Second ER visit this year.

[Doctor Omega]

Well, only a few know what I've been going through based on a few posts I've made on Facebook, but I'm here sharing it with you guys because I need your thoughts and prayers.

This past March, my wife and I were out to dinner with a couple of friends at a restaurant called Cheeseburger In Paradise in Fishers, Indiana. About 75% of the way through the evening, my heart started racing and beating very irregularly. I was insanely frightened and I didn't know what it could have been. So, we left dinner early and my wife rushed me to the emergency room where they hooked me up to an EKG machine, drew blood, took a chest x-ray, and scheduled an echocardiogram. At this moment in time, my beats per minute were up past 160. Once the doctor saw the EKG results, she determined that I was in a state called Atrial Fribrilation. She explained to me that medication might put my heart back into a regular rhythm, but there was no guarantee. She then explained the option she thought was best, which was a small shock treatment called a Cardioversion. Basically, it's a small AED. They sedate you and administer a quick jolt. She asked me which I would prefer. Naturally, being shocked scared the hell out of me, so I asked about the meds. She explained a little more about what medication might do and the side effects they might have. After about twenty minutes of deliberating, I decided to go with the Cardioversion because she said in all of her years as a doctor, she's never seen one person have adverse reactions to it. So, ten minutes later I was out like a light and back up before I even knew what hit me. I looked over at my wife and asked her, "When is this thing happening? I'm ready to get out of here." She responds with, "Babe, it's done. They did it about five minutes ago!" I looked at my heart monitor and it was down to 95 beats per minute and regular. In the days that followed, I had that echocardiogram (ultrasound of my heart) and the appointment that followed with Dr. Schilt, my cardiologist. He came in, hopped up on the patient table right next to me, and started explaining how the heart worked and what A-Fib was. He also said the results of my echocardiogram were beautiful. My heart had no structural damage or valve damage. That made my heart sing, almost literally. So, he didn't prescribe any medications and said to just wait about 6-8 months and come back for a check-up

Well, early Sunday morning (after a Saturday night outting with those SAME FRIENDS!), I woke up only to notice my heart was in round two of A-Fib. I was much more calm and collected this time. I rolled over, woke up my wife, and told her we needed to get to Riverview Hospital again. We hopped up, got dressed, and drove to Noblesvillle. I was taken to the same bed I was in last time and treated the exact same way, only this time I was given a prescription and discharged. I have an appointment with my cardiologist again next week to see how the medication is affecting me and if I need to do anything else besides the diet and exercise I'm already involved in. My heartrate through all of round two never exceeded 110 beats per minute. That's a major improvement.

All in all, I don't know how A-Fib is going to affect me for the rest of my life, but according to my ER doctor, I may have it indefinitely. Most of the time they don't know what causes it. I'm taking necessary steps though. I'm staying away from caffeine and alcohol while exercising and trying to lose weight. They said there's no guarantee that will help it stay away, but it never hurts. He also told me monosodium glutomate (MSG) is an A-Fib patient's worst nightmare, so I'm staying away from all foods that contain MSG. Either way, It's a frightening ordeal to be almost 28 years old and have heart problems already. All thoughts and prayers are definitely appreciated.

[Nion]

I hope that you will be able to never face that fear again. Many hopes to you and to your improvement.

[ShinkuDragon]

on the bright side, it was much less intense this time, with some luck it will stay that way or get better

[Moonlapse]

I am glad you are doing better. Make sure to keep up with those meds. Using one of those weekly pill containers will work wonders for remembering to take your meds and preventing OD. It is my hope that you get this under control.

[ImagineAll]

Not a doctor or pre-med or anything, but just for curiosity sake, how good of shape are you in? Physically speaking. Not sure if this is the case with you, but if you're overweight you should really consider taking up some physical activity to shed a few pounds and take any excess strain off of your heart. From personal experience this has worked wonders for me and has always been a place of concern given all of the heart conditions that run in my family.

Some regular exercising and heart conscious eating would really help your case, regardless of whether or not you're overweight, really. Also, a tablespoon of Olive Oil a day since it has some really good fats in it has been linked to being beneficial on the heart.

[hadriel]

Although I'm not a medical student... A 28-year old with a heart problem is not common, but not that uncommon. Nonetheless, its not a fact that would put you at ease. My suggestion is that you learn to live with AF, a la a second wife. It would be most unwise to be too bothered about AF, because it's something that can be coped with. Don't go thinking "when am I going to drop dead or suffer my next bout of palpitations?" because you'll only scare the hell out of the daylight for you - you won't live happily. I guess it just means that you are forced into a more moderate lifestyle.

Your heart might be fragile, but it is not weak. You can exercise, but you can't do very strenuous stuff. A jog, a walk, some easy or relaxed swimming - nothing vigorous.

What I'd also suggest is to keep away from things that will affect your heart rate - caffeine was a good start, and alcohol, but also certain antihistamines and beta-blockers. I wouldn't run away from bananas, but don't overdose (a decaf. coffee would be nice for you). MSG is a major killer so following your doc's advice is a really good idea (might want to consider staying away from less reputable chinese stalls, I'm ashamed to say).

Also, you will likely have to be more careful about the drugs you take. Blue pill = not the best idea tbh (just an example). I hope you don't suffer from major allergies that you need an epipen with you. Just let your doc.(s) know when they prescribe you something.

some not so positive own knowledge, not meant to make you feel bad

I was supposed to donate my bone marrow to an undisclosed patient (it's quite strict about privacy), but while the doctor was not looking a peeked at the forms in her hands. The patient was a 32 year old male (iirc, but definitely early 30-ish). Not too far off from you, but to need a total bone marrow transplant at such a young age... that's more something than you, because he can't do anything about it. That's also a life on drugs too, to prevent rejection.

I'm writing this because AF is a condition that you will live with for the rest of your life, can be debilitating if serious but is not a life sentence, unlike aggressive cancers. Just change your lifestyle a little and its almost as if nothing as happened, maybe the sporadic palpitation or two but hopefully nothing severe. Don't equate this to the severity of heart attacks - it's a common misconception.

read if you want to know what happened for my situation

I was underaged, so all procedures that require hospitalisation required parental consent. What do you think? Do you know just how hard it is to get a bone marrow match?

Last bit of advice - learn to handle the next bout of palpitations. Panic = GG (an obvious overstatement and I doubt you'd really panic to that level). I don't know how you can be ready for the next time, but that's all I can offer.

I wish you good health for the rest of your life.

Hadriel