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Re: Dr Natale's staff is failing me - Any experience with Dr. Vivek Reddy? - Today

Shannon, Dr. Natale’s “right hand person” took a job out-of-state recently and that might have created a glitch in communication. In my experience with his staff, the response was always very quick and on point. Glad you got a call from the man himself and hope things go well.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Walking/Exercise to Stop AFib Episode? - Yesterday

Brisk exercise or walking used to terminate my Afib episodes pre-ablation. The theory is that some episodes arise from too high parasympathetic tone in the ANS and brisk exercise counters that by kicking in the sympathetic system. For many though, the scenario is reversed, so, glad you discovered this.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Watchman - 5 days ago

Yes, phenomenal care! And thanks for your recommendation of the Drury Inn—what is their nightly rate with the St. David’s discount? I have always stayed at the Holiday Inn Midtown in the past. When I went back for my first TEE they served me a great breakfast afterward! I have just graduated from the need for post watchmen scans, and am free! I always was able to hook up with other forum members

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Heart Cath and POTS/IST - 11 days ago

I know a lot about POTS and other forms of orthostatic intolerance, as I have neurally mediated hypotension which is related. Ablations often impact the autonomic ganglia in the heart, and potentially can affect the autonomic nervous system. Generally, in my understanding, it will “boost“ the sympathetic system which is related to POTS.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Watchman - 15 days ago

Quoteallofus Thanks, Carey! Although I thought they still recommended daily baby aspirin with Watchman. Do you know if that is still the case? Depends on who you talk to--that was never Natale's protocol. He preferred a half dose of Eliquis--at least until you had passed a couple of checkups with flying colors. He did my Watchman and I choose (with his blessing) to remain on a half-dose

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Right Side to Left Side for Ablations - 4 weeks ago

QuoteThank you for your reply. I'm hoping for September but have no idea IF that is too optimistic on my part or wishful thinking on my part due to his high demand and wait list. In my experience, it is very difficult to project when you might get a date for your ablation as it is not strictly a first come first serve situation, but rather each patient’s situation is considered individuall

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Very cool, patient friendly cardiac monitoring - 5 weeks ago

Susan, I think that’s a different device than the one I had as mine was only for use in a clinic and hospital and broadcast to a tablet that was medically monitored continuously. I was not even aware of when the blood pressure was being taken, though, when I looked at the report afterwards, I could see that it was being taken every couple of minutes. It was an excellent system for a clinic as it

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Dr. Natale - Questions - 5 weeks ago

QuoteMetronics told me they can pacemaker convert me Yes, my EP converted me out of Afib in her office, using my pacemaker, but this human intervention using the pacemaker seems to work much better than the pacemaker’s built in “outpace” algorithm.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Dr. Natale - Questions - 5 weeks ago

QuoteIF they also do a Pacemaker for the Brady, do they always destroy the AV Node? No, they would not destroy the AV node—that is an extreme measure used by some people as a last resort when no other treatments for arrhythmia have worked. I have a pacemaker and there are several indications for one, but your heart rate really doesn’t seem low enough to need a pacemaker. I have sick sinus synd

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Dr. Natale - Questions - 5 weeks ago

Quote After my First Big Step yesterday, haven't heard back from Norma, You can always call her on her direct line if you wish. With Natale, he will do whatever necessary to resolve your problems, but he won’t know ahead of time as he will do a lot of testing during the ablation. Note: he won’t do more than is necessary, however!

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Dr. Natale - Questions - 5 weeks ago

QuoteQwackertoo Message left for Norma. First Big Step!!! Thanks! Good going! Norma will guide you through the whole process and be the intermediary with Dr. Natale, getting you ready for a telemedicine appointment, which usually happens about a month before your scheduled ablation. They will handle the insurance – they actually make everything very easy and basically all you have to do is

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: A Safer Sedation for Atrial Fibrillation Ablation? - 6 weeks ago

Are they saying that with the ketamine option you don’t have to be intubated because ketamine does not suppress respiration?

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Very cool, patient friendly cardiac monitoring - 7 weeks ago

I experienced this recently in a clinic and was quite impressed. They also plugged in a pulse ox and instead of a bulky blood pressure cuff inflating on your arm every few minutes, all reading were taken from your fingers.and it is barely noticeable . Of course it must be extremely expensive and is not for home use. If you watch the short video the technical explanations are fascinating.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: A strange afib recurrence - 8 weeks ago

QuoteIt's great to see familiar names here. Hi Sandy! Yep, A consult with Natale sounds like the way to go. It looks like Medicare is going to stop paying for telemedicine with him in September so get your dibs in!

