| Location | | US | 110 | UK | 21 | Canada | 18 | Australia | 6 | Ireland | 1 | | Japan | 1 | Norway | 1 | New Zealand | 1 | South Africa | 1 | Switzerland | 1 |
|
| Current Age |
 |
| Maximum | 76 |
| Average | 51.76 |
| Minimum | 18 |
|
| Age Diagnosed |
 |
| Maximum | 74 |
| Average | 45.44 |
| Minimum | 14 |
|
| How Long |
 |
| Maximum | 30 |
| Average | 6.4 |
| Minimum | 0.1 |
|
| Diagnosed condition | Some interesting subgroups were
| chronic | 9 | but number on check list | 21 | lone | 12 | but number on check list | 31 | | paroxysmal | 43 | but number on check list | 69 | vagal | 10 | but number on check list | 45 | | flutter | 8 | but number on check list | 65 | adrenergic | 0 | but number on check list | 16 |
Although the discrepancies above are probably due to the database not making the question clear,
the labels the doctors give us and the ones we put on ourselves vary somewhat. For example, I have
never been formally diagnosed with vagal AF but remain convinced most of my attacks (95%+)
are vagally mediated. |
| Frequency of episodes | This list does not total 161 as some people appear to be very random
| chronic AF | 21 | | every day | 19 | | >1 day <7 days | 28 | | >7 days <1 month | 28 | | >1 month <6 months | 7 | | > 6 months < 1 year | 7 | | less than 1 episode a year | 4 | | none / cured? | 5 |
|
| Duration of episodes | Again this is extremely variable in each individual. Many people specified a range of figures…
Duration minima
| <1 minute | 7 | | >1 minute <1 hour | 42 | | >1 hour <12 hours | 49 | | >12 hours <24 hours | 16 | | >24 hours <48 hours | 12 | | >48 hours | 28 |
Duration maxima
| <1 minute | 4 | | >1 minute <1 hour | 10 | | >1 hour <12 hours | 48 | | >12 hours <24 hours | 25 | | >24 hours <48 hours | 21 | | >48 hours | 28 |
|
| Preceding Event | 109 entries did not mention an event that preceded their AF.
Of those that mentioned a preceding event some common findings were
| acute stress | 10 | alcohol consumption | 6 | exercise | 6 | | other heart problems | 5 | other illness | 6 | surgery | 9 |
|
| General Health | | excellent | 36 | good | 58 | fair | 6 | poor | 1 | | athletic | 10 | fit | 18 | active | 4 | unfit | 3 | | over weight | 7 | under weight | 1 | drinker | 2 | moderate drinker | 11 | | light drinker | 39 | non drinker | 22 | stopped drinking | 6 | recovering alcoholic | 2 | | smoker | 6 | non smoker | 58 | stopped smoking | 17 | asthma/respiratory allergies | 10 | | arthritis | 4 | diabetes | 3 | gerd | 4 | hiatus hernia | 2 | | high cholesterol | 4 | hypertension | 14 | kidney stones | 3 | mitral valve prolapse (MVP) | 4 |
|
| Triggers | | excercise or exertion | 34 | resting after exercise | 15 | | fatigue | 20 | resting | 12 | | falling asleep | 7 | sleep | 14 | | insomnia or lack of sleep | 11 | lying down (often on the left) | 16 | | bending | 16 | standing too quickly | 9 | | stress or anxiety | 60 | recovering after stressful event | 6 | | adrenaline rush (including over excitement) | 10 | working long hours | 2 | | sex | 2 | alcohol | 46 | | smoking | 2 | caffeine | 39 | | chocolate | 13 | MSG | 15 | | spicy food | 6 | sugar | 6 | | after eating | 7 | eating | 11 | | large meals (often late evening) | 26 | cold drinks | 14 | | dehydration | 2 | empty stomach (or hunger) | 7 | | digestive promlems | 12 | constipation | 3 | | medication | 2 | low potassium | 2 | | premenstruation | 2 | heat or cold | 5 | | unknown | 30 | |
|
| Preventions | Avoiding individual triggers appears to be the best prevention.
18 entries have had some benefit from exercise (anywhere from steady walking to running),
it sometimes stops AF and sometimes delays the onset.
7 entries have had limited success with vagal / valsalva manoeuvres.
4 reported some success with magnesium (2 of which had IV magnesium).
3 entries said belching or coughing sometimes helped and 2 entries said keeping hydrated helped.
2 entries have benefited from cold showers and 1 from a warm bath.
