I have heard mroe than a few times that some Dr. or nurse thought I was in Afib, and then the next Dr. told me I wasn't, and vice versa. I'm thinking that it's not that easy to read those ECG's..Dr. Natale commented last week that he didn't feel that the AliveCor was all that accurate, which surprised me as I thought it was. I believe it only has 1 lead, whereas they usby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
I have a sister, Marcia and now a friend who are both wrestling now with lots of disturbing PVC's. My sister is wearing a 21 day holter monitor, and my friend Mindy has already done that and was told that "healthy hearts sometimes just do that"...yet she is being bothered by these scary episodes of heart thumping and so forth. My sister says she has trouble falling asleep some nigby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
I completely agree with your comments, Charlotte about being grateful for this Board and all of the terrific people like you mentioned, always being there to help in whatever way they can. I can't imagine going through this experience without this...People who dont' have Afib or at least serious palpitations just don't "get it", but here, everyone fully DOES. So glaby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
I would like to chime in here and say that I made the mistake of waiting, and ended up with more and more frequent Afib, and quite a bit of fibrosis as a result. As I had Afib for 10+ years before going for the ablation, I ended up needing a LAA isolation - which meant a likely need for a "touch up" (which I just had) and a good chance of life long blood thinners (which I'm on nowby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi Charlotte - glad to hear from and about you! I was wondering how you made out, as your ablation was right after mine. I had the same positive comments to make about the staff at St. David's and Dr. Natale - all top notch. I was actually out window shopping with my sister (a huge shopping lover) the afternoon that I was released - on Saturday. While not moving quickly or going real farby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks Dennis. I think that may be the doctor I went to a few years back and was surprised how eager he was to try to ablate a one time, 25 year old symptom of tachycardia...but not my current Afib, at the time. My husband and I practically ran out of there! My cardiologisit said that St. Francis is great for heart surgeries, but they aren't known for ablations particularly....just an FYIby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
So my sister Marcia has been having palpitations for quite awhile now, but they have picked up in intensity more recently. She wore a halter monitor for 24 hours and it did pick up ventricular tachycardia, at 191 bpm, but just for about 3 seconds I believe. I am suspicious that she may be going down a similiar path to mine, but as of now, she hasn't been diagnosed as having Afib. Herby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Back home now, only to find my daughter sick with the flu..ahh! At least I made it home in time to help take care of her. I hope your ablation was uneventful and successful too, Charlotte! How long ago did you have your first ablation? Mine was in Sept. I would imagine you are either home or on your way home now too. All the best to you One thing I would recommend to any "newer&qby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello all - I got out of the hospital yesterday and have to say that was by far the nicest hospital experience I've ever had. Everyone was terrific, I got a good night sleep, and the staff was very attentive and professional. Apparently my procedure was fairly quick and uneventful. Dr. Natale said there was an area near my esophagus that needed to be ablated, as well as 2-3 other areas, Iby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks everyone! ( not sure why this print is so small)... My sister, Phyllis and I got down here a few hours ago. Plenty warm enough, that's for sure. We plan to do some sightseeing tomorrow, and Thursday afternoon, if we can figure out where we're going here! Pre-op is Thursday morning, and then it's round 2 on Friday morning at 10:30. I am hoping this will seem like a blipby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hi All - just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm heading down to Austin, Texas to get my 'touch up" ablation by Dr. Natale this Friday. My sister is flying down with me tomorrow, so we can try to fit in 2 days of being "tourists" and seeing what there is to see and do, before my procedure. I am currently in Flutter and hoping that Dr. Natale will take care ofby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Congratulations, McHale! You must be so relieved to have this in your rear view mirror. I hope things are going as well as they can with your mother. Sounds like you're a good son I wasn't as lucky, and will be going down to Texas for a 'touch up" ablation on June 20th. I did quite well until about a month ago, when I got an episode of Flutter while getting stuck wiht aby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Glad to hear you are doing better, Susan, and that you have found this Board so helpful. I think we all find this is one of the only places we can go where everyone here "gets it", offer support and advice and helps us through the challenges we've all faced, to one degree or another. I had a Natale ablation last Sept, in NYC, and did not have much of a problem afterwards with sby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
