[StacyA]

#1060509

Hi again, I am 41 female with two young kids and freaking out. I have Graves’ disease and I am in remission (off all meds for past three months, all levels stable) but went for a stress test due to ongoing years of palpitations and a known mitral valve prolapse with some regurgitation, and I was shocked they also recorded a period of a fib during the beginning of the stress echo. I meet the cardiologist Wednesday to find out the severity of all these issues but A fib sounds scary, the more I read about regurgitation it sounds dangerous too. Ughhhhhh… Anyone have this And can share their experiences? I’ve read graves can lead to some of these issues, I’m so upset. thanks for any input.

[snelsen]

#1183022

yep, I have afib, developed it last year. I am too tired to write tonight, but good you are seeing a cardiologist. can be treated, and there are things to think about in that arena. I’ll write tomorrow sometime.
Shirley

[StacyA]

#1183023

Shirley, please do write more tomorrow. Ill check back for your reply. I’m so frustrated. I am in remission now and didn’t expect this. so upsetting. It could have begun when I was still symptomatic and not yet off the meds, but it still blindsided me. Any advice you have would be appreciated, as always.
-Stacy

[wilson68944]

#1183024

Oh my god. I think I have this. I never looked into and for years just called it palpitations but after looking it up I think I have a fib and have had it for years. It feels like my heart stops and starts and pounds so hard it shakes my whole body. If I am walking or climbing the steps I feel like I’m going to pass out and it makes me very dizzy. It takes sometimes 20 minutes for it to stop. How can they officially diagnose something that only happens randomly?

[Kimberly]

#1183025

@StacyA – Sorry to hear that you are dealing with this, but it sounds like your medical team is on top of things. You might also be interested in this research from the Cleveland Clinic – obviously, though, any type of mind/body practice should be done in conjunction with conventional therapy!

(Note on links: if you click directly on the following link, you will need to use your browser’s “back” button to return to the boards after viewing, or you will have to log back in to the forum. As an alternative, you can right-click the link and open it in a new tab or new window)

http://health.clevelandclinic.org/2014/08/your-mind-is-your-ally-in-the-fight-against-afib/

@Wilson68944 – Your primary care doctor would be a good place to start. You’ve done a nice job of documenting how/when your symptoms occur…I would definitely bring this info into the doctor to see if he/she can suggest next steps.

[Tkiv]

#1183026

Kimberly,
Thank you for this link. I love my yoga class and believe it really helps. Your link is validating and I really appreciate that. I believe it also helps calm and relax the crazy mind as well as help with my heart palpatations. It’s Something I will stick with for my bones as well.

Namaste,
Terry

[snelsen]

#1183027

Stacy, here is a quick review of what happens with afib.
The rate (# beats per minute) and the rhythm (regular or irregular) define and determine afib It can be intermittent, or all the time. Sometimes, it can bee seen on an EKG when the patient notices that their heart rate is different. Other times, since people go “in and out” of afib, cardiologists have us wear a Holter monitor or another kind of monitor to record everything about the heart for a couple days, or sometimes a week or 10days, to see any patterns emerging.

Atrial fibrillation occurs when the upper chambers of the heart, or atria, fibrillate. This means that they beat very rapidly and irregularly. Blood is not pumped efficiently to the rest of the body which may cause you to feel weak or tired, or to experience uncomfortable heart sensations like a racing or irregular heartbeat.

The risks happen, cause the blood may pool, or sit at the bottom of the ventricle, the lower chambers of the heart. If it sits there, it can have the possibility of clotting. Then, if there is a good strong beat of the ventricle, it can send a clot surging through the vascular system, and potentially “block” an artery, resulting in a stroke (depending nowhere the vessel is located)but that would be true if it were in the head, and that is where the vessels get smaller.

So, in summary, it is the RATE (how fast the heart beats) and as you know, it is usually pretty regular, like a clock ticking. and the RHYTHM, which is usually steady, also like the ticking of a clock. An irregular rhythm would be like:
beat, beat, beat, pause…..beatbeatbeatbeat (maybe super fast)…….then beat, beat……..pause pause, beat/beat/beat/beat all in a row, and maybe not very strong beats.

