Pacemaker Club: Permanent af

Permanent af

by TAHER26
2016-04-01 04:04:10
Complications
1237 views
1 comments

I have had a pacemaker for 18 years - normally since fitting check ups shown a 5% frequency of af however last check level was 77%. Also I have been in permanent af for c two months now. I began to notice discomfort esp in legs when walking uphill- gym cardio was also difficult although both have improved markedly recently. Has anyone else experienced this and if so what treatment was recommended ?

1 Comments

Possibilities

by Artist - 2016-04-01 06:04:41

If various medications have been tried to treat your AFIB, and have not satisfactorily controlled your AFIB, the next step might be ablation. When your heart is in prolonged AFIB, your body may become oxygen deprived and low oxygen levels can cause multiple problems. That could explain the difficulty you are having walking uphill. Ablations attempt to lower the sensitivity of the tissue in the heart that is producing the errant electrical signals that cause arrythmias. There are many interesting videos on line that show actual ablations and explain the procedure. I am scheduled to have an ablation sometime in the next 3 weeks because medications no longer satisfactorily control my AFIB and atrial flutter. Ablation procedures vary depending on the types of arrythmias being treated. Some procedures only take 2-3 hours, others like mine, will involve puncturing the septal wall between the right and left atrium and will take 5-6 hours and require an overnight hospital stay to make sure the Heparin is eliminated from my body and the risk of bleeding is no longer a concern. The EP told me he has an 85% success rate and that is very good. The average is more like 70% the first time around. If the treatment is successful, I might be able to quit taking drugs for my arrythmias. What options have you discussed with your cardiologist or EP? It is difficult to understand why your afib has not received more attention. You say you have been in permanent AFIB for two months. Does that mean, continuous, non stop AFIB? It sounds like you need to be more persistant in getting some help with that. The lack of oxygen can affect your major organs and certainly produce the fatigue you experience going uphill. I hope you speak out and get more help.