atrial fibrillation

hi all and firstly a merry christmas to you all and a healthy new year
i was just wondering if any one can give me any infomation on atrial fibrillation. i have has a few weird symptoms for a few weeks thought at first it may have been after oesteopathic treatment but had a pacing check today which showed AF the longest episode lasting eleven mins so now have 48 hour monitor and pm technition going to speak with my consultant re anti arrythmic drugs and apparently i should now be on warfarin so a bit worried. also i have a dual lead pm so how come that doesnt prevent the AF. Iim a bit confused thanks.

4 Comments

Atrial fib.

by thomast - 2009-12-21 04:12:43

Your PM will not prevent AF. You will probably go on Tikosyn or Sotalol to stop the AF. Of course you will also be on rat poison (warfarin) to prevent clots from froming. They may also add a beta blocker (coreg). I take all of the above.

A/F

by relax221 - 2009-12-21 04:12:44

I've had A/F for a long time.Coumadin ( Warafin ) generic cheaper from Walmart $4 prescriptions. No side effects.I had a dual and when the battery was low he replaced the unit with a third lead to control the A/F. It's much better and Feel great. The switch is no big deal , as you probably saw on this site. My last pacemaker lasted 8 yrs and this 3 lead only 3 yrs. The pacing for the A/F must be using alot of the battery. Dr said he'll replace it May 2010 with a wireless unit. The wires stay in but they give you a unit to put next to your bed. It's a monitor from your pacemaker to satelite to your doctor. It will alert you of any trouble and cut down office visits :)
Hope this helps
God Bless
Mike W

AF

by pete - 2009-12-21 04:12:50

It is often said that doctors dont know what causes AF. But what is known is that instead of regular signals being generated a series of chaotic signals is developed instead which causes the atria to beat very fast. Some of these signals get past the AV node and cause irregular ventricular beats. Ablation of some signal pathways can cure AF and often the most likely area where random unwanted electrical signals are generated is in the region of the pulmonary vein. A pacemaker sends out pulses so the muscle /heart chamber can be told to contract, however if extra rogue signals are also present the the pacemaker will not be able to stop the heart muscle from responding to them as well. So you cannot expect a pacemaker to cure rogue electrical impulses. In my case I had my AV node ablated so that the only signals reaching the ventricles are the ones coming from the pacemaker. But this did not cure my permanent AF. Cheers Peter

A/F

by dlynn0454 - 2009-12-24 08:12:27

Nov. 4th 2008 I woke up to my heart just beating out of control, noticed it especially lying on left side. I called my pacemaker clinic guy, explained what was going on and he asked me to send transmission, which I did. He called back a few minutes later and said I was in A/F.....after several hours, my son took me to the hospital. My heart was beating 150-160 beats a minute. I did get admitted and they immediately starting giving me the Warfarin, this was so no blood clots would form. They put me on a couple diff. meds and finally the next night, my heart went back into normal mode. I was told that millions of people have this and yes, they really don't know what causes it. I had my office interigation in Nov. and was told I had 2 more episodes of AF...one lasting 85 hours and another 63 hours....I knew I was having it at the time. I also take soltalol along with the Warfarin and yes it does scare me since I have cardiomyopathy. I lost both my dad and brother at young ages due to this heart disease. I see the cardiologist that implanted my ICD in Jan and looking foward to discussing things with him. Everyone take care and have a wonderful, blessed Christmas. Deb

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