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A forum for sharing experiences regarding atrial fibrillation and other atrial tachy-arrhythmias.
Re: Hip Replacement - Today
Nobody here can answer that for you. Your first step should be to ask the surgeon if you need to stop the Eliquis and for how long. The next step would be to ask the EP who prescribed it what do do. Has your LAA been isolated? If not, there's a good chance you can just stop it for a few days.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: PFA Ablation by Dr. Natale in December - Yesterday
And it used to be 6 hours. Now THAT was awful.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure in AF Falls Short Again in CLOSURE-AF - Yesterday
QuoteGeorgeN I think you reversed it, I believe the lifettime risk for anticoagulation after LAA isolation is 60% (referencing you) Oops! Looks like I did. Man, I hate it when I prove myself wrong.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure in AF Falls Short Again in CLOSURE-AF - 2 days ago
Quotenonthumper I am still wondering about the electrical isolation of your LAA. In hindsight, would it been better if that had not been done? I thought the LAA served no purpose, and was idle. But isolating it made the blood pool there even more? Isolating my LAA was what stopped the 250 bpm flutter I was in when they wheeled me into the lab. So no, it would not have been better at all. Itby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure in AF Falls Short Again in CLOSURE-AF - 2 days ago
Quotenonthumper Carey: May I point out your language is confusing? When you state your instructions prior to receiving a Watchman were never to miss a dose of Eliquis; I initially read it as you these were the instructions you need to follow after the Watchman was implanted. But I don't think that is what you meant, is it? I think you mean that if you did not have the Watchman implaby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure in AF Falls Short Again in CLOSURE-AF - 3 days ago
Just based on the tone of that headline I knew who the author was going to be before I clicked the link. There's another factor to consider that no study has ever looked at because it would require a long study lasting years. That factor is the dismal long-term compliance rates with anticoagulants. I can't find the original figures right now but over 40% of all patients eventually sby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: My Second TEE after watchman - 3 days ago
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." No leak = ain't broke.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: My Second TEE after watchman - 5 days ago
She should be able to send it to him with just his name (Andrea Natale) and his location (Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Institute). If there's any question of placement, he's by far the most important person who needs to see it.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: My Second TEE after watchman - 5 days ago
No way Natale installed a Watchman incorrectly and didn't catch it before leaving the lab, much less on the first TEE. How a Watchman is positioned is going to depend on your specific anatomy, so that's probably all she's seeing. You said the results would be sent to your cardiologist. Does that mean Natale's not going to receive them?by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Watchman Leak: Low Dose Eliquis or Baby Aspirin? - 6 days ago
Good luck and let us know how the CT turns out.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Questions - 6 days ago
Ah, okay, this adds a new wrinkle. Yeah, you shouldn't be bleeding in the intestines but that's a whole lot less dangerous than a stroke, and being in persistent afib at 70 means your stroke risk isn't trivial. And an ablation isn't going to get you away from the Eliquis anytime soon, if ever. So that makes you a perfect candidate for a Watchman device. You're exactly theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: taking Eliquis & Curcumin daily - 7 days ago
Use with caution. https://www.drugs.com/drug-interactions/eliquis-with-turmeric-3438-16026-2682-0.htmlby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Study challenges advice to avoid coffee for those with atrial fibrillation - 7 days ago
Quotesusan.d Your sister has your super power genes. Not that many can go on an exhausting 50 mile bike ride days after an ablation. Nah, she just wasn't symptomatic as long as her heart rate was kept under control and metoprolol did that nicely for her. I don't think I have any sort of super power genes. I've talked to many people who felt just as I always did following ablationby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Questions - 7 days ago
Hi Don, welcome to the forum. Do you know if you're constantly in afib or does it come and go? Since you're asymptomatic I know it may be difficult to be sure, but has your cardio ever used the word "persistent?" I'm guessing the type of afib the cardio refers to is what's known as longstanding persistent afib. That means you're constantly in afib as opposedby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Study challenges advice to avoid coffee for those with atrial fibrillation - 7 days ago
Well, I would agree the results can't be applied to people who don't drink caffeine, but that's okay since they don't care.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Study challenges advice to avoid coffee for those with atrial fibrillation - 7 days ago
Quotemjamesone Just to explore another position on this is that the group was not really randomized, they were self-selective, i.e., all were coffee drinkers. That means they arguably tolerated caffeine a lot better than, say, the population of non-coffee drinkers who self-removed themself from this study. Did you read the full paper? The study design was probably as solid as you can get when iby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Study challenges advice to avoid coffee for those with atrial fibrillation - 7 days ago
