Afrial flutter

I am 84 , a former Forum contributor, and have had two ablations, one in 2005 with Dr. Epstein at Brigham and Womens in Boston, and the last in 2007 with Dr. Natale at the Cleveland Clinic.

After about twelve years blissfully afib free, following a stressful day driving in a bad storm and an anesthetic administered by a dermatologist on my cheek, that night I suddenly found myself in afib. But when I went to a cardiologist at UMass in Worcester, Mass., the EKG showed that I was in atrial flutter. I tried various anti-coagulants, which for some reason caused bowel problems, so now I am at risk of strokes and clots. They suggested a cardioversion, which frightened me. I take fish oil,.Mg Glutamate and K. and try to stay hydrated. I keep my fingers crossed. When I get up in the morning.I now feel faint and dizzy, my legs are weak, and I have blurred vision. This lasts most of the morning. Are these signs of atrial flutter or being dehydrated, or possibly depression or all of the above? I also have frequent bad cramps in my legs at night.

Dr. Natale in Austin Texas, kindly offered to see me again, but I can't make the trip from Boston to Austin, Texas. His very helpful secretary gave me the name of an EP that he suggested in Boston.


Are any of you dealing with Atrial flutter and, if so, how? Have you had a cardioversion for flutter? Do you have any of the symptoms that I have described?

My old guru Jacqui, have you been flutter free all these years? What do you suggest ?

Carola

Hello Carol... So sorry you are still struggling with this... but undoubtedly, you realize by now that flutter doesn't usually go away once it surfaces. To answer your question.. . No, I'm not still struggling with flutter. The flutter ablation was with Dr. Natale in 2014 followed by a touch-up about 7 mos. later in 2015... thankfully, has been holding well for the past 5 years. No recurrence.

You asked if I had ECV for flutter. Prior to those last procedures, I had many ECV's but learned that it's often difficult to keep flutter at bay.... often the ECV's only lasted a day or less and that was really frustrating. My heart rate was always extremely elevated and that was very debilitating...so I can truly appreciate your situation.

Assuming you are otherwise in good health, I would strongly urge you to make the contact that Shannon recommended to you. am concerned for you and the blood thinner issue as well. Even though I had the flutter ablation and LAA appendage isolation, and my clearance velocity was in good range, but because of my age - I was 79 at the time, Dr. Natale said it would be best (smart) to stay on a half dose of Eliquis for life. And I have. Do I like it? No. But it's the lesser of the 'evils.' So I am concerned for you with your heart activity and not being on an anticoagulant.

I checked your post from about a year ago ... [www.afibbers.org] and also some of our correspondence that I saved.. I'm wondering if management of your thyroid needs some attention since thyroid issues can definitely cause some of your symptoms as well as rev up your heart. Even though Dr. Natale said I could resume my low-dose Armour thyroid medication, neither my Family Practice MD nor my Functional Medicine MD would prescribe it for me... so I've been using low-dose iodine supplements which seem to be helping as my Labs are still in good range. (Hopefully, for you, it might be as simplistic as adjusting your thyroid meds)....but you'll need to have a talk and assessment with your endocrinologist about what's been happening.

Keep us posted, Carol.

Kind regards,
Jackie

I've had 6 ECVs and they don't frighten me at all. Very good chance you can get back in NSR and stay there. Then try to avoid the stress and triggers that got you this time.

Jackie - sorry to hear about MD that won't prescribe Armour. The smallest dose straightened me out in less than a week. It's good stuff.

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NotLyingAboutMyAfib
I've had 6 ECVs and they don't frighten me at.

I had about 30. They also don’t frighten me. I just am relieved when upon awaking that I am in nsr. For me to high of joules gives my sensitive skin blistering burns. That’s why I request 50 joules for af and 100 joules for flutter. At first they would say they rather zap me with 200 or 300 so it’s one and done...but upon reading my frequent (flyer) ecv history, they agree that in the past 50 or 75 or 100 was successful.

But everyone’s body is different. There must be a good reason (clots?) why they prefer a one and done high joules ecv...

NLAMAF - The ECV's didn't frighten me, either... they just didn't hold and it was really frustrating to drive an hour each way and then have to try to be scheduled again the next day... or later - if it happened then on a weekend. The LAA isolation procedure seems to have been the solution.

I'm pleased that the Armour worked so well and quickly for you.

My history with Armour is long and actually, it didn't help with the thyroid nodules that had formed. I then took iodine along with the Armour and periodic ultrasounds showed continual progress in shrinking the nodules... a huge relief to me because the endocrinologist was talking about surgery and that wasn't at all appealing to me. She was amazed as they began to disappear and eventually, said I didn't need to return for the scans and to keep up what I was doing. I responded that I had been using a specific blend of iodine recommended by my FM MD...and she was totally silent.

David Brownstein, MD, wrote the book, Iodine - Why You Need It and Why You Can't Live Without It... and I also listened to webinars by Nikolas Hedberg, DC, DABCI, DABCN...on managing thyroid problems that were invaluable as well. All knowledgeable physicians practicing functional medicine who deal with thyroid issues always emphasize the need for testing iodine levels in thyroid patients... especially those who live in "goiter belt" in the US. I was born, raised and still live in the 'goiter belt' so it should be no surprise that I was deficient.

In retrospect, the 'surprise' to me was that none of my doctors treating me as a young person up to my 60's ever tested me for iodine deficiency even though I had huge, classic symptoms including severe fibrocystic breast disease that was a management disaster. I've thought about writing a book on my story, but the title was already used. "The Iodine Crisis - What Your Doctor Doesn't Know About Iodine Can Wreck Your Life"... by Lynn Farrow

But, the point is that thyroid issues can influence heart function it's important when using thyroid meds to watch the dosing carefully... and be sure to be tested for iodine levels as too low and too high can cause problems.

Jackie

I had one cardio version. It was no big deal but, unfortunately, lasted just seven days before the irregular heartbeat + flutter returned. I am scheduled to see an electro cardio physiologist in a week. I hate the flutter or maybe more accurately, I hate taking the diltiazem and metoprolol. They leave me exhausted so I'm hopeful an ablation will do the trick. The thing about Afib though is everybody's seems slightly different and there is no treatment which works well for everyone.

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the_next_michael_jordan
The thing about Afib though is everybody's seems slightly different and there is no treatment which works well for everyone.

Agree 100%