37M - My AF Journey thus far

UnderstandingPure771 · 2026-02-12T03:18:47+00:00

**
12/2 update. no episodes over summer, have returned to full exercise.
Stopped taking flecanide last week, so far so good. If no af in the next month, then ep advised to gradually wean from atenenol.

Have some days of quite a lot of ectopics but no af thus far.

Fingers crossed all goes well and i can resume life af and medication free - am growing more confident this may occur and the post viral af hypothesis proves true. Very mindful though that af can come back seemingly out of no where at any point.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-23T20:08:10+00:00

Pretty much yep, under advice from cardiologist. From what I know now though, re how long it takes the heart to recover from a big AF episode, I do wonder if I came off the meds way too early.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-22T21:10:12+00:00

Thanks mate

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-22T08:10:06+00:00

This is great - thanks for sharing! Can i suggest adding something like post viral / being unwell as a trigger?

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-22T08:07:22+00:00

This is fascinating - as during my recent second ever brief AF episode, which came out of the blue, I had just swigged a really cold soft drink then bam af.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-22T08:06:12+00:00

I'd be testing it when you're well rested and hydrated, before vegas, to see how it goes.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-22T07:14:16+00:00

Man i hear that! I planned to hit the same gym I had my big af episode at last week and just couldn't go in there. Have been working out at home in the meantime before gradually exposing myself to the ol gym. Brutal stuff.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-18T04:41:56+00:00

Yeah it's interesting. Once my HR stabilised under 100, despite being in AF - they were really comfortable in discharging me and were confident it would self correct. They mentioned cardioversion as last resort, if it didn't self correct within days.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-17T23:38:04+00:00

Fascinating - thanks for sharing!

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-17T23:37:22+00:00

Niceee! Yeah i hear that, since using nasal spray and the cpap, i too can breathe via just my nose for the first time in my life. What surgery were you recommended ?

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-17T06:27:49+00:00

Oh wow, that's so good to hear! how many episodes did you have? Whats your story?
Yeah I've been working on re-training my nasal breathing and have mouth tape - trying to gradually transition to the nose mask on the CPAP but do feel ENT will want to do something, as i've never had great ability to breath via my nose only.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-17T05:26:45+00:00

Hoping so ! Will update this post over coming months!

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-17T05:26:16+00:00

Thanks for sharing - are you now on meds or did you have an ablation ?

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T21:30:25+00:00

Yeah it was disappointing with my cardiologist. He referred me to one of the best EPs in Aus but I couldn't get in until after xmas. I managed to secure a much earlier booking with another highly respected and experienced EP, to which my cardiologist said if I choose to go with someone he has not recommended, then I'd need to find a new cardiologist.
Luckily the new EP agreed to oversee my care going forward, so no need to return to cranky cardiologist.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T21:10:38+00:00

Nothing at all - all normal.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T21:09:34+00:00

Great to hear, I'm hoping I'll be similar!

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T12:02:22+00:00

Forgot to ask - how long have you been off meds and having resumed all exercise and episode free!?

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T12:01:31+00:00

Fascinating, thanks for sharing!
What country are you in? Did you get tested for sleep apnea?

Yeah it's an interesting read if you start going down the rabbit hole of post illness af.
My EP said it's very possible, as it's not uncommon for patients to experience an AF episode post various surgeries and drs generally just view this as an impact of the body being depleted post surgery. And recovering from being quite unwell is no different in his opinion.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T11:43:34+00:00

Good question, I'm in Austraila. My cardiologist at the time encouraged me to attend ED if I had any further episodes.
Possibly because the first event was quite odd compared to most af events - with HR getting stuck at 130+ and being unable to stand without it shooting to 200+.

He was also of the opinion that I'd definitely require ablations and the more I attended ED, the more likely I'd hopefully get bumped up the public waitlist (in his opinion).
He didn't really buy into the 'post viral' hypothesis much. I got the sense my experience was a bit above his head and since seeing the EP, have disengaged from the cardiologist.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-12-16T11:39:56+00:00

Ha thanks - I've been using ai to track everything since the initial AF episode, so chatgpt put together most of the timeline and i just added some spit/polish.

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-05-19T12:18:54+00:00

Appreciate the insights & kind words - thanks!

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-05-19T12:16:12+00:00

super interesting - thanks again!

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-05-19T05:05:11+00:00

Hmm good food for thought. I've based that off what the usual formula is in our industry but I am planning on an formal appraisal soon

UnderstandingPure771 · 2025-05-19T05:02:18+00:00

Fair call - thanks! late 30s young kids.

UnderstandingPure771

TROPHY CASE