Quotesusan.d For your sister maybe tachycardia instead of a controlled hr. Nope. She tried some coffee at my urging and nothing happened, just as expected. So she went back to drinking it regularly. Quote Then after my first or second ablation I took a tiny tiny bite of chocolate and ruined my ablation by my afib returning right afterwards. You can't ruin an ablation. (Remember theby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Study challenges advice to avoid coffee for those with atrial fibrillation - 8 days ago
Quotehttps://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-advice-coffee-atrial-fibrillation.html But a study by UC San Francisco and the University of Adelaide has concluded that drinking a cup of caffeinated coffee a day reduced A-Fib by 39%. This isn't the first study to find this result though it's the most impressive number I've seen. I've been preaching this for years but the mytby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Has the time come? - 10 days ago
Yes, PFA has been proven effective and it's safer than RF ablations, which were the norm for many years. But it's not clear to me how many episodes you're having lately and how long they last. How many episodes have you had in the last six months and on average how long did they last? Choosing between an ablation and sotalol isn't a simple choice.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Healthcare in Europe - 10 days ago
When you find a company providing such insurance, there should be a formulary they publish that shows what drugs they'll pay for and how much. At least with US insurance companies you would find that on their web site. And keep in mind that the price in France will be much lower than in the US. Even without insurance Eliquis is about $55 (€50) per month in France according to google.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Can't make a dent in Rochester - 12 days ago
Although I think Mayo is an excellent institution and I would go there for most things, I've never been impressed with their electrophysiology. I don't think they're the best.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Watchman Leak: Low Dose Eliquis or Baby Aspirin? - 13 days ago
Natale also participated in the first clinical trials so what you have is two top experts disagreeing with each other. That usually means there's not a huge difference between the choices. I think if I were in your shoes I'd follow Natale's guidance, but I would probably put up with the nosebleeds and go to twice daily if there's a leak. Get a humidifier to use in the wintby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: covid vax? - 13 days ago
Sticking to the actual data -- of which there is a huge amount -- the COVID vaccines are remarkably safe. There's simply no way around that no matter what anyone tells you. And the COVID disease is remarkably dangerous, particularly for those past middle age and those with comorbidities. And that's not even to mention long COVID, which actually scares me more than acute COVID does.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Watchman Leak: Low Dose Eliquis or Baby Aspirin? - 13 days ago
I've been on 2.5 mg Eliquis (bid) since I got the Watchman in 2018. Before making the aspirin/Eliquis choice, I ran it past my PCP and my local EP. They both agreed that Eliquis is the safer, more effective choice. It's not a weird protocol. Natale and other EPs use it frequently. And even if you do have a leak, 2 mm isn't really of great concern. I would follow Natale's guidaby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: covid vax? - 13 days ago
It's not that people didn't want to investigate it. They did and they were. But the premier investigating agency in the US has fired all its scientists, defunded research, and is now led by a rabid antivaxxer with zero medical training and a worm-eaten brain. What I know of the cardiomyopathy issue with the COVID vaccine is it primarily affects young, healthy, and often athletic malby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: covid vax? - 14 days ago
Yes. I already did along with the flu vaccine.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: SHOILD I GET A REDO ABLATION - 16 days ago
I'd say an ablation is probably warranted but it's unlikely you'd be able to get it done before Christmas. That's barely two months away and any EP worth seeing probably won't be able to get you in before then (I'd be cautious if they can). QuoteFinally, what if I just continued watchful waiting? Whats the worst that can happen? That's what I would do forby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Resource for finding doctor? - 16 days ago
Looking for the top EPs who do ablations is exactly the right path. You want the EP who eats, breathes and lives ablations. I'll give you another name of an EP who's on par with Natale: Pasquale Santangeli at Cleveland Clinic. He trained with Natale.by Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: pill in a pocket anticoagulation - 17 days ago
This is why I hate the term blood thinners and try not to use it. You want blood that's literally thinner? Drain a liter of blood from yourself and replace it with a liter of water. There you go -- thinner blood. No drug I know of will have the same effect. But to address Mike's real question, the answer is yes, there are tests that can determine how readily your blood will form cloby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM
Re: Abnormal LA Strain after ablation - 20 days ago
Your language regarding the left atrial appendage (LAA) isn't familiar to me, and the LAA is something I'm very familiar with, so I'm not sure you're understanding your EP correctly. Getting a catheter actually into the LAA isn't something that's normally done, so I don't know exactly what the EP did and what they found. Assessing LAA function is normally done wby Carey - AFIBBERS FORUM