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Re: RSV vaccine - 7 months ago

I have never seen an article saying that any of the vaccines cause or worsen AF....but as individuals, it's entirely possible. I have had scads of vaccines and boosters, starting as a serviceman with the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces). I have never had more than a slightly sore muscle........................................................until this November when I had the flu and COVID booste

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Any thoughts on CBD and Delta 9 THC - 7 months ago

I would not want to take THC. In complete honesty, I know next to nothing about marijuana, it never having been important in my life or apparently so in anyone I knew reasonably well. However, it's a mind-altering substance that must, surely, intuitively affect the Vagus nerve some...mebbe a lot! People use it for a reason, and maybe only solid hearts can take the alteration. CBD, on the o

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Supporting Afibbers.org - 7 months ago

Done, a modest amount because I'm a pensioner and it is going to be a heavy load this Christmas with a full house. I promise to bulk it up in the months ahead.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Today - 7 months ago

Thanks for your thanks, and I'll add my own. This forum has been a tremendous resource. I don't know how much 'fly-by' traffic it gets where it helps those who might never bother to register and to participate, but I have enjoyed my time here and have profited from the information I have received. Thanks, Everyone!

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Off of blood thinners - 7 months ago

Great news! Congratulations.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: re stopping Eliquis prior to surgery - 7 months ago

Said much more succinctly, George. Thank-you.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: re stopping Eliquis prior to surgery - 7 months ago

I have stopped Eliquis on direction for three events, all three being catheterizations (one angiogram first, then two ablations). In each case I was to take up to five (5) 'baby' aspirin over the next 12 hours, and they gave me both Plavix, a single tablet, and......AND......used heparin just after I got into the cath lab. This was for the angiogram...no heparin for the two ablations.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: re stopping Eliquis prior to surgery - 7 months ago

I haven't seen what you are referring to. Can you find it and post a link? My understanding is that a DOAC is meant to reduce the risk to something reasonable if you are fibrillating, or if you have been fibrillating for more than about 24-38 hours and are now in apparent NSR (normal sinus rhythm). The risk is for a potentially dislodged clot issuing from the left atrial appendage (LAA

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Fatigue 18 months post pfa - 7 months ago

What other meds are you taking, what other comorbidities are extant...if you feel comfortable sharing or don't, that's okay, I'm really asking the question rhetorically. This might be an endocrinologist's puzzle more than anything, say thyroid?

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Hip Replacement - 7 months ago

Thanks, George. I hadn't noticed your response when my page opened and showed Carey's post near the top, in view. Thanks, again.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Hip Replacement - 7 months ago

Thanks, Carey. Would you happen to have a handy reference for the figures you cite? I'd like to be able to include them in my repertoire of handy facts.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: My Second TEE after watchman - 7 months ago

I'm a Canadian and have no trouble with my own prescriptions. However, my cynical self, often getting in me own face, can't help but wonder if it wouldn't be a great idea to occasionally seek a titer result for apixaban via a blood assay for those buying drugs from anywhere outside the USA, including my own country. ARE you really getting the prescribed dose.................of &#

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Hip Replacement - 7 months ago

Oh, I didn't catch that two Marks had posted, Carey. Thanks for catching that. In any event, Is there any ambiguity in my situation of the terms? I think I have them correctly, or essentially so. I was curious as to your statement that, 'Has your LAA been isolated? If not, there's a good chance you can just stop if for a few days.' If the LAA is still open, just isolated

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Hip Replacement - 7 months ago

I don't mean to tread on any toes here, but I'm confused by the terms 'closed', 'sealed', and 'isolated.' To me, the first means that the LAA has been surgically clamped, sutured, or otherwise made inaccessible to normal flow, the second means that the LAA is sealed from outflow and that there is no danger of clots emerging from it, and the last term means

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Coffee (ive never stopped it now i know) - 7 months ago

Good to know. Thanks!

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Percutaneous Left Atrial Appendage Closure in AF Falls Short Again in CLOSURE-AF - 7 months ago

...or, as Julius Caesar said, 'Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt.' 'People believe what they wish to.'

