Afib with a pulse of 89?

Still learning .......still have questions..... I have had two afib episodes in the last year...both with a higher heart rate ...above 150...and an obvious irregular heart rate.

So...tonight...I had to shovel a bunch of heavy snow.....and I thought maybe that wasnt a good idea....but I didn’t overdo.I am 70.. so I’m somewhat cautious about shoveling.

Then I was getting ready to go to bed and taking a shower and I felt mildly ...just barely light headed....on and off for about 10 minutes. I sat down and took my BP and the little shaky heart appeared on my monitor.......and my BP was low and my pulse was high for me...about 90 bpm. I’m usually in in the 60’s or low 70’s. So I thought I’m having Afib......I retook my BP over the next ten minutes and my pulse would go faster and hen slow a bit......maybe 30 seconds of faster and then slow abit for 20 seconds and maybe go faster again. Never over 98 and even though it was fast and then slow...the beats were evenly spaced out....it didn’t feel uneven.

My only two episodes of Afib in the past where quite symtomatic....very irregular rate, a high heart rate, SOB, lightheaded, shaky, etc.

Now I am in bed and my pulse is in the 60s and .......did I have Afib ? Can you have Afib with a pulse less than 100? Less than 85? Can Afib come for a minute or 20 minutes and go away?

Does Afi have to be totally erratic or can you have measured fast runs and measured slow runs....if that makes sense.

I guess that is enough questions for now....Thanks for reading and any responses are appreciated.

Linda

Are youon any medications?

In the very early phases of my Affib I would often times get light headed preceeding an attack to the point of things going black but never passed out. I have very low BP as well. Those attacks never lasted very long. So far as my heart rate goes I unfortuantely never got a recording at those times. The only recordings I have ever gotten without meds was anywhere from 180- well over 200 bpm.

I am currently taking a very low dose of Atenolol at bedtime.....I do not tolerate drugs very well.

Linda

Yes, you can have afib below 100 or even below 85. Yes, it can come and go. However, it usually behaves about the same way in one person so if you've had a fast, very irregular rhythm in the past that's what you should expect. Without a Kardia or some other recording device, it's impossible to say what you experienced. Could be you've got some mixed atrial flutter and afib. Flutter tends to be more regular than afib.

I can show you a Kardia rhythm strip of mine that is AF with a rate of 55 bpm. So, yes, it can happen. My rates were usually about 85 bpm or so when in AF and only on propafenone (no beta blocker). I never saw north of 100 bpm even when completely unmedicated.

But I was always on the "low" side. I never experienced a 150 or 180 bpm event (thankfully). It's a bit odd to experience both "high" and "low", I'd think. Definitely mention that to your doctor. If there's a widely varying degree of AV block then that is something he or she should know about.

Linda,

Your BP device will average a number of beats to give you a heart rate.

A hallmark of afib is an erratic pulse. I can feel the erratic nature in my radial pulse, with my fingers. I would say, "I can name that rhythm in 4 beats or less." Of course other arrhythmias can also be erratic and an ECG device, like the Kardia, will allow you to be more precise in analyzing the rhythm. In my case, I normally have a "feeling" I might be in afib, I check my radial pulse, if it isn't regular, I'll verify with a Kardia.

Your flashing light on your BP device might give you the same feedback.

I have also used a heart rate variability app on my phone, which uses the phone's camera to look at variability. I wrote about it here and linked images: <[www.afibbers.org]

George

Yep, I have Kardia strips showing AF at 75-85 BPM. It's certainly possible. This was later in my AF "career," after I began The Protocol in earnest and was supplementing with magnesium and potassium and had made some pretty big lifestyle changes. Since the ablation, nothing.

Unless you all have a more updated Kardia than me it's not a good tool for anything other than afib. In other words you can have pacs close together and it interprets that as afib. It doesn't read things like flutter or bundle blocks or Junctional. I have Junctional rythym that is steady but makes me light headed and goes from slow to normal off and on. The point is if you experience that more maybe get a monitor just so you will know.

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tsco
Unless you all have a more updated Kardia than me it's not a good tool for anything other than afib. In other words you can have pacs close together and it interprets that as afib. It doesn't read things like flutter or bundle blocks or Junctional. I have Junctional rythym that is steady but makes me light headed and goes from slow to normal off and on. The point is if you experience that more maybe get a monitor just so you will know.

It is the app, not the device which makes the interpretation. There is a significant limitation on what can be done with a single lead device. I found that learning to read my own strips (which is still limited with a single lead device) gave me the most info.

What George said. It's a perfectly good rhythm strip that can yield a lot of information if you know the basics of reading an ECG. The interpretation by the app is limited to normal, possible afib, and unclassified. Everything that isn't perfectly normal or obviously afib will be labeled unclassified, which is why the majority of Kardia recordings I've ever taken said unclassified whether they were normal or not. You can pay the fee to have them interpreted by a tech (good enough) or a cardiologist (more $) if you're unable to interpret them yourself, but mainly if it doesn't say "possible afib" then it isn't afib.

Most of us arent ECG readers. I think most buy that and look at what the app is indicating like you said George. Ive not used it but the option to have it read by a tech may be a good idea. (It is single lead tho). My strip quite frankly is usually so hap hazard I dont know what the heck!!! The doc said its interference.

I know most people aren't ECG readers, but it's still useful for your doc to be able to see it. And should you ever choose, learning to identify afib is actually quite easy. It's probably the simplest arrhythmia of all to identify.

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tsco
The doc said its interference.

Quite likely. What I found is you have to get far away from large appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, etc, and make sure your phone isn't plugged in. A quiet environment also helps a lot because it uses sound to transmit from the sensor to the phone.