| Name | Jeanne Richards |
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| Location | Norwich, Vermont |
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| Age | 54 |
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| Diagnosed condition | afib |
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| Years with condition | five years |
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| Frequency of episodes | three to four times a year |
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| Duration of episodes | few minutes to twelve hours |
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| Event preceding first AF | none |
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| General health | never smoked, enjoyed wine but not often any more, overweight |
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| Current state | I enjoy pretty good health, but worry about these episodes constantly. |
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| Triggers | Stress {usually delayed a couple days after a stressful incident.} Too much alcohol. Caffiene. There are lots of things like bending or raising my arms that will get me going again when I feel like I'm starting to come out of afib. Sometime no obvious trigger. This is hard to describe, because it is different every time. Once I was lying on my right side and it started, but I hear lying on the left side is supposed to be the trigger. |
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| Preventions | The obvious ones are the things I put into my system. What worries me most is that stress cannot be avoided. Just living life can be stressful. My twenty-five year old daughter was diagnosed with melanoma two years ago and her Dad, my first husband and his brother both died of it. Anne is doing great, but I would be dishonest to say it isn't far from my mind. Everyone has a story of stressful things. I avoid caffiene, and rarely have a drink these days. I can sometime stop a"flip-floppy' heart by lying down or using the computer to distract myself. |
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| Current medications/side effects |
Toprol XL 100mg once a day and warfarin. The toprol makes me thirsty. I have been taking these for two years. |
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| Past medications/side effects | none |
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| History of surgery | none |
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| Future plans | Being more open about this condition and learning more about it. A healthy life style, trying to avoid the things that set me off. If this doesn't help I will take whatever steps I need to to cure this. |
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| Personal comments | Just reading all the things I wrote down does not make this whole situation look as complicated as it is. I have palpitations all the time that make me feel like I'm going to go out of nsr and I get terrified. I feel like I have adrenelin flying through me. The depression is sometimes overwhelming, yet when I read some of these other folks stories I can't imagine having afib happen constantly, so I know it could be so much worse. |
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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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