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There we go then - saw a nice, young, chatty doc this morning about my headaches. Asked about ablation and he said about the risks involved, versus the benefits to someone like me, who has AF, but can get on with life mostly as normal. As I don't really get too many side-effects and my only real downside is being less energetic than before, it's not worth it. So sticking with 27* drugs a day is best.
*(4 really)
I had an ICD fitted (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator) last year and have been fine since. My heart beats away at 50 bpm at rest now.
Interesting new study:
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/08/30/well/live/alcohol-atrial-fibrillation.html
A new study has found that consuming alcohol, even as little as one can of beer or one glass of wine, can quickly increase the risk of a common type of cardiac arrhythmia known as atrial fibrillation in people who have a history of the condition.
Doctors have long suspected a link between alcohol and atrial fibrillation, but until now, they did not have definitive evidence that alcohol could cause arrhythmias. The new study is among the most rigorous to date: The researchers recruited 100 people with a history of atrial fibrillation and tracked them intensely for four weeks, monitoring their alcohol intake and their cardiac rhythms in real time.
The scientists found that drinking alcohol heightened the odds that a person would have an episode of atrial fibrillation, or an abnormal heart rhythm, within the next few hours. And the more they drank, the greater their likelihood of having an arrhythmia. The new study was published on Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The conclusions, along with data from previous studies, suggest that people with a history of atrial fibrillation could reduce their chances of developing arrhythmias by cutting back on alcohol or avoiding it altogether.
i think my AF started with the help of too much booze.
every september i have a week away with the lads on the bikes.
we spend all day riding and evenings drinking.
so maybe 30 or more pints in the week.
my Af started on a monday after coming home from one of these weeks away.
Just found this thread when I was looking for threads on watt bikes….wtf, literally!
I’ve just been to see a Cardiologist who specialises in heart rhythm,as I’ve got AF, which is now permanent. I’ve had a few ‘moments’ over the past few years but it really kicked off in August and righted itself, but came back two weeks ago and is still going. So I managed to get in front of a top Specialist who explained how these rogue electric pulses start firing into the heart and they don’t know why.
So I’m going to get shocked back into rhythm and have an ablation, which I really hope will get it sorted. Currently a bit light headed and feels like I’m on two thirds power.
Thought it was about time I updated this thread as some people have been asking how I'm getting on, plus Rockape above got in touch with his issue.
I have been in constant AF since it started around 2 months ago, no breaks, my heart just stays in AF all the time. They don't know the reason for why I have it, they have checked everything and I've had heart scans and all is okay, no thyroid issues, so no idea what they need to do to prevent it from happening again.
Anyway, I had my cardioversion last week and got a reset, it was a very easy procedure with no issues, basically go to sleep for 10 minutes or so and it's done, no pain nothing. Everything went back to normal...for 3 days, then Sunday night I got the heart flutters again and I've gone back into AF, very annoying. I had 2 cans of beer that evening so it looks like alcohol may be my trigger, similar to what Ton mentions above (although not the same levels 🙂 ), the hospital had told me the odd drink was okay but in my case probably not, alcohol has to go for now. So it looks like an ablation will be on the cards once they can get me in but it may be months. I'm awaiting feedback from the hospital as to what to do next.
My cycling has gone from quite active on zwift, to almost nothing, I just can't do anything without my HR going through the roof, easy recovery paced rides only on the turbo, once or twice a week. I really miss the exercise and it's affecting the mental health a bit, I'm definitely grumpier!
mate, when i got to the stage before a ablation, i bought my first e bike. perfect excuse.
kept me riding with the lads.
and good look with the ablation.
@oopnorth hope you get it sorted.
For my heart issues (not AF) I went with Bupa (covered by work) which has massively sped everything up.
Any chance you can do similar?
thing is mate, and i know it is harsh, ablations dont always work. mine didnt. and if i had not bought a ebike, i would have been off the bike for around 3 years........**** that.
life is for living. buy a ebike, use it until fixed then sell it on.
good luck.
@el_boufador yes I have bupa and started the process through them with consultations etc. However the consultant told me the actual procedures needed to be done through the NHS. Maybe that's just our region but I'm going to recheck that, I don't want to be waiting if I don't need to.
i went to see a specialist in sheffield. a bloke called Steven hunter.
he did a thing called a cox maze procedure on me. he had to open me up though.
but it all worked out in the end.
he is a bit of a wizard at this stuff. do a search on him.