Dr. says no meds can help and I am very scared .

[jenny]

HI My name is Jenny, I had a MVP repair in 96....leaving the hospital I took inderol and digitiek than about 2 years ago I went into AFib...and was put on Sotolol (?) I stayed on it for about one year..than it produced asthma affects...so about one month ago they pulled me off it and put me on inderol again..my son had bronchitis and I came down with it...one night I was rushed to the emergency room and they diagnosised me with asthma with bronchitis. The gave me and inhaler called Combivent which I took 2x a day. Last Saturaday, I went into AFIb and I stayed in the hospital for 3 days to try a medication that is fairly new on the market (started with a T but don't remember the name)and when you take it you need to have a egk one hour after taking this med....on the third day they discoved that the med did not work....I stayed in one more day to get it out of my system. I have tried a number of drugs to stop the Afib but to no avial....They now have me on Diltiaz and digitek. But they tell me this will no keep me out of afib....my heart rate goes as high as 160-170 just sitting....They doctors told me not to take Combivent (now they tell me!!!!!!) for it can speed up your heart . That I should take it just when I need it.if I get asthma attacks.I am very very scared and I am just wondering if any of you out there have had this problem....thank you so much for reading this.......Has anyone gone into Afib and may I ask what they are taking for this. I sure would appriciate any information I can get for I am very scared at the moment thinking that there is nothing more and I will go into this again , for the problem was never solved...Thank you for helping me......Jenny

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi jenny!
welcome to this site. it is a wonderfully supportive and informative place. everyone understands.
i'm so sorry to hear about your bout with afib...and then asthma, etc. it must be difficult for the docs to control the asthma with meds and keep your heart from racing at the same time (most asthma meds are adrenaline stimulants).
maybe someone on this forum will come forward and help with this one.
my husband, joey, was taking sotolol regularly (preventatively) to keep him out of afib. it worked fine until immediately following his ross procedure , when he went into "heart racing" afib. he was determined not to go the coumadin route on a long term basis, so after much discussion, he was put on a drug called amiodarone. it is a very strong drug and from what i understand is used as a last resort. it has many side effects and takes a very long time to get out of one's system. he has been going for blood tests regularly, had his eyes checked, and had a lung capacity test done as a baseline to make sure no lesions form on his lungs that may cause difficulty breathing. since you have asthma, i do not know that this would be the drug of choice for you, considering it's strength and it's side effects.
it is, however, working like a charm for joey. many here will steer you away from it as a result of very bad experiences with the drug. we, however, have been really pleased.
my father had avr and bypass surgery about 3 yrs ago_on the other side of the coin. he is a very young 68. he was in chronic afib before the surgery and remained in it after as well. since he has a st. jude's valve and needs to be on coumadin anyway, he opted to remain in afib for life. it does not bother him at all and for some reason, his heart rate is stabilized , as opposed to when joey went into afib (after surgery) and his h.r. was through the roof!
i hoped this helped some. please let us know what happens.
best wishes and be well, sylvia

 

[Nancy]

Hi Jenny-

Welcome to this wonderful site. There are lots of folks here who are in chronic afib. It works differently for each individual. Some are able to live with it, some are on mild medicines, and some are on heavy duty medicines. My husband has chronic afib and other rhythm problems and has a pacemaker which controls his heart beats that are too slow, and then takes a beta blocker for the fast beats. His fast beats were up around what you describe, but the main reason he has a pacemaker is that his slow beats caused him to faint. He still has afib a lot.

You didn't mention is you are under the care of a cardiologist and an asthma specialist. I was wondering what their take is on this situation. It's very important to get the asthma under control, because it can be life-threatening if it's allowed to go too far. I have it and have had some bad episodes in the past. Nothing to fool around with. However, I am not a heart patient, my husband is the valver.

I also have high blood pressure, and was on Inderol for 20 years. I don't think that drug works well with asthma. I am now on another drug to control it. Here's a link for looking up various drug names.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginformation.html

You may have to be you own best advocate to insist on a workable plan for you, so you are safe. Both situations have to be dealt with.

Good luck. Let us know how you do.

 

[Mb]

Hi!

Just wanted to add a line. My husband has been in persistent a-fib for at least a year and a half. He does not have asthma though.

There are a lot of things that they can do to help you with the a-fib.....you CAN live with it. It is the most common heart arrthymia. They will try a number of different things.....in the long run. Listen to your doctors and if you do what they say, things will improve.

Many, many people have a-fib, and I am certain that a percentage of them have asthma. The doctors out there are pretty smart folks......

We are all here for you.......

Marybeth

 

[jenny]

Thank you all for anxwering my post...you have no idea how much I appreciate it.....I mean that.....I am going to a clinic near me where they specialize in Afib...so I am hoping I will get some answer to this....
Marge, I can live with Afib?? My doctor told me to get to the hospital , for you can have a stroke if you do not go within 24 hours.....geeeeeeeeeeee why do they scare me so????? Thank you all so very very much..... Jenny

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi jenny!
yes, you CAN live with afib. as marybeth and nancy said, besides their husbands, many folks on this forum live with afib.
my father lives with it. the only thing that you have to worry about is that when the heart beats irregularly, ther is an increased chance of clot formation. clots can travel and lodge in different places, especially the brain and that could cause a stroke. this is why it is so important to go on blood thinners when you are in afib.
cardioversion is another possible option, also mentioned before. joey had it done years ago and it was_thank God _ successful, but this is not always the case.
in addition, the efficiency of the heart is not as good when it is in afib. i think that is why some people get a little short of breath or lethargic.
hope this helped and please let us know if you make any headway with this doctor you will be seeing.
good luck and best wishes, sylvia

 

[John Cochran]

Jenny,
My son Clay, who is 30, has had his aortic valve repaired and also has chronic atrial fibrillation. He has worried a lot, too, but has learned from some excellent cardiologists that he can live a long and pretty normal life in spite of this condition. First of all, are you taking the drug Coumadin? This dramatically reduces the chance of stroke due to afib. There are also some ablation techniques that can be used for afib, depending on what the source of your problem is. Ablation is when they use a catheter through a vein in your groin or wrist and feed it into your heart. They do an "EP" which is an electrophysiology study to find the cause of the problem, and then may be able to eliminate it through the use of radio frequency energy delivered via the catheter. This procedure is often done as an out-patient procedure.

In more severe forms of heart arythmias, a pacemaker can be used to straighten things out. Some of of these have built-in defibrilators which can correct the rythmn in an emergency situation.

Good luck to you, and never be afraid to get second or third opinions if you're not satisfied with your current treatment.

Best,
--John

 

[Rain]

another a-fibber

another a-fibber

I have had atrial fib. for a very, very long time. It used to scare me to death, before I started taking medication for it.

After my Cardio put me on meds I can still feel my heart beating all freaky, but it's not as forceful. And it doesn't really race like it did before.

My cardio has assured me over and over that I can live forever with a-fib... although he does threaten me with a pacemaker now and then. Grrrrr

Rain