A Fib
by Scott Hardie on November 16, 2014
I wish the title was "a fib" as in a lie. But no, it's "A Fib" as in atrial fibrillation. That's a heart condition in which the upper part of your heart doesn't keep a rhythm. Sometimes it pounds really hard like it wants to burst out of your chest, sometimes it wobbles along shakily like a child trying to play a drum set, and sometimes it doesn't beat at all for seconds at a time. It's awesome.
I'm sharing this because I've been diagnosed with it. A Fib is normally a condition that develops in your seventies or older. I live in Sarasota, Florida, so I guess I'm an honorary 70-year-old. Right now I have the recurring kind where I get spells of A Fib lasting a few hours at a time, but it's been happening more and more, so I'm worried that it's going to turn into the permanent 24/7 kind that never goes away.
Having a spell of A Fib sucks. It usually happens to me at night: I'll jolt awake and begin shaking uncontrollably in bed. I'll try to tell myself to calm down, but I can't because I'm alternating between realizing that I have no pulse and that my heart is trying to explode. I lie there wide awake and quivering, convinced that I'm having a heart attack. Eventually I trick myself into calming down and starting to nod off, but just as I'm about to lose consciousness, BOOM I'm jolted awake again with the same terror. This goes on for hours.
The one good thing about this diagnosis is that it explains some of my medical history. Over the years, I've been to the ER a lot, and been diagnosed with everything from arrythmia to anxiety attacks to a "caffeine overdose." Looking back at those incidents and remembering my symptoms vividly, I realize now that they were all spells of A Fib, going all the way back to college. The downside of this realization is charting the dates and seeing that the frequency is accelerating. What used to happen every few years (so rarely that I didn't recognize a pattern back then) is now happening several times a month.
I'm seeing a cardiologist. So far he's put me through a battery of exams, everything from a stress test to an ultrasound (no baby photos, sorry). I look forward to talking with him this week about a course of treatment. I'm hopeful that my youth makes me a candidate for the surgical solution that fixes A Fib permanently, because the main alternative is blood thinners that will cramp what little style I have. Mostly I just want no more nights of lying awake for hours terrified that I'm on the verge of death, and then becoming the walking undead the next day because I'm exhausted. Here's hoping for relief soon.
Three Replies to A Fib
Lori Lancaster | November 17, 2014
[hidden by author request]
Scott Hardie | November 20, 2014
Thank you both! Yes, the risk of blood clots and strokes (five times the national average) is the real danger with this condition. The rest of it is a nuisance, albeit a considerable one.
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Over and Out
"How's the week treating you?" "Like I slept with its wife." I've had better weeks. Go »Even When I Was a Child, I Was Hated by Skeletons
We watched The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra again last night. If you haven't seen it, and you have a place in your heart for a pretty good spoof of campy D-grade sci-fi movies from the 1950s, rent it. A few people have been turned off by its slow pace, but I have yet to watch it with someone who hasn't at least found a few things to chuckle at. Go »The Honeymoon
After our wedding, it was time for Kelly and I to enjoy our honeymoon: Ten days in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and the coastline between them. We (really I, with Kelly's signoff) spent weeks researching and scheduling to pull it off, and the effort was definitely worth it, as we had ten days of bliss. We rode new rides at Disneyland, toured a movie studio and historic ship, saw whales and dolphins up close, ate lunch atop a mountain, hiked among the redwoods, explored Chinatown and Alcatraz, and along the way ate some amazing food. Go »The News is Furry
I'm glad to see that CNN has continued their crackerjack, no-nonsense news coverage during ratings season: Go »Dr. Jerk
I wish doctors would treat me like a person, instead of a fat person. No matter what complaint sends me to the doctor in the first place, within minutes, every visit turns into a conversation about how I need to lose weight, and what will happen if I don't. Like I haven't tried a thousand times to lose weight. Go »
Steve West | November 17, 2014
Damn. This sounds potentially serious. Scary, scary. I don't want to sound like an alarmist as you've dealt with this for some time and I never have but this is one of the few organs that we cannot live without. Arrhythmia in and of itself is troubling but the blood clot aspects are a tad more serious. Best of luck with the treatment plan, the quicker the better my friend.