New Involuntary Member of AF Club

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Posted by Mike Ware on August 15, 2002 at 07:35:06:

I am 57 years old, trim and fit, never smoked or did drugs, and only drink wine moderately. I swore off caffeine a couple years ago. I don’t have any significant stress in my life. I exercise almost daily. I bicycle 50-75 miles on weekends.
I started experiencing AF in March. Mine almost always occur at night as I am falling asleep just before bedtime or while I am in bed asleep and/or getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. They often last 12-18 hours and they occur up to 4 times a week.

My cardiologist put me on aspirin therapy (one 325 mg per day) and Toprol XL (50 mg per day). I am only taking half the Toprol right now because that is enough to keep my heart rate way down. My resting heart rate during the day use to be around 56, not it is in the high 40s. My cardiologist recommended that I not take other drugs or have PVA because of the high risks associated with those. He didn’t mention Maze. He just told me to come back in 6 months to see how I doing. FYI - my echocardiogram showed that I may have a mild MVP condition.

After trying different things to find “triggers for my AF,” the only thing that may have any correlation is eating or drinking wine late in the evening, e.g., after 8 PM. I tend to have more AFs if I eat or drink after 8 PM. I have tried not drinking wine for several weeks, not eating chocolates or foods with MSG and things like that, but to no avail.

I have several questions and if anyone wants to answer a few, I’d really appreciate it.

1. Once you start experiencing AF, do the episodes tend to increase in frequency/duration over time or decrease?
2. How long should I wait before considering PVA or Maze? Should I wait a year or two to see if they go away on their own? (AF is interfering with the things I love to do in life, so I would like to resolve it sooner than latter)
3. What drugs should I try beyond Toprol before considering PVA or Maze?
4. Are their doctors in Washington DC or Baltimore that do PVA and Maze?
5. What doctors in the U.S. are known for their success with these PVA and Maze operations outside of those in the Cleveland Clinic?
6. What simple things tend to help arrest arrythmias once they start - if anything? E.g., laying down, starting to exercise, eating, etc.
7. Is there anyway to help mitigate night time arrythmias besides not eating/drinking late in the evening? Do these type of AFs respond differently to drugs or PVA/Maze?
8. Is it okay to exercise during AF? On the Toprol, my heart rate won’t go above about 130 bpm while exercising when I am not having an AF episode. I haven’t tried to exercise during an AF event since I have been on Toprol, but assuming my average heart rate stays reasonable, is there any harm in exercising? My cardiologist said light exercise would be okay during AF and at other times, I could work as hard as I want. Does that sound right?

Thanks you, Mike


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