Skiing with Atrial Fibrillation

[graham418]

I'm surprised that you are going for the ablation, especially now that you are in rhythm with cardioversion. I thought that was the last ditch course of action, assuming that you are staying in rhythm. Did they load you with Amiodorone? Thats what I had, a base load so the cardioversion would stick, and now a daily dose (lifetime!)

 

[graham418]

On a positive note, I went skiing last friday, first day, and skiied top to bottom all day with no ill effects . Granted it was only a 550ft hill, but same time last years I was seeing stars

 

[Rod MacDonald]

So if I manscape things down there, should I just trim the sides or 'clearcut' the whole forest? The operation and recovery time is several hours - did you get a bladder catheter?

I'm not a particularly hairy person, so chest hasn't ever been a problem for me. As for the other, I've never done any trimming of any purpose in that area, but if you consider a 4 inch square self adhesive dressing I'd certainly be looking not to have to pull that off again. I think my dressing got changed 3 times in all, not fun .
I never had any toiletry problems, I was kept in hospital overnight . I had some fairly intrusive chest pain shortly after coming round from the OP, but the pain relief they gave me took care of that.
I did bleed from the incision for some time due to poor adhesion /pulling on the dressing from movement but had no real discomfort from the actual site.

 

[SpikeDog]

I'm surprised that you are going for the ablation, especially now that you are in rhythm with cardioversion. I thought that was the last ditch course of action, assuming that you are staying in rhythm. Did they load you with Amiodorone? Thats what I had, a base load so the cardioversion would stick, and now a daily dose (lifetime!)

Persistent afib is harder to beat, even with cardioversion. I could have been in afib for years before it was detected. Even while I was in normal sinus rhythm, I had lots of ventricular ectopy. Add in an ER visit too. I'm not a big fan of medications, and would like to get off Eliquis so I can donate blood again.

No, they didn't load me up with amiodorone. That drug has some significant side effects, eh? I was a bit surprised that they didn't put me on an anti-arrhythmic drug after the first cardioversion (just a statin). Not being on an anti-arrhythmic put my chances of staying in normal rhythm down around 30%. I'm on flecainide after the second cardioversion. They'll have to put me back in rhythm during the ablation to check for stray current anyway (according to my electro-physicist). She said we'll do it even if I'm still in normal rhythm at the time.

 

[Johnny V.]

Good luck Spike! Mine still comes and goes although I make sure I'm consistent with my medications. Went for a 5 mile hilly hike a couple of Saturdays ago and had to rest a bunch of times-I was fine on a hilly hike a few days before. Did 10 miles today on the stationary bike averaging 16.9 mph and was fine too. I'm on flecainide,diltiazem and asprin as a blood thinner.

 

[SpikeDog]

Thanks for the support, JohnnyV! Still wonder how we never talked at Big Sky during the last gathering. With the bodacious snow year in the West I didin't get the Atomic doubledeckers out much that I bought from you. Just one day at Heavenly - it was a good one for sure. Always looking for a foot rest on the chair, 'cause those boards are heavy!

Is it just me or do flecainide tablets dissolve way too fast? I've only been taking them for a couple of days, but the 100 mg tablets don't seem to have any binder in them. I hardly have time to swallow before they start to crumble.

 

[Johnny V.]

Is it just me or do flecainide tablets dissolve way too fast? I've only been taking them for a couple of days, but the 100 mg tablets don't seem to have any binder in them. I hardly have time to swallow before they start to crumble.

Yes, very quickly! You have to get them down fast and they're quite bitter too!

 

[SpikeDog]

Finally got a reply from Blue Cross today. They admitted their reps mislead me and will treat this one day at the hospital as an in-network case. Hooray! It'll be a train wreck for all my other expenses that were fully paid due to me hitting my out of pocket, but at least I'll get to keep my bonus this year.

 

[SpikeDog]

It's been a couple of weeks since my ablation procedure. Got some colorful bruises to show for it. So far three episodes of occular migraine, which is freaky but hopefully harmless. I'm still on the same drugs as before (flecainide, eliquis, metprolol) plus prilosec. They used an esophagus retractor (Esosure) to move my esophagus around away from the ablation sites, and that did a number on my throat, along with the endotrachial tube and an esophagus thermometer (Circa).

