives.
Thing is too the MD I was seeing before this one, had given me 3 EKG's over 3 yrs and never made a negative comment. So, I'll work now to take off those lbs I put back on that I lost in the rehab for my knee issue.
I need to slim down more as well and, in my case, I have no excuse beyond a lifetime of enjoying way too many goodies. I dropped about 35 pounds in fairly short order about 3 years ago, then plateaued and finding it very difficult lose the other 25 or so I'd like to get rid of. 3 1/2 years ago I was hopeful, based on lots of conventional wisdom I had heard and read, that a major weight loss would help in a big way with my high blood pressure problem. In my case, it did nothing for my pressure at all. Seriously....nothing. I don't doubt it was helpful generally to my health, but it made no dent in my pressure.
From what I've been told and read, in most cases afib is not life threatening except for raising the likelihood of blood clots in the atria that could travel and cause a stroke. I would definitely check with your MD to get their take on the grape seed extract and whether it is sufficient protection.
I wholeheartedly agree and have for decades with the woman who said too many EMFs in our lives. Anyone who poo-poohs that concept just isn't thinking and/or needs some serious education on the subject. That latter group likely encompasses the majority of the population.
From your last paragraph, it sounds like your afib is intermittent and/or just started. If you don't already have one, I'd get a good blood pressure monitor and keep a close eye on it daily. The good ones like the Omron 10 have an irregular heartbeat indicator and you can watch the beat yourself as it counts down. Even slight irregularities like early or skipped beats (very common even in people with healthy hearts) are easily spotted.
• Irregular and rapid heartbeat
• Heart palpitations or rapid thumping inside the chest
• Dizziness, sweating and chest pain or pressure
• Shortness of breath or anxiety
• Tiring more easily when exercising
• Fainting (syncope)
I have NONE of these symptoms but if the MD says irregular heartbeats, then that must be there....
And it may be too this MD is more worried than the other MD who did 3 EKG's and made no comments about issues.
I have NONE of these symptoms but if the MD says irregular heartbeats, then that must be there....
And it may be too this MD is more worried than the other MD who did 3 EKG's and made no comments about issues.
AFib is not something you're necessarily born with - it develops over time. So in the beginning it is not to a level that is detectable and then at some point it DOES become detectable.
I'd say you're lucky to have a doctor that still actually listens to your heart. Perhaps it could be detected from your pulse alone (?) which nurses still usually check at a regular appt., but not all docs use their stethoscope any more.
Of course you can have "silent" afib without knowing it, that's why it's called "silent" afib--you have no symptoms and only find out you have atrial fibrillation during an exam.
There are many things (some not even cardiovascular related) that can present with the same symptoms.
Web MD, along with Dr. Google, is notorious for exacerbating hypochondria by leading one to believe a headache automatically means they have a brain tumor.
Certainly discuss your concerns with a health care professional you trust and don't just ignore symptoms which may (?) mean there's something serious going on that needs some attention, but don't try to diagnose yourself with Web MD or similar sources.
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