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Symptoms of A-fib

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Toogoofy317 non-obstructed hcm, AICD 11-01-02 and 10-6-05 Find out more about Toogoofy317
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  • #1

    Symptoms of A-fib

    Can anyone describe how a-fib feels. Or way you can tell your in it? I know the physiological aspects. I'm just curious with some of the symptoms.

    Dr. Maron brought it up to me the other day. He wants me to get an event monitor because of some of my episodes I guess. I can be sitting on the couch just watching TV and my heart rate will just go up to like 130-140. It happens about twice a week and last about an hour or so.

    I am going to my local cardiologist tomorrow to relay Dr. Maron's suspicions and see what he says. But any input would greatly be apprieciated.

    Mary S.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Re: Symptoms of A-fib

    I feel my heart "flip over" and start beating irregularly. This is a very rare thing according to most of the doctors I talk to--my ability to feel it right away. Most people can't.

    You will feel tired and everything is harder to do. Imagine walking through a swimming pool with the water up to your underarms. Kinda like that.

    S

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    • #3
      Re: Symptoms of A-fib

      I have never been in A/F (that I know of)

      Try the monitor and see what it shows - let us know.

      Lisa
      Knowledge is power ... Stay informed!
      YOU can make a difference - all you have to do is try!

      Dx age 12 current age 46 and counting!
      lost: 5 family members to HCM (SCD, Stroke, CHF)
      Others diagnosed living with HCM (or gene +) include - daughter, niece, nephew, cousin, sister and many many friends!
      Therapy - ICD (implanted 97, 01, 04 and 11, medication
      Currently not obstructed
      Complications - unnecessary pacemaker and stroke (unrelated to each other)

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Symptoms of A-fib

        I'm not sure I'm qualified to answer this, but I can tell you my experience with my own heart. I felt much the same as Sarah. I felt my heart "flip" then start to beat really fast and sometimes really hard. There were times I could watch my shirt move with my heartbeat. My episodes never lasted more than 3 minutes. Remember, Mary, I don't have HCM. I might be way off base here.

        Reenie
        Reenie

        ****************
        Husband has HCM.
        3 kids - ages 23, 21, & 19. All presently clear of HCM.

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Symptoms of A-fib

          I have pacemaker for Bradycardia and sick sinus syndrome. I am also in chronic afib. As far as I know my heart never speeds up in the ventricals. The rapid beat and flutter is not something you can feel in your pulse. A fast pulse is a result of something other than afib. Most of the time I never know when I am in afib unless it is a really bad episode. As I said I have a pacemaker that is set on 80 during day and 65 at night. I have all sorts of rythym disturbances but this is my experience.

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          • #6
            Re: Symptoms of A-fib

            I've been told that some people are more aware of their heart beats than others, like when I have my aicd checked I feel everthing when they pace the upper and lower chambers of my heart and I have heard some people say they don't feel a thing. But I also have spells of rapid atrail and even before my heart raced with atrail the first time I thought I had a heart attach, I didn't know what happened to me, don't worry this doesn't mean you'll feel that way, atrail fib feels like my heart is flip flopping every which way, like as if some had their hand in your chest playing with my heart, but it doesn't really hurt, it just feels weird.
            It's important to remeber it is treatable and you can live with it.
            This is just the way it feels to me.
            Jen

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            • #7
              Re: Symptoms of A-fib

              Thanks for all of the replys! The only way I can describe my episodes is that I just feel funky. Not bad or pain just weird.

              I tried relaying Dr. Maron's request to my local. I think he was having a bad day when I could hear him from the back of the office yelling at the nurse that he didn't have time to see me! Of course, I wasn't asking him to see me I was just trying to relay the message. I had been trying since Friday but they were busy. When I finally got a hold of the office it was the answering service. Then, when I called on Monday the nurse told me to call on Tuesday so I could talk to the Dr. . Being that I work less than a block away I thought it would just be easier to stop in! So I just wrote the message down and left.

              Hopefully he will be in a better mood when he calls me back!

              Mary S.

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              • #8
                Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                Mary,
                I have had about half dozen Afib episodes.
                I always get them when I'm lying on my side sleeping. I can feel it, like Sarah, almost like it "kicks in"...I feel a thump thump and then it beats VERY IRREGULAR (i.e. fast beats, skipped beats...just all over the place). It continues for at least a couple of hours. One time I had to be cardioverted. It makes me really SOB and weak.
                \"It is not length of life, but depth of life.\"

                Ralph Waldo Emerson

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                • #9
                  Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                  How do you know for sure that you are in AFib? Is it one of those things that you WOULD know if you had been THERE? My heart does weird things, sometimes foran hour or more, sometimes less. If its not AFib then what is it? It has been caught on a holter-but nobody has mentioned AFib.

