At this rate, you will catch up to me by Monday, :D Glad to see you are riding again, I know you will be back up to speed in no time. Keep us posted.

SUMMARY OF PAST YEAR (so you don't have to read the scores of posts!

I suddenly developed permanent atrial fibrillation starting in September of 2004.

Since that time, a lot has happened, to wit:

1. I learned to cope with AFib (which reduces heart output by 30% and requires beta blocker(s) and other drugs to slow the heart beat from about 160-250 - death enhancing - down to below 100) and gives a very irregular heart beat.

2. I continued my exercise program (weight lifting, bicycling, walking) with some vigor despite the AFib. In fact, up to 3 weeks ago I was bicycling 150 miles per week (I am 65yo).

3. I located a procedure called PVI Ablation which is used to reduce or eliminate the errant signals in the heart (causing the atria to fibrillate at about 400 BPM) by scarring the offending tissue with radio frequency heat. There are other procedures such as the Maze and Mini Maze.

4. I located a famous physician (Andrea Natale, MD) who is world renowned for doing this procedure, which is about 85% successful. He usually operates from the Cleveland Clinic Foundation (world famous for heart care) where he is in charge of their Electro Physiology Lab, but also does(did - he is cutting back) procedures in Marin General Hospital in Marin County, CA.

5. I arranged for the procedure in CA (8 month wait period as oppposed to 1.5 years at the CC) and had it done two weeks ago. It takes about 4 hours, involves three catheters into the heart area (two from the femoral arteries, one from the jugular vein), temperature probes down the throat, etc.

6. My heart is now in normal sinus rhythm, and I am back doing 20-30 mile rides and weight lifting and walking.

I wanted to let all of you know about this because atrial fibrillation is the single most common occuring heart disorder with about 2.3 MILLION!! folks having it in the USA, and many more world-wide. Sometimes it is intermittent and sometimes permanent. It requires the patient to go on warfarin to "thin" the blood to prevent strokes from pooled blood coagulating in the atria. Folks with sleep apnea have a greater chance of getting it.

It can occur in folks in their 20's. For some it is quite debillitating, for others, such as me, it has a lesser effect.

Interestingly, the more athletic and "in shape" the individual, the more likelihood the occurence of AFib - a bigger, "athletic" heart has a greater chance of getting the condition.

Thanks for the update Denver. It is good to hear you are doing well and back in the saddle.

Thanks, DnvrFox! Your recovery seems even better than expected.

Would you mind a quick summary on how you determined that you had this problem? I looked up the symptoms but it looks like they can vary widely from person to person and some don't even have symptoms. How did you know? Thanks!

Please see:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=66480

I am thinking about getting a catheter abalation for PSVT and was wondering if anyone else had such a procedure. I started a new topic in the General Cycling Discussion (since I'm not 50+)...

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=137726

...but was then referred here, but there's a lot of old posts to go through! Could someone point me in the right direction, or post in the thread I started?

Many thanks to DnvrFox for talking about his experiences.

It is my very limited understanding the a PVI ablation for Atrial is a whole lot different than an ablation for ventriclu;ar function, with the atrial being much more complicated. But, I only heard that once, and don't remember where! It was recently, though, and have no clue whether or not it is true.

I got that impression also, that's why I started a different thread. From what I read, it seemed like an abalation for SVT is a simpler procedure.

I don't know if DnvrFox had one, but the doctor just gave me one of these to use for awhile to confirm my diagnosis. My doctor's office gave me the impression that this was new:

http://www.lifewatchinc.com/LifeStar-AF-Express.asp

According to the website, it can automatically detect asymptomatic events and record Atrial Fibrillation, Tachycardia, and Bradycardia with programmable auto triggers. The only problem I had was a couple of false triggers when increasing my heart rate really fast when climbing a hill.

Of course, now that I got the monitor, I couldn't reproduce the rapid heart beat on today's ride. Normally it happens when I get my heart rate above 160, but I pushed harder and hearter until I got my heart rate up to 190, and it still wouldn't happen! So I had to go for a run up a hill after the ride iin order to get an episode of rapid heart beat (240 beats per minute).

Nope.

I didn't need one. My atrial fibrillation was sort of obvious and continuous - 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. No monitor needed to detect it. :D

Short update:

A few days ago I got into an Afib for about 3 hours after trying to
show off climbing a steep little hill on my bicycle. Took about 3 hours to get
back into NSR.

Contacted the doc, and he said not to worry in the slightest, as this
was to be expected and was the normal course of events, and would eventually go away..

But, I kept off of the bike for a few days, substituting 3 mile walks
instead of biking.