There are single entries for benefits with amalgam removal and magnetic therapy. |
| Current Medication | 27 people report taking no medication
6 people are just taking aspirin
5 people are just taking warfarin
| acebutolol | 1 | amiodarone (cordarone,pacerone) | 13 | atenolol (tenormin) | 18 | | aspirin | 45 | bisoprolol | 2 | digitoxin | 1 | | digoxin (lanoxin) | 18 | diltiazem (cardizem) | 17 | disopyramide | 3 | | dofetilide (tikosyn) | 11 | flecainide (tambocor) | 22 | metoprolol (lopressor,toprol xl) | 19 | | mexiletine | 1 | nadolol | 1 | procainamide | 3 | | propafanone (rythmol | 9 | propranolol | 1 | quinapril (accupril) | 2 | | sotalol (betapace) | 15 | trandolapril (mavik) | 2 | valsartan (diovan) | 1 | | verapamil (calan,isoptin) | 10 | warfarin (coumadin) | 52 | |
Here is a list of meds not listed in the checklist but with more than one entry | allopurinol | 2 | alprazolam | 2 | calcium | 4 | | carnitine | 2 | CoQ10 | 7 | diazepam | 2 | | fish oil | 3 | flax seed oil | 2 | furosemide | 2 | | garlic | 2 | hawthorne | 2 | lansoprazole | 3 | | lipitor | 10 | lisinopril | 7 | lisinopril and hydrochlorothiazide | 4 | | lorazepam | 2 | magnesium | 4 | methimazole | 2 | | multi vitamins | 12 | pravastatin | 2 | premarin | 3 | | protegra | 2 | pravastatin | 2 | potassium | 4 | | premarin | 3 | ramipril | 4 | ranitidine | 3 | | salbutamol | 2 | temazepam | 2 | tenormin | 2 | | thyroxine | 6 | vioxx | 3 | |
|
| Past Medication | I've cheated! It's quite obvious that many people enter their current medication and tick medication
they have had in the past in the check list without mentioning it in the 'past medication' field. So
I've subtracted the current medications from the totals in the checklist to get these numbers. They
will be wrong but I believe they will more closely reflect the correct numbers than the past
medication fields.
| acebutolol | 1 | amiodarone (cordarone,pacerone) | 31 | atenol (cordarone,pacerone) | 20 | | aspirin | 48 | azimilide | 1 | bisoprolol (monocor,emconcor) | 2 | | cibenzoline | 1 | digitoxin | 3 | digoxin (lanoxin) | 50 | | diltiazem (cardizem) | 9 | disopyramide | 10 | dofetilide (tikosyn) | 3 | | dronedarone | 1 | flecainide (tambocor) | 36 | ibutilide (corvert) | 2 | | lidocaine | 5 | metoprolol (lopressor,toprol xl) | 5 | procainamide | 7 | | propafanone (rythmol) | 22 | propranolol (inderal) | 15 | quinidine (quinaglute) | 14 | | sotalol (betapace) | 31 | verapamil (calan,isoptin | 20 | warfarin (coumadin) | 8 |
|
| Check List | | acebutolol | 2 | amiodarone (cordarone,pacerone) | 44 | atenolol (tenormin) | 38 | | aspirin | 93 | azimilide | 1 | bisoprolol (monocor,emconcor) | 4 | | digitoxin | 2 | digitoxin | 4 | digoxin (lanoxin) | 67 | | diltiazem (cardizem) | 26 | disopyramide | 13 | dofetilide (tikosyn) | 14 | | dronedarone | 1 | flecainide (tambocor) | 58 | ibutilide (corvert) | 2 | | lidocaine | 5 | metoprolol (lopressor,toprol xl) | 24 | mexiletine | 1 | | nadolol | 1 | procainamide | 10 | propafanone (rythmol) | 31 | | propranolol (inderal) | 16 | quinapril | 1 | quinidine (quinaglute) | 14 | | sotalol (betapace) | 46 | verapamil (calan,isoptin) | 30 | warfarin (coumadin) | 60 | | asthma | 18 | diabetes | 7 | gerd | 20 | | hypertension | 36 | hypotension | 6 | hyperthyroidism | 4 | | hypothyroidism | 12 | | | | | | adrenergic | 16 | vagal | 45 | familial | 17 | | lone/idiopathic | 31 | paroxsysmal | 69 | permanent/chronic | 21 | | flutter | 65 | cardiomyopathy | 2 | CHF | 3 | | PAC | 26 | PVC | 27 | SVT | 11 | | syncope | 6 | bradycardia | 26 | tachycardia | 30 | | heartblock | 4 | infarction | 3 | rheumatic heart disease | 4 | | sick sinus syndrome | 8 | stroke | 4 | WPW | 1 | | cardioversion | 40 | defibrillator | 5 | pacemaker | 9 | | ablation | 36 | bypass | 2 | maze | 4 | | Male | 123 | Female | 38 | |
|
