Quote Originally Posted by Chris K View Post
Ian, I've just done the reverse. 14 months of being clear and in the process of getting running fit again, It only took about 20 metres of running with the beagles and I knew I'd tripped into AF on Friday afternoon.

Alexandra, how did it go earlier this month? Did you manage to fight off the warfarin and beta blockers?
Chris, I'm really sorry to hear about your "incident". I'm so grateful that my sort of AF almost always happens in the middle of the night or early morning, so that I wake up in trepidation, check to feel if my pulse is irregular, and if not, get up VERY CAUTIOUSLY. If I can get as far as breakfast without problems, I'm probably in the clear all day. The sort that is triggered by effort must be heart breaking - on the edge of a precipice the whole time.

Well, I went off to France as planned on 1st September, against the advice of the specialist nurse, did lots of strenuous stuff at altitude and have had no further problems to date. I saw my specialist recently for a checkup, and was delighted to find that he was not particularly impressed by my fainting fit (maybe he'd have reacted differently if he had seen my black eye). He was more worried about the fact that I've had 7 incidents in 2011 - far more than ever before. He wants me to try Flecainide next attack, in hospital, and then go onto it daily. From the way he spoke, he would only recommend Warfarin if I had continuous AF. Flecainide works to stabilise the heart rate rather than lower it like Beta blockers. I'm still hoping to use it as a "pill in the pocket" rather than take it all the time, but it all depends how often I have attacks in the future. Of course I am racking my brains trying to work out exactly what triggers them so I can avoid it. There are links to changing position, especially from horizontal to vertical, going to the loo and slow heart rate. Also to sleep apnoea. I am getting a responding splint to stop the latter.

It's very odd, isn't it - one feels fine and yet any day it can strike again. When I'm not having an attack I can't believe I'll ever have another. However, I was reassured by the fact that recently, running a 10 mile race, I sustained an average HR of 150 for 2hrs 5 minutes without feeling distressed. So the incidents have neither damaged my heart, nor are they as shocking for my heart as they might be were I an inactive person.

Did they try Flecainide on you other times before resorting to zapping?

Finally, this has taught me that, helpful as Nurse Specialists are, they are not Consultants and don't know as much. If I had heeded the advice I got from the Nurse Specialist I would have sacrificed my wonderful holiday - for nothing.

Good luck!