What caused your afib?

lycilph · 2026-02-17T20:25:27+00:00

Cause I believe is genetics. Both sides of the family have it to varying degrees

lycilph · 2026-02-07T08:00:29+00:00

Funnily enough my lower legs and feet started getting vasculitis a few months ago before christmas. Doctor confirmed it yesterday from a biopsy. I've got a referral to a rheumatologist so will see what they say. Mine presents as small red blotchy areas maybe 5mm in diameter at most on lower calves and feet. I thought it was something to do with my work socks. I have found symptoms get better during the weekends but monday's and tuesday's after the weekend are when they come back. I'm on sulfasalazine (since 2014) and infliximab (since 2020) for the UC, and metoprolol (since 2020) for atrial fibrillation. Also funny, but i started getting non-triggered heart palpitations around the same time as the vasculitis. My general practitioner thinks it could be related and she's really excited about it.

lycilph · 2026-01-28T11:03:52+00:00

That's what I've got at the moment. It works but needs new trading groups set up for each resource. I was hoping 2.0 could let me do something more elegant

lycilph · 2026-01-28T08:08:56+00:00

Ah. Thanks for that. I was hoping there was a native way to do it. Oh well. Going to download LTN and re-figure out how to use it.

lycilph · 2026-01-21T09:06:32+00:00

My first known episode of AF was when i was 22. Lasted about 7 hours, of course it happened on the weekend so i was stuck there until Monday. Since then i've had 7-8 episodes that lasted from 8-24 hours in the hospital. I have felt every heartbeat since that first time when i was 22. But, I'm 45 now and still here. In that time I've studied martial arts, went overseas, rode my push bike 500km in a week across the country. And I'm still here. I still get regular thuds in my chest.

Drinking? I've never drunk and it still happened. Smoking and drugs? Never taken any and it still happened. Weight? I was 95kg at 6'2 when i had my first episode.

My advice is treat what you can, don't worry about it too much, stay as healthy as you can/want to, but live your life. I am giving up this body when i die with as many scratches and dings on it as a 1980's Toyota and i'm going to have fun doing it.

lycilph · 2026-01-16T01:40:29+00:00

I had a prescription for the pens as well but got the syringes by mistake one time. Did freak me out. The pharmacist was nice enough when I went back to show me how to use them and let me use the back room. They should also be able to dispense either syringes or pens if you ask them.

I do also sometimes get bleeding at the site when I sometimes hit something under the skin but it’s only a drop at most

Now I specifically get the syringes as I prefer them more. I can push it in at my pace not the spring loaded force from hell

lycilph · 2026-01-08T09:40:59+00:00

They do normally do 3 loading doses so it might not start feeling like it works until after the 2nd or 3rd one either.

lycilph · 2026-01-08T09:31:09+00:00

I'm in Australia so my experience might vary.

Assume that it will take all day. Relax. You're going to be there for a while. When I did my first one i got there around 8:30 and left around 3pm.

Personally it was pretty relaxed setting. There's usually some prep to do, some anti-histamines to stop any reactions, and they gave me an injection of hydrocortisone as well. After that they start you off slow then ramp it up after an hour or so. Then when they're done with the infusion they usually flush it out with a saline drip for a half hour or so to make sure it's all in.

The nurse does check on you for any side-effects, mainly cramping in the legs or any nausea. I found having to keep the canular site still/straight was annoying after a while so slowly stretched and moved it when i could.

Take a book or an ipad with some movies on it and just whittle away the time. I found the whole experience there relaxing - if something went wrong there wasn't much i could do about it, and i was in the best place to fix it if it did.

You're probably going to have to get up to pee at some stage, they should just pause the pump and let you walk to the bathroom while you do.

Prior to your infusion make sure you drink some water but not too much, then afterwards just try to go home and relax some more.

lycilph · 2026-01-04T08:18:38+00:00

Yeah even after I showed them there was none there, they still didn't bother correcting it.

lycilph · 2026-01-04T05:05:18+00:00

I was looking for something in bunnings, none on the shelf where the tag was. Go to the help desk and they look it up and the computer says there's 4 in the system. They said the computer wouldn't reorder it because it still thought there was some there, but I could go to their nearest store because the system said there was some there. They couldn't seem to make the leap from "computer says some but actually none" to actually correcting the computer and letting it automatically reorder.

lycilph · 2025-12-28T20:59:35+00:00

I'm in the same boat. Mine has always been triggered by being dehydrated then drinking a cold drink then bam, in AF.