I got back on the bike today and did 18 miles just fine - all normal sinus rhythm (NSR). I
am now letting my heart rate go up to 110 bpm, and plan on increasing
it gently about 5-10 beats per minute every week or so for the next
few weeks.

Am sending in the 3 heart EKG's daily (you can send them all at once by telephone
at the end of the day).

Another person here in our church had his ablation done locally a
week after mine. He is having all sorts of trouble including
additional hospitalization and referral to a "rehab hospital"
(nursing home). But, he is not the type of person I could ever talk
to about going to the Cleveland Clinic or elsewhere where there is more expertise - whatever the doc says, he believes, and he shuts the conversation down very quickly.

Heard about another person - about 300 pounds and a really big guy,
who, when undergoing the ablation, had a catheter inserted that was too short
to reach all the needed areas near the heart. Absolutely gross
incompetence on the part of that doc, IMHO. It does not take a genius to figure out you should measure the catheter against the person's size BEFORE you do the ablation.

So glad I found Dr. Natale to do my ablation. Lots of scary medicine going on out there!

See this thread for my update on my ablation for PSVT:

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...56#post1593256

I did a 40 mile ride three days after the procedure, with no problems.

I am impressed. I am still working on 20 mile rides!

Check out this article from yesterday's LA Times about catheterization for atrial fibrillation:

http://www.latimes.com/features/heal...ck=1&cset=true

As I don't want to register, I can't logon. Can you give us the gist?

Doc okay'd a reduction in meds this week.

DC'd the lipitor (not taking it for cholesterol, which is fine, but they find it reduces inflammation around the heart during the healing process).

1/2 dose of the metopterol now, to be DC'd Tuesday next. Keeping a close watch on the BP, as metopterol is a beta blocker. However, it has been used to slow my heart rate during the AFib and recovery from the ablation.

I will DC the Warfarin in 6 weeks, but must go on 1 tab (325) of aspirin daily.

At that time, I will be off of all of the drugs associated with the atrial fibrillation.

I remain in Normal Sinus Rhythm, and am continuing to increase speed and time on th ebike.

Nice to hear! Your info has been helpful .... especially to my coworker who I just found out has been plagued with Afib and is tired of taking all the meds that the HMO is giving him.

So glad this has been useful to someone.

Thanks.

Thanks for the update, Dnvr. You have an amazing workout regimen. I am envious :) Glad you're doing well. You are a good example for the rest of us!

Take care,

Steve

I've been following your progress as well, DnvrFox. I worry about you but you seem to know what you're doing, and you seem to doing amazingly well, so keep it up! Very inspiring!

I experienced frequent bouts of atrial tachycardia (extremely rapid heartbeat) for most of my life, until I had the ablation procedure at age 47. Many doctors told me tachycardia was nothing to worry about, but mine finally became uncontrollable and I spent a weekend in the cardiac care unit after an intense and frightening episode.

A few days later I had the ablation. A probe is inserted through an artery in the groin, and snaked upward to a point in the chest, where an extra cluster of nerves is burned away. After the procedure I was fine, except for a large bruise that developed in my leg. That went away after a few days, though.

The good news about tachycardia (at least the kind I had) is that it's neurological, not a heart problem per se. Which means I can keep drinking coffee, and I don't need any meds!

The doctor who deals with this kind of thing is an "electro-cardiologist". They specialize in the neurological wiring that affects the heart. I learned from him that a great many people have an extra copy of the nerve cluster that helps control the heart's tempo. When the clusters get out of sync, tachycardia is the result. When you're young it's fairly easy to get back in sync automatically, or by some trick like holding your breath and putting a bit of pressure on the heart. But with age, the most-used cluster begins to wear out, and the sync is harder to re-establish.

The ablation procedure was developed about 10 years ago. If you have tachycardia, find an electro-cardiologist before you need one! That "minor problem" is very unpleasant if it gets out of control.

--Bill G

Around here they are called electrophysiologist - I guess they are the same thing.

A few weeks ago I had the ablation for SVT, which I posted here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=137726


My doc's business card also says "electrophysiology", same thing.

I suppose they are the same, or almost the same. I googled both, but couldn't get a clear idea what the difference is.

[QUOTE=LCI_Brian]A few weeks ago I had the ablation for SVT, which I posted here:
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=137726

Looks like your experience was nearly the same as mine. I think I may have been mistaken to call mine "atrial" tachycardia though. Apparently tachycardia can affect different areas of the heart. My doctor said some are more dangerous than others, so I don't want to give the wrong impression as to which kind I had.

I haven't had any more episodes since the procedure. If I drink about six cups of coffee I get a twinge, but that's all. How about you?

--BG