Atrial Fibrillation and a hospital stay

ArkansanArkansan Regular
edited June 2012 in Life
So Friday I was laying down dozing off, and then as soon as I started to really drift off, fucking BAM! I woke bolt upright with my heart pounding, running a mile a minute and missing beats. My Mother and Wife drove me to the hospital where they rushed me straight back and next thing I know I'm on a gurney and the nurses and doctors are standing over me telling me that my heart rate is at around 170 and I'm in A-Fib, then they hit me with this drug that almost stops the heart, twice none the less, with no success. I gotta say the way that drug makes you feel is the scariest shit, you feel like all your weight compresses against your back and your made of sand. So they try a second drug, it is successful and my heart slows down to about 100 from 170 in around 30 seconds or so. Long story short I spend 48hrs in the I.C.U., my heart converted back to a normal rhythm after about 5 hours but they kept me for tests and observation. All my test are fine and apparently structurally my heart is fine, they think the episode could be related to my central sleep apnea. So I'm home now but feel like shit as they put me on a Beta-Blocker to help prevent my heart from pulling that shit again. Some scary shit for sure, but the cardiologist seemed to think I'm good, at least for the minute, but the meds make me weak as shit. Anyway, thought I'd share.

Comments

  • edited June 2012
    Jesus christ, just reading that sent chills down my spine. I've been fortunate enough never to have anything go majorly wrong with my body so I guess the only thing I can possibly compare the experiences you had on that drug to is an episode of sleep paralysis :D But god damn bro, glad you're alright! Oh and it's great to see you again :thumbsup:
  • ArkansanArkansan Regular
    edited June 2012
    Glad to be back and thanks for the kind words. I'll be taking it easy here for a while so I should be posting more.
  • edited June 2012
    Arkansan wrote: »
    Glad to be back and thanks for the kind words. I'll be taking it easy here for a while so I should be posting more.

    Awesome, that's really good to hear. In fact you couldn't have picked a better time to return really, you might have noticed that we're doing some major overhauling all over the site and implementing some new ideas. Dfg finally got his lazy ass in gear ;)
  • SpinsterSpinster Regular
    edited June 2012
    Reminds me of when my lung collapsed. Start going to sleep and my heart rate would drop below 30 beats per minutes, right down to the low 20's sometimes. Alarm bells would start ringing and doctors and nurse come over to my bed side, All I said was "what this about, Im trying to sleep".

    Good to hear your okay now dude. let me guess, no drinking, no smoking radi radi raaa.
  • DaktologistDaktologist Global Moderator
    edited June 2012
    Holy fuck. Glad to know you are still in the land of the living mang.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2012
    What the fuck, please tell me your routine, like what you eat and everything, that goes double for spinster. I need to know and I am sure everyone else needs to know as well. Medical healthcare isn't that awesome here, so yes I am scared to shit. I am glad you're back, it's really awesome to see the old crew returning, makes me really happy and I am double glad you're alive and well. Just stick around here and we will keep you motivated and going on :).
  • SpinsterSpinster Regular
    edited June 2012
    I eat McDonalds and smoke. My idea of exercise is sex or shooting rabbits.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2012
    Spinster wrote: »
    I eat McDonalds and smoke. My idea of exercise is sex or shooting rabbits.

    Good, I avoid fast foods and I hate smoking, I love running/walking and I walk almost everywhere. So, yeah thanks man.
  • SpinsterSpinster Regular
    edited June 2012
    Lol but i have the resting heart rate of Lance Armstrong!
  • edited June 2012
    This thread makes me want to do more exercise and get healthy... Thank god I'm going on holiday in a few days, there will be plenty of physical activities involved, mainly swimming.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited June 2012
    I do all the wrong things and my stress test last summer came back perfect.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2012
    I do all the wrong things and my stress test last summer came back perfect.

    Didn't knew you were into Anal.
  • SpinsterSpinster Regular
    edited June 2012
    Yup.

    Dieting etc, is a crock of shit. Everyone's body is different.

    Its like when I read these dietary intakes, B vitamins etc. all shit.
  • Darth BeaverDarth Beaver Meine Ehre heißt Treue
    edited June 2012
    Dfg wrote: »
    Didn't knew you were into Anal.


    Remember? That is why your ass is always so sore.
  • SpinsterSpinster Regular
    edited June 2012
    Remember? That is why your ass is always so sore.

    Camels? Now anal?

    Dfg, what have you become.
  • DfgDfg Admin
    edited June 2012
    Remember? That is why your ass is always so sore.

    Yeah now I remember. Fun times.
    Spinster wrote: »
    Camels? Now anal?

    Dfg, what have you become.

    Lack of sleep, fucked up state of mind, wrote too much.
  • ThirdRockFromTheSunThirdRockFromTheSun <b style="color:blue;">Third<em style="color:pink;">Cock</em>FromThe<em style="color:brown;">Bum</em
    edited June 2012
    Shit man, so nothing for definite on what caused it? I hope you're okay bro, keep us posted!
  • ArkansanArkansan Regular
    edited June 2012
    I feel pretty good today, the meds I'm on suck but they keep shit normal so its worth it. The doctors havent nailed a cause down yet, but they do know its not because of any structrual problem with the heart, so thats good news. The speculation is that years of uncontrolled sleep apnea are the culprit. They docs said it is possible that it may not happen again, but if it does become a regular thing there are options to cure it.
  • ArkansanArkansan Regular
    edited June 2012
    So I was back at the Doctors office yesterday, noticed my eyes were looking a tad yellow so I went in to make sure it wasn't a reaction to a new med. They couldn't find anything wrong with me, clean chest x-ray and blood panels so the only thing they can think of is that I haven't been eating or drinking enough the past week due to stomach problems, which is probably whats up as I have lost 12 pounds since last Friday. The good news is that the doctor I talked to this time seemed to think that the incident I had was caused by gastrointestinal irritation of some sort or another. I had suggested the same to the cardiologist in the hospital but he waved it off, the doc I saw last night said that they will discount that sort of connection if they are not up on the newest research which the ER doctors obviously weren't. The funny thing is that my stomach has caused me arrhythmia and chest pain for years and Friday when all this shit started the only thing I could think in the ICU is that I must have eaten something that really fucked me up. Anyway all good news at this point, the new doctors I saw seem to think this shit is all GI problems given my past history and my family history and they think as long as I keep my stomach under control I shouldn't have another one of those crazy ass heart episodes.
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