Worried sick! Atrial Fibrillation elderly uncle

[StrawberryJelly90]

Hello,
I'm very close to my uncle, he's more like a father to me. He's 79 and has been told by his GP that he has Atrial Fibrillation after an ECG last Friday at the doctors surgery. He's been given blood thinning medication and beta blockers he said. He's physically active and eats healthily. I'm worried sick but I am not telling him that.
The only symptoms he had was being a bit breathless in the morning and coughing a bit of phlegm up but apart from that, nothing. This issue was only flagged up from a pre-op check for his knee surgery which he's due to undergo. They mentioned to him that they thought he had AFib and that he should see his GP who has now confirmed it. I'm petrified, does anyone have any experience of this? Thank you

Just to add that he doesn't smoke or drink and isn't overweight

If it helps AF is a background condition that I see a lot in medicine - uncontrolled AF is dangerous; less so when on medication to treat

Just tell him to keep taking the meds and continue enjoying his healthy lifestyle.
My dear mum was (unbeknownst to me) diagnosed 3 years ago. She suffered a catastrophic stroke in 2021 and died in 2022. We discovered she had AF after find the unopened and unused meds in her bathroom cabinet. Had I known I'd have sat with her and made her take them. She had been a fit and active 79 year old - much like your uncle.

I'm not trying to alarm you - just to tell you your uncle has the best advice now and just needs to follow it.

My older brother has it, I have it and one of my younger brothers has it. We’re all in our 60s or 70s and have been diagnosed for a while and live normal lives. I and my younger brother still work part time (teaching/medicine). My AF was well controlled on a low dose of beta blockers until Covid kicked it off and I had a cardioversion. Now it’s well controlled again. Brothers have had similar.
It’s quite common and easily treatable. You shouldn’t worry too much.

ah well, you won't beat this then: my dad got diagnosis from ECG & got told to go to hospital immediately.

Where Nothing happened. For 3.5 days he was stuck in hospital. He almost died of boredom. Says the food was terrible.

He's back home. He is Worried sick (I suppose literally) even though his brothers got diagnosed long time ago (one age 39) & have stabilised & there are dozens of possible successful treatment paths. He's no sicker than he was last week, he just has more options to stop himself from getting sicker.

But then I'm a irrepressibly cheerful cowbag so would say all that...

How many medications does he have to take and in what way (with or without food)? If I was near my dad I'd tried to help him set up some phone alarms to help him remember which one & how to take it.

17.7% of over 75 have it.
hea lucky. He now knows and can have the right treatment ( rate control and blood thinners ) and carry on with life.
both my parents had it in the old days when it was warfarin rather than the new anticoagulants that don’t need monitoring. Still a medical non event for them really once controlled.

Thanks for replies, much appreciated. @explainthistomeplease I'm sorry to hear about your mum. He has beta blockers plus something else that I cannot remember the name of but it's to regulate heart rhythm. He's very vigilant and organised and has a little note pad and will jot down when he takes them but I will be keeping an eye on things. Thank you so much, I feel a lot more at ease now. I didn't realise it was a common condition!

Yep. Literally just keep taking the tablets @StrawberryJelly90 !!

I do blame myself sometimes for not being more involved in mum's life. But she was capable and fit and so I restricted interaction to the fun stuff. Hey ho!

Sounds like your uncle is on top of things so don't worry.

DH has had it for years. It was an incidental finding and he is on beta blockers and blood thinners. He has never had a single symptom and is monitored regularly by GP.
Finding it is a good thing, the risks of stroke etc can be reduced by the drugs, many people don't know they have it.

I have paroxysmal AF which is a bit like SVT. Again treatable but has more noticeable symptons if it happens.

I had it diagnosed this year. My GP advised no medication for now, as the risk of medication outweighs the benefit at my age (57) and no other health issues. She said it will be different in 10 years probably

I'm in permanent AF. Waiting for a cardioversion. I take all the meds recommended. It's horrible though.

