did have palpitations back then but they seemed a lot less
frequent and went away when I was on the meds. So the Drs. just
chalked it up as anxiety. I took Xanax for awhile and then turned to
Klonopin which seemed to completely cure my panic disorder. I had
EKGs back then that were completely normal. So I went on living
my "bulletproof" 20's with no more problems.
Fast forward to my 30's...
Several years ago, I started taking a nasty OTC weight loss
stimulant, which had Ephedra or (Ma Huang). Big NO-NO! I noticed the increased palpitations; especially at night when I would lay down to go to
sleep. I also noticed that any time that I would drink alcohol
excessively, I would get palpitations from that as well. Still
taking the stimulant with effedra, I went in to see my family Dr.
and he immediately told me to throw that garbage in the trash! They
did an EKG in his office which showed that I was in AFib. He then
sent me to my first Cardiologist appt. and they made me do an echo
stress and Holter for 48 hours. Heart structure looked great and
Holter produced only a few skipped, premature beats but still in
NSR...I was bulletproof again!
Nearly 4 years passed and I went in to see the family MD again and mentioned in passing, that I was again having palpitations at night. I also
explained to him that I had developed a Starbucks addiction over the
past few years and had been drinking A LOT of caffeine. Keep in
mind,during this entire 4 year hiatus; I was jogging 3+ miles
regularly,playing full-court basketball in a church league...no
other symptoms other than night palpitations. No fatigue, trouble
breathing, etc. He said cut back on the caffeine, did another EKG,
yep...back in AFib.
So new trip to the Cardiologist, prescribed me Digoxin, this time
a 14 day monitor, and echo in his office. Heart again looked good
just had a very slight enlarged left atrium 44cm. but looked normal.
The monitor results however, showed that I was pretty much in
persistent AFib the entire 10 days that I wore it. His thoughts were
to do a TEE and cardioversion. ..I PANICKED!! What? I have 3 small,
beautiful kids at home...you can't shock my heart! I was also
freaked out because of my age. It's so rare for folks in their 30's, I had heard.
So it was on to the EP which they too concluded, cardioversion
would be best right now given my age, lack of symptoms, etc. He
prescribed me Coumadin to get my INR between 2-3.
Also a calcium blocker and high blood pressure medicine which I have
never had hypertension but he said it was good for rhythm as well
Lisinopril and Cardizem (if I remember correctly) So I went from never taking anything other than my anxiety pills for a brief time to 4 heart drugs now...NOW I WAS REALLY FREAKED
OUT!
stimulant, which had Ephedra or (Ma Huang). Big NO-NO! I noticed the increased palpitations; especially at night when I would lay down to go to
sleep. I also noticed that any time that I would drink alcohol
excessively, I would get palpitations from that as well. Still
taking the stimulant with effedra, I went in to see my family Dr.
and he immediately told me to throw that garbage in the trash! They
did an EKG in his office which showed that I was in AFib. He then
sent me to my first Cardiologist appt. and they made me do an echo
stress and Holter for 48 hours. Heart structure looked great and
Holter produced only a few skipped, premature beats but still in
NSR...I was bulletproof again!
Nearly 4 years passed and I went in to see the family MD again and mentioned in passing, that I was again having palpitations at night. I also
explained to him that I had developed a Starbucks addiction over the
past few years and had been drinking A LOT of caffeine. Keep in
mind,during this entire 4 year hiatus; I was jogging 3+ miles
regularly,playing full-court basketball in a church league...no
other symptoms other than night palpitations. No fatigue, trouble
breathing, etc. He said cut back on the caffeine, did another EKG,
yep...back in AFib.
So new trip to the Cardiologist, prescribed me Digoxin, this time
a 14 day monitor, and echo in his office. Heart again looked good
just had a very slight enlarged left atrium 44cm. but looked normal.
The monitor results however, showed that I was pretty much in
persistent AFib the entire 10 days that I wore it. His thoughts were
to do a TEE and cardioversion. ..I PANICKED!! What? I have 3 small,
beautiful kids at home...you can't shock my heart! I was also
freaked out because of my age. It's so rare for folks in their 30's, I had heard.
So it was on to the EP which they too concluded, cardioversion
would be best right now given my age, lack of symptoms, etc. He
prescribed me Coumadin to get my INR between 2-3.
Also a calcium blocker and high blood pressure medicine which I have
never had hypertension but he said it was good for rhythm as well
Lisinopril and Cardizem (if I remember correctly) So I went from never taking anything other than my anxiety pills for a brief time to 4 heart drugs now...NOW I WAS REALLY FREAKED
OUT!
So, I decided to go get the ever-popular, "second opinion". Boy, did I like this Dr. better! She became my local EP and gave me the courage to "nip it in the bud" once and for all....that's what I did!
I then decided that an PVI ablation for my then 34 yr. old, chronic a-fib heart was inevitable.. .I had come to accept it. But, it gave me hope because I saw the daylight at the end of the tunnel! My EP wanted to cardiovert me, but why?? I didn't see the point if I'd just convert again. I knew that I have been in chronics a-fib for at least 1 year at that point. However, I had been relatively asymptomatic, perhaps due to my age? I was currently on only Coumadin (trying to get INR between 2-3) and Digitek then.
My dilemma then became, who??? Who would I get to this procedure? My local EP didn't perform them and she honestly couldn't recommend anyone in Dallas with a long, sustained, successful track record.
TO BE CONTINUED...