                  Pam
                  It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

                  Dx in Feb/99. Obstructed. No ICD, no surgeries, no family history. 2 sons ages 14 and 6.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                    you can have palpitations, even runs of palpitations, that are not afib. afib is a very particular arrhythmia and it is more than likely someone would have mentioned it if they saw it in your ecg or event monitors as it can cause a heart attack or a stroke.

                    when you are having your episodes, take your pulse and see what it feels like. if none of your beats are steady, and i mean not a one, it may well be afib and you should get it checked out.

                    s

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                    • #11
                      Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                      Thanks Sarah, my heart rate increases when I inhale and slows down when I exhale so I find it very difficult to judge whether my hearts thumping properly. I had a 'cheap' monitor that wouldn't even record my heartrate because its up and down so much.
                      I really hate the 'weird feelings' in my chest.

                      Pam
                      It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

                      Dx in Feb/99. Obstructed. No ICD, no surgeries, no family history. 2 sons ages 14 and 6.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                        what are you taking? you should be on something that is going to even out your tachycardia.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                          I only take 50mg of Atenolol. My heart rate has always gone up and down when I breath, my cardio never made an issue of it. However, my Dr(GP) mentioned the other day that during my sleep/oxygen test my heart spiked upto 130 or so every now and then. She is forwarding it to another cardiologist for a second opinion. I don't think one has to do with the other, just thought I would mention it.
                          My GP said she was surprised to see my heart spike like that because usually with people taking Atenolol, the heart stays at a nice even pace. Maybe Atenolol isn't the drug for me.

                          Pam
                          It's not what you gather, but what you scatter that tells what kind of life you have lived.

                          Dx in Feb/99. Obstructed. No ICD, no surgeries, no family history. 2 sons ages 14 and 6.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                            Something Pam just mentioned made me think. I had a sleep test done overnight in the hospital the summer before last. I was tested as I was feeling tired and my husband said my snoring was getting unbearable!! I found out that I have sleep apnea. they put me on a CPAP machine where you put a mask like thing over your nose and it pumps air to open up your passageway. My doctor at the time (my PCP whom I no longer have) never mentioned if this had any negative effects on my heart. Has anyone had this machine?
                            \"It is not length of life, but depth of life.\"

                            Ralph Waldo Emerson

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Re: Symptoms of A-fib

                              Yes Cynthia, I also tested severe sleep apnea in 2000 the year I was diagnosed with HCM. I started with a C-Pap ; which is continuous positive air pressure. I was switched in 2001 to a Bi-Pap; intermittent positive air pressure. This gives me a pause to exhale against. Both times I was kept over night for the sleep test. It is a fact that untreated sleep apnea results in many ill effects one of the biggies being very adverse effects on the heart. One of the other big problems is people falling asleep at the wheel due to sleep deprivation. I can not even take a short nap without using my machine. When I was in the ICU post myectomy I had to have them hook it up after they extubated me as I was not able to sleep. Without it there is an extreme sense of anxiety like a thrill in the chest as you fall asleep only to be awakened as your brain has you gasping for air. I know there are many varying degrees of these sensations and depending on how severe the chemical changes are as the individual falls asleep. For me I stop breathing 70 times a minute and for as long as 30 seconds. My O 2 sat was as low as 69/100. You probably feel so much better with the C-Pap. The only time it seems to be a little more difficult is when I have extra fluid on and am short of breath , it takes extra time to get the right elevation in bed and to be able to adjust to the air flow. I hold the mask out away from my face on those times until my breathing makes the assimilation. Otherwise I get too anxious. Ah the joys of all these added complications huh? Best Wishes . Pam
                              Dx @ 47 with HOCM & HF:11/00
                              Guidant ICD:Mar.01, Recalled/replaced:6/05 w/ Medtronic device
                              Lead failure,replaced 12/06.
                              SF lead recall:07,extracted leads and new device 2012
                              [email protected] Tufts, Boston:10/5/03; age 50. ( [email protected] 240 mmHg ++)
                              Paroxysmal A-Fib: 06-07,2010 controlled w/sotalol dosing
                              Genetic mutation 4/09, mother(d), brother, son, gene+
                              Mother of 3, grandma of 3:Tim,27,Sarah,33w/6 y/o old Sophia, 5 y/o Jack, Laura 34, w/ 5 y/o old Benjamin

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