what happens to a patient with a-fib to their bp if their heart rate goes up?
I couldn't sleep. My middle rhythm was in chaos and my heed was racing. I had a resting heart rate of anywhere from 110 to 140 beats per infinitesimal. There was no consistency to the rhythm or strength of my heartbeat. I was easily winded doing everyday tasks, felt uncomfortable in my chest, and if I stood up too speedily, I'd get giddy. In short, I but felt "off."
Fifty-fifty though I knew it was atrial fibrillation, which I'd been diagnosed with 18 months agone, the thought of existence out of rhythm over again worried me. I was physically and emotionally taxed. The electrical chaos going on in my heart was causing anarchy in my caput and making it hard to slumber.
I didn't feel I was in any firsthand danger, but I'll admit I had some what-if-I fall-asleep-and-don't-wake-up-because-my-heart-throws-out-a-claret-clot-that-causes-a-life-ending-stroke thoughts running through my head. Atrial fibrillation definitely creates some anxiety, to say the least.
What had caused my centre to get out of rhythm this time?
My all-time approximate was stress. While I dear running, I don't run ofttimes. When the opportunity came to run a Thanksgiving Day 5k for a project I was analogous at work, I took the challenge head on – only I probably should have taken some training head on kickoff. I ran the race in 33.v minutes, capturing the photos and videos I needed for work AND I beat the local mayor to earn myself a medal. But I gauge I besides won a side dose of chaos.
Three days subsequently the 5k, I was still tired. I attributed it to the pace I kept up in the race. I tried checking my heart charge per unit and discovered I had no rhythm. I fifty-fifty had my wife listen to my center and she agreed the beats were sporadic and the strength of the heartbeats varied, too. Equally soon as the Intermountain Medical Centre Centre Establish clinic opened on Monday morning, I was on the phone with a nurse who confirmed my fear and I was scheduled the post-obit twenty-four hours to have my middle shocked back into rhythm.
The treatment is known as a transesophageal echocardiogram (or TEE) followed by a cardioversion
In layman terms, they put a scope downwardly my throat to capture images of my heart to make sure no clots have formed in information technology due to the irregular centre rhythm. If information technology turns out to be clot-gratis, they have a pad on my chest and one on my dorsum and they deliver a shock to my heart. Having gone through 2 of these procedures, it's not equally awful equally it sounds – but like anyone who has to become their center shocked, there's some anxiety that accompanies the thought of swallowing a tube and getting shocked.
My feel was positive, and I was glad to share it publicly. I've worked closely with the squad from the Intermountain Medical Eye Middle Institute for the past four years in my role every bit a public relations professional person with Intermountain Healthcare.
I've helped share new technologies and research that give heart patients a second chance at life, returning to doing what they love with family and friends. But I'd never been involved in sharing information about a TEE or cardioversion, so I arranged for my experience to be shared live on Twitter – including the moment 200 joules of electricity raced through my center.
The day went something similar this
After checking in at the front desk-bound, I was taken to an exam room and put on a hospital gown. I had monitors placed on my chest to follow my heart rate and they took my blood pressure as well. My BP was 115 over 93 and my heart rate was ranging from 110 to 140+ beats per infinitesimal, compared to a normal heart rate of 60 to 100.
The side by side part of the prep work definitely took me out of my comfort zone. I wasn't a fan of showing the globe my chest, let lone having a strip of chest hair shaved off so the cardioversion pad could be positioned. Simply it was just part of the procedure. When the teams began to assemble in my room, things started moving pretty fast.
After a brief chat with cardiovascular electrophysiologist Jeffrey Osborn, MD, he got the process started by giving me some lidocaine to gurgle, swish, and swallow. That helped numb my throat for the TEE. The taste wasn't bad – just it wasn't good either. At the same time, fluids were hooked up to my IV and medications were started to help sedate me for the process.
The last thing I remember was the medico request me to lay on my left side and a nurse placing a pillow behind me to help keep me on my side. I started to feel a footling sleepy and shut my eyes, and when I opened them, about anybody had left the room and my heart charge per unit was hovering effectually a consistent ninety beats per minute. I was told the TEE was a success, and afterward sharing a tweet from my personal account that everything went well, Dr. Osborn replied to my tweet: "One shock, that'southward all to restore rhythm to normal."
During the next hr, I looked to see what had been shared on Twitter while I was sedated and so I could get a amend thought of what happened. Afterward going into lite sedation, the scope was inserted into my esophagus and images were taken of my heart, which showed it was salubrious (other than the abnormal rhythm) and I had no claret clots.
Once that was completed, 200 joules of electricity shocked my heart dorsum into rhythm. In fact, a curt video of the "shocking experience" was posted to Twitter – which prompted some feedback from others effectually the state:
- Cheers for being willing to share this video! Too many #afib patients encounter terrifying vids online. This will help and so many of us. – Debbe McCall (@DebbeMcCall), a cardiovascular patient researcher and advocate.
- Thanks for sharing the video and the fact sheets. Will be using to brainwash our patients and hopefully decrease some of the fears and concerns that they accept. – Haide Landeros (@hidee27), a nurse practitioner in cardiology in California.
- Only a social media manager would live tweet own cardioversion. Amazing resource for patients. - @JediCath, an interventional cardiologist at Brigham Women's and Deaconess Hospitals in Massachusetts.
- I hope my friends at @Intermtnmedctr don't mind that I compiled these to make them easier to follow and to employ equally education for patients? Thanks for live=tweeting your #cvTEE Guided #Cardioversion for #Afib. – John P. Erwin Three, Dr. (@HeartOTXHeartMD), a cardiologist at Baylor Scott and White Health in Temple, Texas.
The idea of getting your heart shocked may sound — well, shocking – merely it isn't anything to be nervous about. I knew I was working with an amazing team of heart experts from the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute, and they did everything possible to help me empathise the process, know what to wait, and ultimately render to doing what I honey without worrying near an abnormal rhythm or getting easily winded… although my wife has banned me from running whatever 5ks in the future.
Here'due south a recap of the journeying as it unfolded on Twitter.
Source: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/topics/heart/2018/02/shocking-the-heart-back-into-rhythm-isnt-as-shocking-as-it-sounds/
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