Report on 41 years of full-time afib

I'm still around (76yo) after having afib since I was 35.
As a teenager I did get a couple of 2 - 3 hour sessions of afibbut after that I had no problems with it for 20 years.
I then (1980) had a hernia op., which entailed a difficult 50 mile trip to the hospital on public transport in the snow. When I arrived at the hospital I had developed afib through all the stress of getting there.
Of course, that switched on every tom dick and harry to examine me to see that I would be ok for the op. the next morning.
The operation was short and straightforward but when I came to I was in afib and it has remained ever since. But I must be lucky in that I have since been able to build 3 houses, worked on 30+ cars I was restoring as well as living a faily full life.
Pill-wise I can't recall every detail, but of course warfarin (= coumadin since I now live in France); amiodarone (200mg/day 1989-1991, then 100mg/day until 1999); bisoprolol (only for last 8 years); a diuretic and a cholesterol pill (NOT a statin).
I see a consultant in Bordeaux yearly and carry out a stress test. So far ok.
About 4 years ago I started taking magnesium bisglycinate, changing to magnesium threonate a year ago. This has certainly helped.
I had my 2 covid jabs March / April, 6 weeks apart. They were the Pfizer vaccine. Since then my INR, checked monthly, has gone a bit haywire. Until the jabs my INR was always between 1.9 and 2.9 but after the jabs it went up to 4.3 and since then I've got back to just under 3 by reducing my coumadin dosage (35mg/week down to 31mg/week).
In a nutshell, that is it.

hey thanks for this.. did you ever do an ablation? I was thinking how I am a functional afibber. I had always cardioverted until July 7 and been in since then. I have an ablation scheduled in October but I keep wondering- maybe I just should stay like this? Amnioderone didn't keep you out? again thanks for sharing

Welcome Roger to our Afibbers Forum!

And thanks for posting your interesting long journey with AFIB, to-date. It sounds like you have a strong physical constitution, and I noted your report of 10 full years being on Amiodarone during one long stretch from late 1989 through 1999. I'm just curious, did you ever experience any related side-effects or physical signs from AMIO during that 10yr period ... or even during the following 6 months (or more) after tapering off the 10yrs straight of AMIO?

Best wishes to you Roger and again welcome to our cozy oasis in the online AFIB universe!

Cheers!
Shannon

love your report Roger, hope you keep doing well!

Dear Betty Lou, I vote for getting the ablation, Mine was a pice of cake, basically no recovery other than they told me not to lift anything over 10 pounds for a week or two. I'd do it again if the AF came back. I'm following the advice of Dr. John D Day"s book, the Afib Cure, to stay normal. I'm not on ANY meds other than bioidentical hormone replacement. (age 68). The ablation stopped the fire, and the lifestyle choices are keeping it away. Before the ablation, things just kept getting worse. Hang in there! It's so tough to decide!

Thanks so much for your response. I do have a complicated congenital history and am on dofetlidie right now and will stay on that for a bit... but I am pretty sure I will go through with it. Was talking with a cousin who has had 3 of them today.. helped calm my nerves. Thanks again

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LaniB
Dear Betty Lou, I vote for getting the ablation, Mine was a pice of cake, basically no recovery other than they told me not to lift anything over 10 pounds for a week or two. I'd do it again if the AF came back. I'm following the advice of Dr. John D Day"s book, the Afib Cure, to stay normal. I'm not on ANY meds other than bioidentical hormone replacement. (age 68). The ablation stopped the fire, and the lifestyle choices are keeping it away. Before the ablation, things just kept getting worse. Hang in there! It's so tough to decide!

Just wanted to say how reassuring this story is for me personally. I haven’t been on here in about 2 years. I’m 36 and got the definitive diagnosis right after I turned 34. I’ve been in NSR for most of the last two years on just diltiazem, magnesium, and taurine. I’ve had 3 episodes in the last two years all lasting less than 10 minutes (the last two lasting less than 2 minutes). I’ve been pretty down about the long term outlook of this. Not that I haven’t been reassured by people here and there but never by someone with first hand experience of getting it in their 30s and being online talking about it 40 years later. Genuinely had trouble believing Id be around that long. Thank you for this story Roger and here’s to many more full and vibrant years!