My dad has AF. He’s had cardioversion a couple of times and that’s worked well both times. It’s mostly under control with beta blockers, blood thinners and an aging spray, but occasionally it goes a bit haywire and he gets taken in for a drip to sort it.

Some people flip in and out of AF, some live in constant AF. From our experience the treatments work well, although the beta blockers take some time to get the right dosage. He used to fall asleep all the time!

He also invested in a Fitbit so he can keep and eye on his heart rate and get to know what’s normal for him. Although when he’s going into AF he can certainly feel it.

It’s pretty common

AF is one of the most common cardiac arrythmias out there. I think half the planet (including myself) has it.

I am on beta blockers (bisoprolol) and that's it. I am unable to take blood thinners like Eliquis due to bleeding issues, however I was lucky enough to be a candidate for the Watchman device. Magic what they can do now, so without over explaining, it helps stop strokes by blocking off the bit of the atrium where blood can pool in AF.

Some people have awful trouble with it, some sail through it and don't know they have it. The important thing to remember is that AF on its own is rarely life threatening - bothersome and scary sometimes- but it's the possibility of stroke that is the major thing in AF. So once either blood thinners are started or like me, an occlusion device is implanted it's not the scary thing it could be.

DH lived with it for 20 years. Medication and cardioversions in that time. He had an ablation in March and is now off most meds and is feeling a lot better.

My dad had it. He didn't tolerate the medication as, his blood pressure was already on the low sue. So he had ablation surgery to fix it. It doesn't affect him anymore.

My DF (74) was recently diagnosed and is on medication for AF, his symptoms were breathlessness. He is fine now and back to his daily walking. My DM had a catastrophic stroke from undiagnosed AF at the age of 69 back in 2019, it was (and still is) devastating. It is good it has been picked up in your uncle and being treated.

It's very common especially in the over 75s. I'm a nurse and I'm always surprised when some one that age doesn't have AF as it's so common. The heart has been beating for 79 years and it's a muscle and the electric impulses sometimes go a bit haywire.
My granddad has had this for 25 years. It's controlled by medication.

My uncle is in his 50s and just had a cardioversion

This happened to me too: my mum was diagnosed in 2018 never took any medication and basically buried her head in the sand until she was dying of heart failure a few months ago. Like your mum, happy active etc. the worst thing is: she was a fecking nurse!!! She really should have known better

@explainthistomeplease

She didn’t even tell us ffs.

so OP - make him take the meds!

Hello, sorry for not returning to them thread sooner. I'm absolutely worried sick.and head is all over the place !!
He ended up going to A&E Sunday afternoon due to fainting and he was seen by a a cardiologist and now he's on the waiting list for heart surgery. They said it could be 8 months but to keep taking the medication in the meantime..he's very strict and regimented and I know he will adhere to taking his meds.
They said he needs cauterisation/ablation of the veins but not 100% sure as my cousin went in with him. He keeps joking and saying that as long as they don't operate on his birthday in December he will be ok. I don't know if he's joking around to keep us calm but underneath he's worried and scared but doesn't want to admit it. Bless him.

I'm not letting on to him or anyone else in RL but I can tell you tonight that I am terrified

It's often a very slow progression. My mother has had it for nearly 10 years, she's in more meds now but living a full life.

Ablation is not heart surgery, it's a very common, routine procedure. He wouldn't be waiting 8 months if it was urgent. Many people live perfectly normal lives with AF as posters on here can attest.

That's good to hear
Thank you for the replying, I feel very alone and isolated with my thoughts and fears tonight but feel less so now after writing it all out on here.

AF is so common.

I have paroxysmal AF, which means it only happens now and again. I am on an anti-coagulant to prevent a stroke, which can happen when a clot forms in the bottom of the heart chambers that are not beating normally and the clot flies off and gets lodged in a blood vessel in the brain. I am told it is more of a risk if AF only happens now and again.

Your uncle is getting the right treatment. The AF is caused by a small area of the heart firing off a wrong electrical signal - the ablation just zaps that tiny bit to stop it sending the wrong messages. It is a very common and successful operation.