this last post has me wondering if insurance is often denied when it's a second ablation...is that to be expected? I would hope the insurance company realizes that a second Ablation is often needed....as will be true for me, and many others. Barbby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Happy to hear your good report, Phil! Wishing you NSR for evermore Barbby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thank you all for being her for me and for "listening" to me and offering your help and support. I am back in NSR, but as you would expect, not feeling as assured that it will remain that way. So at Shannon's encouragement, I made the call to Austin to try to get on their schedule, rather than wait and see. I spent way too many years in denial while wrestling with Afib, as it caby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ok - thanks guys. Will do that today, before my cardioversionby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Shannon - I will be honest and say that I am half mad at you for suggesting that I need to plan for Ablation #2, and half grateful for your encouragment. I think you might understand those conflicting feelings. We have had a very similar Afib history of denial, procrastination and hope that we can somehow manage all of this on our own. My many, many walks that stopped my Afib episodes had me coby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
McHale - are you slated to have a touch up ablation now too? How soon after your ablation did flutter occur for you? Feeling a little rushed on the second ablation idea..isnt there any chance that I just need to be cardioverted and then I might be fine? I know you have said, Shannon, that we tend to talk ourselves out of these things and then end up like we did - with a more advanced situaby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
So my heart has felt "off" since 5pm last night, while getting acupuncture. I had trouble getting a good reading on the beat, as it felt faint and quick. I decided to go into my cardiologist office, which is about 8 minutes away, to get an EKG. Turns out I'm in flutter (a-flutter?), with a heart rate of 131. I've never had to be cardioverted in my 10+ years of frequent Afiby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
HI Shannon - I went on Amazon to look for the AliveCor but there seems to be a number of versions...is there one in particular that you would recommend? I have the IPhone 4S at this time. Thanks ~ Barbby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Good ideas, Jean. I'm about to go g o bed now, so will check it in the morning if it still feels this way. Thank you for that suggestion. Marg _ I was on Flecainide for about 4 months after my ablation, and then went off of it. Right now I'm on 12.5 mg of Atenolol/day, and Xarelto. If this continues or happens again, I might go back k on it..but would check with my Dr first.by tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
I was just laying on the table when this happened, so can't say I was feeling nervous at that time. I did have a bad day and had alot on my mind, but ...notsure. As you might read in my more recent post, I'm feeling like my beat is "off" still...not quite sure what it's doing. If it's Afib sneaking back in, I think i'm going to go crawl in bed and stay there.by tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Since my episode of a fast heartbeat a few hours ago, it still feels "off" to me. Kind of hard to get a good feel for the beat...as it's not distinct. I took another 1/2 tablet of Atenolol since the earlier one I took a couple of hours ago. Would it hurt to take some Flecainide too? I still have some in the cabinet..at 100 and 150 mg. doses. Not sure what to do..it's notby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
I've been going for acupuncture for quite awhile now, primarily for my neck and shoulders. While I was there today, and right after he put a needle in my right shoulder/neck area, I felt my heart speed up. He clocked it at 115 bpm. (this was after I was laying on the table for a bit, as he had left the room before this happened). When I left, it was abuot 100 bpm. The acupuncturist (Berby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Ahhh Jackie - I had to stop an excellent heart health supplement that I had been taking for a number of years, as it has ginko biloba in it (among a number of other stellar ingredients for cardiovascular health), and I'm now on Xarelto. Neither Dr. Natale nor Dr. Barrett wanted me to take it with the Xarelto, as it does have blood thinning properties. Both doctors also commented that "by tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jackie - somehow I missed knowing that you had flutter and got back on an antiarrythmics..sorry to hear that. Hopefully you will be much better by the time you have your check up and be able to wean back off of the Rythmol. I have a couple of questions for you. One..why Rythmol this time instead of back on Flecainide? Was your ablation a basic PVI isolation or did you have more done?by tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Well I would have to say I'm pretty much of a "poster child" here too, based on this post. I had Afib on and off for 5 years, progressing & getting more and more frequent until it became twice/day. I then "gave in" and took Flecainide for another 5 years, which greatly improved the quality of my life. I still did have a few Afib episodes each month, but they were uby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks for your responses. Not sure why I was able to tolerate it in the past but now I don't seem to be. I think I will look into some of the separate ones like you mentioned, Jackie. I've already been taking the Zyflammend with food, so.... ~ Barbby tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM
A few weeks back, i restarted taking Zyflammend, to reduce overall inflammation in the body, especially important after an ablation. I had taken it soon after my ablation last Fall, with no problems. However, a few weeks back, I took a pill and noticed it seemed 'spicy" in smell and taste. I had some bathroom issues later that night/early morning. So I assumed it was the Zyflammend.by tobherd - AFIBBERS FORUM