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: PFA Ablation by Dr. Natale in December - 8 months ago

I hope I don't come across as snarky or dismissive...I'm just thinking as a dispassionate (but experienced and read-in) fellow patient who is doing just fine after a hasty second ablation (first one failed from the get-go). If it helps you to get through the day being anxious and fearful, go ahead and continue to do that. It might pass the time until the ablation comes due. If you d

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Study challenges advice to avoid coffee for those with atrial fibrillation - 8 months ago

I have (controlled) AF and routinely enjoy tea each morning plus a coffee mid-afternoon....and not a small one of either. Yuuge. No problems. And yes, I do sense the effects of the caffeine and theobromine. I can feel a stronger pulse in my lower neck without palpating the area. My heart reacts! However, we keep saying to each other that we're all different. There's a member �

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Questions - 8 months ago

There are two types of AF: valvular and non-valvular. It's progression is in stages: paroxysmal (comes and goes on its own)l persistent, long-standing persistent, and finally permanent, with each being intuitively easy to understand. AF is AF. AF begets AF. You don't want to be in AF if you don't really have to. Not for long. The problem is that it IS a progressive electri

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Post ablation - 8 months ago

The definition of 'successful' ablation is, like most such parameters, somewhat arbitrary. We here know that the majority of ablations are time-limited. For some it's less than the blanking period. For others it might be a decade free of arrhythmia. I don't know what the rationale was for the length of time of the blanking period, and I do know there's talk of reducing

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Resource for finding doctor? - 8 months ago

My EP came up to my operating table, arms held up in the 'I'm sterile' position, and began to ask me questions. So, I knew he was present and ready to begin.' "What is your name?' 'Why are you here today?' "Who will be performing the procedure? When I answered, 'Dr. Paul Novak,' he replied 'Perfect!" and then began ca

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Healthcare in Europe - 8 months ago

There are so many people in EU who have arrhythmia problems (not just in N. America) that the national health agencies/providers must cover at least some of the available alternatives for DOAC. I would call a local health clinic and ask to speak to someone who can help to point you to your several options of insurers, even private ones if they exist. Then look at their prospectus.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Has the time come? - 8 months ago

I am in the 'AF is a progressive disorder and it's best to get strict control of it while you can...................meaning as early as you can,' camp. You have done all the right things, but you suspect that the wheel nuts have come loose and the wheels are starting to wobble on those botts. It's time for a look-see and at least to tighten those lug nuts again. Analogy as

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: covid vax? - 8 months ago

The rationale is that the virus is changing constantly, and not in a great way. Each vaccine is modified to account for the most recent strain, although it's about three to six months after the latest determination. Additionally, the science so far says that the vaccine loses its efficacy after about three months or a bit more, so getting a booster every six months, which is the policy in B

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Watchman Leak: Low Dose Eliquis or Baby Aspirin? - 8 months ago

I would go by your 'adjusted' CHA2DS2-VASc score. Do that calculation, being scrupulous about entering veridical data, and then adjust the score by one full point if your Watchman is suspected by leaking.................upward. That score should give you a decent approximation of your whole-body risk of a stroke. If it's under 2.0, go with what Natale says is right for you. If

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: covid vax? - 8 months ago

This is worrisome to me. They pulled Vioxx off the market 21 years ago, a wonder drug that gave my secretary her body back. The problem was that it caused some heart problems in a few patients. Okay, it might have stood more testing or a more modest usage, at least at first, to see how people were doing on it. We do that for amiodarone. We don't seem to want to do it for the COVID vaccine

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: covid vax? - 8 months ago

I just got booster #9 and for the first time in my entire life I got chills and the shakes from a vaccine later that evening. Mind you, I got the annual flu shot at the same time, something I have been doing since my days in the Canadian Army. Which one set me off...I wonder. Anyway, the latest information I have is that it's dangerous...or it's nothing of the sort. Take yer pick. I d

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Resource for finding doctor? - 8 months ago

Libby, I am in Canada and so know of none at Mayo for cardiac arrhythmia pathology. However, my father was referred to Mayo for Coccidia infection by my wealthy relatives living in Milwaukee. He got top-drawer treatment and was cured within 12 months of the formal diagnosis. Mayo is arguably the best hospital facility on the planet, so you should anticipate excellent diagnostics and subsequent c

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: SHOILD I GET A REDO ABLATION - 8 months ago

It sounds like you may be dealing with an adrenergic response. I had the same thing, sort of. I didn't know I was severely apneic, but found out after my cardiologist sent me for an over night polysomnography that showed I had been severely apneic for some unknown length of time, and that my heart was tired of trying to keep me alive 30 times each hour...all night long...for months. Once I

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM

Re: Resource for finding doctor? - 8 months ago

I would also ask you to at least consider one or two at the Mayo facilities.

by gloaming - AFIBBERS FORUM