I'm expecting to be cleared to ski again by mid-January. I wouldn't expect to get off the blood thinners until at least 3 months from now.

 

[SpikeDog]

Got a day in at Deer Valley on Jan 25th, a week after the all clear from the cardiologist. I was looking for my second wind, but it was fairly elusive in the afternoon. A low key day at DV was perfect for getting back into the groove. Expecting to drop the flecainide and eliquis in late March.

 

[Rod MacDonald]

I had a consultation which my surgeon/cardiologist 2 weeks ago. He said he was happy with the procedure and I have come off the blood thinners, and have stepped down the beta blocker completely now.
I feel ok, just desperately unfit ..
Got a month until Kitzbuhel holidays so trying to build back up..

 

[SpikeDog]

Bumping this thread up for Phil.

 

[Tricia]

What is the difference between Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter?

 

[SpikeDog]

Good question, Tricia. Not a doctor, so my answer has little validity, but I think flutter is more a right atrium issue while fibrillation is more left atrium. Both are due to stray electrical currents in the atriums.

 

[Andy Mink]

What is the difference between Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter?

Senior Cardiac Nurse Christopher Allen says:
Atrial flutter and atrial fibrillation are both abnormal heart rhythms. They occur when there is an issue with the electrical signals and pathways in your heart, which usually help it beat in an organised, effective way.

Normally, the top chambers (atria) contract and push blood into the bottom chambers (ventricles). In atrial fibrillation, the atria beat irregularly. In atrial flutter, the atria beat regularly, but faster than usual and more often than the ventricles, so you may have four atrial beats to every one ventricular beat.

Atrial flutter is less common than atrial fibrillation

Atrial flutter is less common, but has similar symptoms (feeling faint, tiredness, palpitations, shortness of breath or dizziness). Some people have mild symptoms, others have none at all. About a third of people with atrial flutter also have atrial fibrillation.

Both conditions carry increased risk of stroke, usually managed by drugs (such as warfarin or a newer anticoagulant). This is why, whether you have atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, it is vital to be diagnosed early so you can get the right treatment and reduce your stroke risk. Either condition may require medications to prevent your heart rate becoming too rapid.

Catheter ablation is usually considered the best treatment for atrial flutter, whereas medication is often the first treatment for atrial fibrillation. Catheter ablation is a procedure that is done under local anaesthetic, where radiofrequency energy is used to destroy the area inside your heart that’s causing the abnormal heart rhythm.

 

[Tricia]

What is the difference between Atrial Fibrillation and Atrial Flutter?

This was the simple answer I got:
Normally, the top chambers (atria) contract and push blood into the bottom chambers (ventricles). In atrial fibrillation, the atria beat irregularly. In atrial flutter, the atria beat regularly, but faster than usual and more often than the ventricles, so you may have four atrial beats to every one ventricular beat.

 

[Prosper]

This was the simple answer I got:
Normally, the top chambers (atria) contract and push blood into the bottom chambers (ventricles). In atrial fibrillation, the atria beat irregularly. In atrial flutter, the atria beat regularly, but faster than usual and more often than the ventricles, so you may have four atrial beats to every one ventricular beat.

In atrial fibrillation the muscle fibers of the atria (top chambers of the heart) do not contract in a coordinated fashion. It’s described as a bag of worms. Think of when your quads are really tired and some of the muscle fibers twitch uncontrollably. Now picture if your entire quad was doing this and all the muscles were twitching but the muscle fibers were all twitching at different rates and rhythms as one another. In atrial flutter the atria are contracting as they should but just much faster than normal. Think of it flexing and relaxing your entire quad just like you do normally but much faster. It’s a bit of a crude analogy since the heart is not under voluntary control like your quads are but I think it illustrates the point clearly.

 

[ScottB]

Trish,

I had both, I can answer any question you have.
My quick answer,. Atrial flutter is very curable by ablation, basically a no brainier. Afib is much more difficult. I would advise come to Boston for a ablation cure. I maybe jumping the gun on the need for ablation.

