The New Year is here and so is winter. Slushy rain, snow flurries, cold weather…and Afib. What is it about this time of the year that makes my Atrial Fibrillation raise its nasty head? I was first diagnosed with Afib in March 2019.  In January 2020, I had my first ablation. In February 2022, I had my second ablation. Now,  a week ago, standing at the kitchen counter making ham sandwiches, I felt my chest tighten and I felt short of breath.

I have a “sort-of” blessing in that I have pulsatile tinnitus which means I can hear my heartbeat in my ears, mostly in my right ear. It’s always there, but when my mind is busy with other things, I don’t hear it, but as soon as I think about it, it’s there. I say it is a “sort-of” blessing because I’m able to hear and count my heartbeat (like having my very own stethoscope) but the downside of it is that the swishing sound seems to affect the hearing in my right ear. Bay Audio describes it as:

Pulsatile Tinnitus is unlike with normal Tinnitus being the perception of sound when no external sound is actually present. Pulsatile Tinnitus, however, presents as a rushing or whooshing sound which is actually your ear picking up the noises of the blood moving around your body. This is where the name “pulsatile” comes from, as it is literally your pulse you can hear.

There isn’t a definitive answer as to what causes this tinnitus. It can be caused by medication (Flecanide?), ear disorders or “inner ear damage, cardiovascular disease, allergies, anemia and some jaw disorders.” (Mayo Clinic).

So when I felt the shortness of breath, I stopped and concentrated on my ear, and there it was. The rapid, erratic “swishing” sound. I thought that was okay because I often have short bursts of rapid, erratic heartbeats, but they stop in fifteen or twenty seconds. This time it didn’t. I waited about ten minutes to see if it would go away and when it didn’t, I used the ECG app on my Fitbit Charge 5. Thirty seconds later I had my answer. Atrial Fibrillation.

I waited a few days hoping  I would “self-convert” before I called to make an appointment to see the Electrophysiologist. The last couple of times I’ve been to the office, I’ve seen his Nurse Practitioner but since this is the second occurrence in the last six months, I wanted to see the doctor. Last August when I saw the NP for my Atrial Flutter episode, he suggested that I may need a third ablation. I told him when I saw the EP, he said he didn’t think that would be possible because of the extensive ablating he had already done to my heart. The first available appointment to see him wasn’t for three weeks.

I figure I’ll have three choices when I see him: 1) Do nothing; continue on the Flecanide and use heart rate medication when needed and learn to live with it; 2) Another cardioversion and continue with the heart rhythm meds; or 3) Another ablation. I definitely don’t like option one; I’m not real keen on option three either. My hopes are on option two. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Unless it would go away on its own (which it never has once it’s been around this long) I’ll be dealing with it for at least a couple ore weeks and the longer I deal with it, the harder it gets.