Atrial fibrillation convinces after arguments fail...

[Mr Bill]

My little brother just called from the hospital. They got him shocked back into sinus rhythm. He went to the hospital Sunday with Atrial Fibrillation, initial treatments and drugs failed, so he called me just as they were taking him in to shock his heart. I told him back at Xmas last year that he was snoring pretty good and with the history of sleep apnea in our family (self, mother, have central sleep apnea; other little brother probably did but died five years ago, of heart attack); he should get a sleep study. He told me scornfully that was MY problem, not his. Said he slept like a baby woke feeling completely rested. Said my problem was weight related and I should loose some. So, today, he told me the hospital doctor told him to get a sleep study. So, the good news is he is going to get one! Yay!

Edit: I am posting this because some of you may have friends or relatives who say they sleep fine and deny they possibly have a problem. Well, here is a case in point.

[OutaSync]

Exactly!! My sister snores like a freight train but won't get tested because she sleeps "just fine".

I go in tomorrow for a myocardial imaging test.

[MaxDarkside]

Good for you! Good for him!

[Slartybartfast]

Ah yes, paddling on the great river De Nial that has consumed so many souls. Been there, done that, and fortunately missed going over the waterfall and crashing on the rocks below.

I, too, had no problem with sleepiness. Just a few weeks before going in for a minor surgery I drove 19 hours straight from LA to Seattle in an overloaded pickup truck and had no problem staying awake. So drowsiness isn't diagnostic. Yet, coming out of anesthesia I heard the anesthesiologist dictating notes and my ears pricked up when she said, "...apneic breathing." And that's what finally convinced me to see a pulmonologist, who recommended the study.

[chunkyfrog]

Darling Hubby had to hear it from a heart doc at the "support group" meeting.
Scared the snot out of him.

[RocketGirl]

My little brother just called from the hospital. They got him shocked back into sinus rhythm. He went to the hospital Sunday with Atrial Fibrillation, initial treatments and drugs failed, so he called me just as they were taking him in to shock his heart. I told him back at Xmas last year that he was snoring pretty good and with the history of sleep apnea in our family (self, mother, have central sleep apnea; other little brother probably did but died five years ago, of heart attack); he should get a sleep study. He told me scornfully that was MY problem, not his. Said he slept like a baby woke feeling completely rested. Said my problem was weight related and I should loose some. So, today, he told me the hospital doctor told him to get a sleep study. So, the good news is he is going to get one! Yay!

Edit: I am posting this because some of you may have friends or relatives who say they sleep fine and deny they possibly have a problem. Well, here is a case in point.

Mr. Bill, so glad that they were able to re-establish sinus rhythm, and glad to hear that he'll get a sleep study. I'll beam some good thoughts his way for continued good recovery.

[moondoggy]

Mr. Bill please share these posts with your brother as A-Fib is nothing to take lightly.

In November I had a bout of Pericarditis that they initially thought was a heart attack. Before getting out of the hospital I had my first known bout of A-Fib. I say it was my first "known" bout of A-Fib as my cardiologists believes that I've had A-Fib's before and never realized it as I seem to convert to normal sinus rhythm on my own. My cardiologist also told me that my A-Fibs are also a direct result of sleep apnea that he suspected I had because I too snored like a freight train.

At first I thought this sleep apnea stuff was a scam as I had no problems with energy during the day or any other symptoms of sleep apnea that I was aware of. Well, in the first 2 hours of my sleep study I stopped breathing 183 times and that put the scare into me so I'm a rather faithful CPAP user today.

Also worth noting is that in late February even though I had been on my machine for several weeks, I had some problems with my nasal passages swelling nearly closed which caused me to have breathing problems while wearing my mask. After two days of this I had my most recent A-Fib event. In reviewing this with my cardiologist he informed me that this A-Fib event was a direct result of the apnea that was caused by my inability to use my mask effectively. My doc said that the circumstances of this event caused so much stress on my heart and lungs that a A-Fib event was virtually guaranteed and this is now something I want to avoid with a passion.

Hopefully the heart rate and heart rhythm drugs they have me on now will prevent or at least minimize the number of A-Fib events but I remain a bit freaked out about A-Fib as it increases your chances of having a stroke by a factor of 5. Tell your bother that I said that even though he thinks that he doesn't have sleep apena that he probably does and the sooner he takes care of this the better.