Aflutter has a very fast regular heart rate, afib has close to normal heart rate, but it's irregular and jumps around. Lots of pauses in your heart beat

 

[DanoT]

Reviving this thread; last Sunday night, sitting at my computer and suddenly my heart starts racing 145-168 bpm, no other symptoms so I drive to the ER. They hook me up to a ECG and confirm that I am A-Fib. I get the Electric Cardioversion, successful on the first attempt. I get to go home with a prescription for Eliquis blood thinner.

Tuesday night I'm standing at the kitchen counter making coleslaw and suddenly I feel dizzy for a split second as my heart starts racing and I break into a sweat. I have a pulse of 206bpm when I first put my Pulse Oximeter on my finger and it then starts reading 183-193 regular beats.

The hospital ER was a bit busy and they didn't get to me right away. When the tech does come and hook up the ECG, I asked what my pulse was and she says 110bpm and she says "I am not a doctor but I don't think you are in A-Fib". I have to wait a while more until they take some blood and wait a while more until the doctor shows up. Meanwhile I started taking my own pulse manually and getting 25 or 26 beats per 15 seconds.

The ER doctor had the nurse give me a Metoprolol pill (beta blocker) to lower the heart rate and I waited around for it to take effect and then got another ECG with a pulse of 80bpm. Now I am on 2 Metoprolol pills a day.

My family doctor does not want me to leave for Sun Peaks in a months time but instead stay put in Victoria for a few months to get more of a handle on what is going on. Mid January is when the base is built up everywhere and the Xmas crowds are long gone.

Last winter the need for an elastic type knee brace made me dial things back a bit so there will be less of an adjustment needed to ski in a more controlled less risky manner this winter.

I guess I will be getting a MIPS helmet. When I worked in the woods, everyone who ran a chainsaw carried a pressure dressing with them. Does anyone skiing who is on blood thinners carry any bleeding control stuff: skin closures, coagulant powder, dressings?

 

[Andy Mink]

Reviving this thread; last Sunday night, sitting at my computer and suddenly my heart starts racing 145-168 bpm, no other symptoms so I drive to the ER. They hook me up to a ECG and confirm that I am A-Fib. I get the Electric Cardioversion, successful on the first attempt. I get to go home with a prescription for Eliquis blood thinner.
Tuesday night I'm standing at the kitchen counter making coleslaw an suddenly I feel dizzy for a split second as my heart starts racing and I break into a sweat. I have a pulse of 206bpm when I first put my Pulse Oximeter on my finger and it then starts reading 183-193 regular beats.

The hospital was a bit busy and they didn't get to me right away. When the tech does come and hook up the ECG, I asked what my pulse was and she says 110bpm and she says "I am not a doctor but I don't think you are in A-Fib". I have to wait a while more until they take some blood and wait a while more until the doctor shows up. Meanwhile I started taking my own pulse manually and getting 25 or 26 beats per 15 seconds.

The ER doctor had the nurse give me a Metoprolol pill (beta blocker) to lower the heart rate and I waited around for it to take effect and then got another ECG with a pulse of 80bpm. Now I am on 2 Metoprolol pills a day.

My family doctor does not want me to leave for Sun Peaks in a months time but instead stay put in Victoria for a few months to get more of a handle on what is going on. Mid January is when the base is built up everywhere and the Xmas crowds are long gone.

Last winter the need for an elastic type knee brace made me dial things back a bit so there will be less of an adjustment needed to ski in a more controlled less risky manner this winter.

I guess I will be getting a MIPS helmet. When I worked in the woods, everyone who ran a chainsaw carried a pressure dressing with them. Does anyone skiing who is on blood thinners carry any bleeding control stuff: skin closures, coagulant powder, dressings?

When I was skiing with @Philpug during his heart concerns last season I carried a small first aid kit with a Quick Clot dressing, some kerlix, and a few other dressings just in case. I still carry it when I ride and will continue to do so when skiing. It's small enough to put in my pocket. It makes sense.