Hello Afib my old friend,

You’ve come to bother me again….

Wow, my old nemesis, Atrial Fibrillation, reared its ugly head last week. I haven’t had an episode that has lasted for more than a few minutes for over a year now so of course I thought it was finally gone from my life. I was even going to ask the electrophysiologist if I could stop taking the heart rhythm medication he’s had me on for the last year and a half. I have to be honest though and admit that for the last four months, I’ve only been taking half the dosage he prescribed. I don’t like taking medication, especially ones that I feel have possible side effects.  I feel like doctors never tell you anything about the medication they are prescribing. After I started taking flecainide, I’ve had episodes when I’ve felt my brain was “fuzzy”.  I’d try to explain something only to find that I could not find the words I needed.

A couple of nights ago, I was sitting in my chair drinking an iced drink and suddenly my heart started jumping around. This is how at least two of my episodes have started in the past. It’s like when I swallow something cold a certain way, it flicks an invisible switch. I waited that night for it to stop and it didn’t. I have a Fitbit watch that has ECG capabilities and when I used it, I was not surprised to see that it read “Atrial Fibrillation”. The Fitbit watch’s ECG ( Electrocardiogram) capabilities are pretty good and I’ve given a printout to my doctor.

It’s been a week now and my old friend is still with me. I so hoped it would go away on its own, but it hasn’t. I finally relented and made an appointment to see the doctor.   I know there is nothing he can do for me in the office and the only thing that will stop this episode is a cardioversion. At least I’m hoping that is what he will do.

But why does this happen when I’m drinking something cold? The possible answer is there is a nerve called the Vagus nerve that ” wanders from the brainstem throughout the chest and abdomen innervating the heart, lungs and intestines. It is part of the autonomic nervous system and its cardiac action is to slow the heart. For some patients increased vagal activity is associated with the initiation of atrial fibrillation.”