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: flecanide - how to start - 2 months ago

I started Flecainide at home but was required to go into my cardiologist’s office for a 12 lead ECG a day or two later.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Vaccine reply to a previous post - 4 months ago

QuoteGeorgeN I had a very strong association of C 19 vaxes and a large increase in afib episodes. In my case, the longer in time I went from a vax, the impact reduced. A friend with connections at a large EP center said the center reports this association as well, for some patients. I've sworn off those vaxes & take few others. Ditto on both points, though in reply to point 1, I had

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Osteoporosis / Calcium - 4 months ago

QuoteCarey I switched to strontium This made me do a double take followed by a google search. The only strontium I was familiar with is strontium-90, which is radioactive and a hazardous material. Definitely not something you'd want to be ingesting. I didn't know there were other isotopes used medicinally. No, I am not taking strontium 90! To quote from the article that GeorgeN

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Osteoporosis / Calcium - 4 months ago

Calcium was a problem for me with rhythm disturbances so I switched to strontium which is recommended by some bone experts as an alternative to calcium. Hope you find the right balance with this and glad that you are out of pain!

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Do you trust generic Eliquis sold online or in Mexican pharmacies? - 4 months ago

Also note that you can buy brand-name Eliquis from a Canadian pharmacy and you are getting exactly the same drug as you would in the US except it is less expensive in Canada. The problem is that you don’t get any insurance reimbursement so it may not prove to be any less expensive. You can also get a generic made in India from Canadian pharmacies but again you don’t know exactly what you’re getti

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Pacemaker Necessity? - 5 months ago

And then your heart rate may go low while sleeping and then you get a significant pause—not good! I have a pacemaker and it was prescribed because of tachy-brady syndrome, but I also had pauses and it was such a relief to have an end to those pauses.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Pace Makers - Anyone with experience/thoughts? - 6 months ago

QuoteSome people have their pacemaker under their muscle to give some padding. Mine is embedded in the muscle. My pacemaker tech told me that the iPhone 12 and newer models were more of a problem as they have MagSafe charging.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Pace Makers - Anyone with experience/thoughts? - 6 months ago

You didn't mention whether your Dad is going into AFib or just getting intermittent tachycardia and bradycardia. If he isn't going into Afib, it could be Sick Sinus Syndrome which is why I was given a pacemaker. As far as I know, a pacemaker is a first line treatment for SSS. If he is getting Afib, that is a different scenario. Most pacemakers are given without the dreaded AV node a

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Medical Anxiety/Chronic Stress - 6 months ago

Quotesusan.d The drug is a Schedule III non-narcotic that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved for use onlyTrusted Source as a general anesthetic. However, doctors sometimes prescribe it for “off-label” uses, such as depression. Off-label means using the drugs to treat conditions the FDA has not approved. Some people use ketamine for its hallucinogenic properties. Ketamin ca

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Medical Anxiety/Chronic Stress - 6 months ago

QuoteAny thoughts I know an anesthesiologist who runs a ketamine clinic to treat patients exactly like you. If you consider such a treatment, you would need to go to someone with the kind of experience that he has – many years as an anesthesiologist and training in counseling, which happens during the infusion. The ketamine can be administered several ways, though he finds that an IV infusion g

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Flecainide for Atrial Arrhythmia Prevention After Patent Foramen Ovale Closure - 6 months ago

When my MitraClip was inserted it required a significant septal puncture as it is the largest (they told me) device that is placed transcatheter. Subsequent ultrasounds showed that it took a long time to completely heal — over a year – but eventually it did heal. Neither the interventional cardiologist who placed it nor Natale (later) was concerned about this.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Shunt - 6 months ago

QuoteIf any of you had this, did it resolve on its own? Also, the other theory from the Cardiologist is that it could possibly be some autonomic issue after the ablation that is must taking a bit to resolve. I'm five weeks out. After I had a MitraClip placed (I believe that is the largest thing they place transcatheter) the septal puncture took more than a year to completely heal, but fina

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Headaches - 7 months ago

QuoteHas anyone had any successful relief? Yes, time!

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Successful Ablation - 7 months ago

QuotePokey Is fatigue after ablation a common after affect? I’m 5 days post and I have NO energy. I just want to rest or sleep. Too tired to do anything. Pokey It can be for some and was for me: stress beforehand, anesthesia, people poking around inside your heart with a fire stick--that can do it!

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: In Recovery- Successful Ablation - 7 months ago

QuoteMeganMN For those of you that experienced post procedure migraines, how long did they persist? Short term or long term? At first I had one every couple of days and then they thinned out and were gone after about 2 months. Hope they don't hang around long for you.

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: In Recovery- Successful Ablation - 8 months ago

QuoteMeganMN Thanks George. I also asked Chat and got a similar answer. The doctor did say that I have a PFO. Fascinating. I'm assuming that it isn't usually persistent. The things they don't tell you when you go in for surgery..... That's why I have you all, right!! I also had ocular migraines after the placement of a MitraClip which also required a transceptal puncture

by Daisy - AFIBBERS FORUM