It needs to be treated. There are several ways. First step is usually to anti coagulate, so that no clots will form. Part of the treatment is to take drugs that controls the rate and rhythm. The old stand by anticoagulant for afib is warfarin (Coumadin) it has been around for over six decades, maybe more. It does what it says it is, an anticoagulant. Makes your blood “thinner” thus less likely to throw a clot. Labs are required with this med, for your labs need to be within a certain anti coagulate range. Yet not to high and not too low.
Just like the three little pigs!
The disadvantage of this drug is the vigilance of the labs required, along with the dose changes based on those labs, so you have to have blood draws. The biggest advantage is that there is a reversal agent for this drug, if you have a lot of bleeding somewhere that won’t stop (cause you are anti coagulated)
The reversal agent is vitamin K.

There are newer set of drugs for a fib, and they require no labs. They are all about 3-5 years old now. The trials look good, but they have not been on the market very long. The big downside is that there is no reversal agent if you have a big bleed. There is a reversal agent for warfarin (Coumadin)

In summary and simplicity, with a fib, the risk of a fib is clotting in a vessel, causing a thrombotic (clot) stroke. To keep us safe from that , our blood needs to be “thinner” or anti coagulated, more than folks who don’t have a fib (like I did not have all the rest of my life until last summer)

When we are treated, the other risk is bleeding, or possibly having a hemorrhagic stroke, or a big GI (stomach or somewhere else ) bleed. If that happens when on warfarin the docs can give Vitamin K which is a clotting agent-like drug.

I believe the studies are saying that there are more GI bleeds with the newer drugs, and they are also UBER more expensive. More and more docs are going to the new anticoagulants. I am sticking with warfarin, till there are more good studies, and the new drugs have been out for a long time It is entirely possible that your cardiologist will explain the pros and cons of both treatments.

But for sure, a fib needs to be treated, not ignored, and the incidence of stroke is much higher in untreated a fib.

Do write after your appt with the cardiologist, maybe even print my post.
And, the usual reminder, we are just folks with Graves’ and/or TED or both, not giving medical advice, just our own experiences. Hope to hear from you soon. YOU WILL BE FINE. I AM FINE!!!! (: AND I FEEL VERY SAFE AND CARED FOR. But you definitely need a cardiologist in your world now.
Shirley

[snelsen]

#1183028

Rate-one more thing…it can be like a clock going haywire, and beating REALLY REALLY FAST! Like 120-170 ticks (beats) per minute.

[brondack]

#1183029

Just to provide a different perspective. I survived a major MI seven years ago, at age 57, through the wonders of modern medicine, fantastic medical and nursing staff at Baystate Medical Center, strong support from my son and daughter and the grace of God. One diagnosis that was made during my short stay at the hospital was that I had a fib and because I had not seen even a primary care doctor for several years prior to my incident, my cardiologist could not say whether it started with my MI or was present before it.

In any case, I was put on a Warafin (Coumadin) routine to thin my blood. And I have following that routine for the last seven years – and have completely recovered from the MI. Yes, as Shirley has pointed out, it does require frequent labs to make sure the blood thinning is in the correct range.

Unfortunately about two years ago I was also diagnosed with Graves. I have added methimazole as another routine daily drug. At some point I may opt for RAI, but I haven’t reached that point yet. I have to count my blessings as I appear one of the lucky few who, while experiencing a certain amount of the rollercoaster between hyper and hypo, I have not suffered any of the serious effects that many of you have and I am living a healthful and active life. In that regard, on September 21, I will be participating in the Jimmy Fund Boston Marathon Walk – doing the entire 26.2 mile course.

I decided to write this just to let people, especially newly diagnosed folks like Stacy that it IS possible to overcome both Graves and a fib.

In closing – Greater Than Graves !

[StacyA]

#1183030

Thank you all!!

