cos a few people have asked and cos I don't want to clutter up other threads:

I came on with persistent (24/7) AF in the second week of December
if I try any even very gentle jogging I quickly become light-headed
I have no other underlying probs (diabetes, high blood pressure, thyroid)
I had an echo-cardiogram today and my heart has no other probs
so looks like I will be getting an "ablation" op jobby
"cryo" is the latest apparently - they send in balloons of liquid nitrogen and freeze the requisite areas!
good success rate apparently
seeing doc again next week - think he'll probably recommend the procedure
watch this space...