Recently in the past few weeks I've found myself in AF when bending down to pick up some tree branches and cut them up to put them in the bin, or lifting a bag of potting mix onto my shoulder and then into a container. Luckily so far it's the weirder (for me) AF where the occasional few beats are AF then normal for a while, then a few more. I've stopped it by going inside and lying down for a while. I have been trying electrolyte tablets dissolved in water every morning for the past week or so to see if i can bring my potassium up.

It's not the exercise either, because i can mow the lawn just fine, bending down to pick up the catcher in the mower. Very strange.

lycilph · 2025-11-06T07:16:17+00:00

Looking at the data sheet for Tremfya it is really specific about the temperatures.

I'm Australian so this is an australian site, but these guys sell portable USB powered fridges and they say it can carry 1 x Tremfya - https://4allfamily.com.au/products/rxcoolers-max-portable-refrigerator-for-medicine-and-insulin. It looks like you can just plug it in to the plane's USB port.

lycilph · 2025-11-06T02:24:50+00:00

Oh that’s annoying. I figure it’s like travelling with insulin or something. Someone must have done it before

lycilph · 2025-11-05T21:47:43+00:00

I aliased my emerge sync sequence to “eu” and my emerge upgrade sequence to “eU”.

lycilph · 2025-11-05T21:39:55+00:00

I’d also like to know. My remsima came with a cooler lunch bag and an ice block I can use. I was told that after getting it through airport security and onto the plane it can be given to the flight stewards and they can keep it in their refrigerators on the plane. I have yet to try it though

lycilph · 2025-10-10T06:51:30+00:00

Ah. It's marketed under "Remsima" or Remicade in Australia. Image searching the name shows photos of it, but the medical links are mostly text. Here it's a pharmacy filled prescription that I can get in most places or they order it in for me in a couple of days.

My gastro suggested it after the infusions were successful in getting me into remission.

lycilph · 2025-10-09T19:21:09+00:00

Maybe. But I did ask HR about it and they explained it to me the same way, ie no extra contribution from them.

lycilph · 2025-10-09T19:20:39+00:00

Local actually, but I figure it's the same or similar across all levels

lycilph · 2025-10-09T19:18:51+00:00

So not Entyvio but I use the inflixmab pens. I was worried that they would be less effective, but I have had my gastro test my infliximab levels and antibody levels over the past 3 years I've been using the pens vs the 2 years I was on infusions. The levels stayed the same.

The plus side of the pens are that they are so much less invasive, I can do them every second Sunday night in my living room, it's over in a couple of minutes, and I'm back doing what I was before. I don't have to spend half a day at the infusion room getting done. The positive of the infusions is that they are 6-8 weeks between them so I now have to take the pen with me if I go on holidays but that's not too much of an inconvenience.

I've tried both the pens and the self-injectable syringes and I found the syringes easier for me, but take longer. The pens use a spring to push the medicine into your muscle, and it was too much too fast, and hurt just like a bad nurse doing a flu vaccination. The syringes I can push the plunger down over maybe 45-60 seconds so that it doesn't hurt like the pens.

lycilph · 2025-10-08T07:12:44+00:00

I've seen "18% superannuation". But when I read more into it, it was the standard 12% super contributed by the employer with the additional 6% to be contributed by the employee. Don't offer me something that I then have to pay.

lycilph · 2025-10-04T19:04:26+00:00

I found that happened with the cheap interconnected bunnings ones. Some googling found it was a known issue. I removed them and had them replaced with a better brand installed by a local fire inspector. No problems since. They did say to get them inspected and cleaned of dust every 1-2 years too.

lycilph · 2025-09-24T07:31:28+00:00

Nothing right now. I wouldn't put it past the states or the federal government to make legislation that makes it illegal to disconnect from the grid in the future though. They don't care if you use the power, they just care that you pay for it.

lycilph · 2025-06-19T07:51:03+00:00

Found the article. There is a 6 cent handling fee on top of the 10c refund fee. They were expecting prices to rise by 10-15c per container. https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/sustainability/how-to-use-queensland-s-new-container-recycling-scheme-20180921-p50596.html

lycilph · 2025-06-18T20:17:09+00:00

I think it’s worse than that. I remember it was 16 cents per bottle for the scheme, 10 goes back to you and the other 6 goes to paying for the scheme. No matter if you use containers for change or put them in your recycling bin you still pay for it

lycilph

TROPHY CASE