| Name | Af 33 |
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| Location | Japan (US citizen) |
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| Age | 1968 |
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| Diagnosed condition | Atrial Fibrilation, Atrial Flutter, and previouosly had WPW (eliminated by RF ablation 1990) |
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| Years with condition | 12 (not including WPW) |
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| Frequency of episodes | Usually 1/day, although I occasionally go a week without noticing anything. |
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| Duration of episodes | A single skipped beat, to episodes that last 1 week |
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| Event preceding first AF | WPW. |
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| General health | Never have been smoker or drinker, and I limit my caffeine intake. I am athletic and doctors haven't found any irregularities with the structure of my heart. |
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| Current state | Fine. However, my AF has gradually but steadily gotten worse over the past 10 years. Had a cathether ablation for AF (line-block tricuspid valve) but nothing changed |
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| Triggers | strenuous physical exertion, mental stress, lack of sleep, lack of food |
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| Preventions | Sleeping a lot (8-9 hours/day) helps |
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| Current medications/side effects | Atenolol (Tenormin) --> Low blood pressure and slow heart rate.
Flecainide (Tambacor)--> Not sure what to think of this drug because it triggers AF much of the time. (Yes I have read the book "Deadly Medicine." ) I am hoping the benefits outweigh the risks.
I take aspirin for its (possible) blood-thinning properties |
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| Past medications/side effects | Cibenzoline and Sun Rhythm (a drug made by Suntory in Japan that is probably similar to Cibenzoline ?). Both triggered AF.
I also took a whole lot of digoxin when I had WPW. |
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| History of surgery | EP study 1990
WPW ablation 1990
EP study 1990
EP study 1992
AF ablation 1999 |
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| Future plans | I plan to enjoy myself and be thankful for what I've got. |
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| Personal comments | 1) I would be interested to know other people's occupations. I myself am an 9am-7pm office worker, but think a more flexible schedule would be better for me and my AF.
2) The lack of consensus among doctors and medical research about the causes and best treatments for AF makes it difficult for us patients to make decisions. I think your database may provide important information that will serve as a guide when we are faced with tough decisions. Thank you.
3)Trivia: There is a correlation between WPW and people with long limbs. For example, if you hold your arms out horizontally this "armspan" is normally equal to your height, but WPW patients tend to have greater armspan than height. (Thus WPW is relatively common among basketball players.) Does anyone know if there is any similar data about AF patients?
4) Media: There was an interesting (1 page) article about Larry Bird a few years ago in Sports Illustrated (Referenced at: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/nba/news/1999/09/01/bird_heart/)
Among other things the article describes how Bird played pro basketball with AF. His AF always became more severe in the off season when he wasn't exercising as hard. |
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| Check list |  acebutolol | amiodarone (cordarone,pacerone) | anisindione (miradon) | | atenolol (tenormin) |  aspirin | azimilide | | bepridil | betaxolol | bisoprolol (monocor,emconcor) | | bretylium | bucindolol | carvedilol | | cibenzoline | dicumarol | digitoxin | | digoxin (lanoxin) | diltiazem (cardizem) | diphenylhydantoin | | disopyramide (norpace) | dofetilide (tikosyn) | dronedarone | | encainide | esmolol (brevibloc) | ersentilide | | flecainide (tambocor) | gallopamil | ibutilide (corvert) | | lidocaine | mibefradil | metoprolol (lopressor,toprol xl) | | mexiletine | moricizine | nadolol | | phenytoin | procainamide | propafanone (rythmol) | | propranolol (inderal) | quinapril (accupril) | quinidine (quinaglute) | | sotalol (betapace) | tedisamil | timolol | | tocainide | trandolapril (mavik) | valsartan (diovan) | | verapamil (calan,isoptin) | warfarin (coumadin) | asthma | | diabetes | GERD/acid reflux | hypertension | | hypotension | hyperthyroidism | hypothyroidism | | adrenergic | vagal | familial | | idiopathic/lone | paroxysmal | permanent/chronic | | atrial flutter | cardiomyopathy | CHF | | PAC | PVC | SVT | | syncope | bradycardia | tachycardia | | heart block | myocardial infarction | rheumatic heart diease | | sick sinus syndrome | stroke | WPW | | electrical cardioversion | defibrillator | pacemaker | | ablation | bypass | maze | | Male | Female | |
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