So the cardio I saw today said he is sure what I had was not a fib, as it was only a minute long. He feels it was paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia.

Thoughts?

[connypie]

#1183031

hi wilson.i had the same symptoms.id walk up a flight of stairs and black out,get a case of rubberlegs and breathe hard and my heart felt like it was tripping over it self.i couldnt eat soup or cereal,my tremor was so bad it shook everything off the spoon.id lay on my back and set the book on my chest to read and couldnt read the words because my heart was pounding so hard it shook the pages of the book.sometimes you could see my heart pounding in my chest if i stood still,and it felt like it was missing a beat and speed up and slow down.when i was first looked at for thyroid disease,they hooked me immediately up to the ekg machine.and it was all thyroid related.they put me on meds to keep my heart from racing,sorry cant remember the name.and i have to say it worked pretty well.but it is a scary feeling,i still have some issues with anxiety,but i try not to medicate.

[snelsen]

#1183032

To Stacy,
Yes, that is exactly what it sounded like to me. No big deal. But with your prior stated diagnosis of a fib, I was trying to address that.
Keep track of your pulse now and then. My description of a fib in my post is very dissimilar to PVT. That’s “just” a racing heart, that then reverts to NSR, normal sinus rhythm. Glad you saw him, glad he said that. He is probably right, based on a one minute episode of a fast heart rate.
Shirley

[StacyA]

#1183033

How do I know who is right? I hope it was psvt!! So scary.

[Kimberly]

#1183034

Hello – This is way out of my area of expertise, but perhaps a 2nd (or 3rd?) opinion would give you some confidence in the diagnosis.

Hoping that you won’t have to deal with this again!

[snelsen]

#1183035

Stacy. (reply to wilson below too) and brondack!
wow. with that opinion, that is confusing and tough!!
IF you have a fib it really is dangerous not to treat it. Once we have it, we HAVE IT.

However, just to be sure I did not miss anything, I re-read your posts, and I did find the “answer” in your first post. You have a DOCUMENTED record of the a fib episode from your stress echo.

So, my next question is,
did the cardiologist read the echo, the written report and the entire recording? And the echo is recording your heart the entire time, so it would pick it up
If he did not, I think this cardiologist is doing a huge disservice to you.

Believe me, I understand where you are coming from! Who wants to go through all this warfarin/lab/business for the rest of your life? Certainly not me! Nor you. I know better, but I have asked, several times, if I can just “forgetaboutit!” No way. Way too risky to have untreated a fib.

I have ONE documented episode of afib also. That’s it. Every echo, EKG (the EKG is a few seconds, and can read it right away) since my initial visit has been totally normal sinus rhythm (known as NSR0 and that means regular rate and rhythm. To complicate the scenario further, some people can “tell” when they are in a fib, some cannot. Most folks notice it.

I suggest if you ever feel this again, go immediately to wherever you can get a stat (immediate) EKG. If an ER or urgent care, or your own primary doc, darn near anyone can “do” an EKG. Or, is the cardiologist the same place where you had the echo?

I wish so much for you that it is only PVT. But I am concerned, and suspect you “do” have afib. How about a consult with the folks who did the original stress test?

I did wear (forgot the name, will find out) a very easy thing to record my heart for a MONTH. It is fairly expensive, and of course, for someone to read a months work of every heart beat, is a lot of work, takes a while to get the results.

@ wilson-if this happens again (wear a watch with a second hand at all times) take you pulse for a full minute, two minutes preferable, count the beats, and also notice if the RATE (beats) is regular. If the RATE is regular but super fast, you may have supra ventricular tachycardia, or perhaps paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia)
Neither as worrisome as a fib.

Then take it again, for at least a minute, notice of the RHYTHM is regular or irregular.
If you can, get an EKG when this is happening, know that is difficult. You might have a Holter monitor prescribed for 48 hours. It is a pain, but cheap and easy way to record all about your heart. It may show nothing, unless you have an episode. You just don’t know.

brondack! super cool re the marathon. Glad you totally recovered from your MI. THAT is a big deal
shirley

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