Just saw this thread. Had my own series of events, possibly starting back a couple years, but undiagnosed.
I had been occasionally been having heart palpitations but since I was on propranolol for migraine prevention (a beta blocker), and I knew it helped with heart palpitations I would just take my next dose a bit early. I mentioned this once or twice during my annual physicals, but we didn't dwell on it. At that point, I had realized it was doing nothing for my migraines (at least at that dosage) but now I wanted it for the palpitations.
Some time in 2019 I went to urgent care because I was feeling strange and was afraid I was having a heart attack. Ran tests, EKG, nothing.
Then summer of 2020 during lockdown, I felt really strange again and it was bad enough that I went to the ER. They also found nothing, but wanted me to do a stress test. Was not thrilled about this during lockdown, but did it. Ran out of steam before the desired "score" but no one had told me to stop the propranalol, and I had come within one heartbeat of the "pass" score, so no one was alarmed.
Then in November 2021 we called the ambulance this time I was in a-fib in the ambulance, but fine at the ER. They recommended I talk to a cardiologist anyway. A visit to my primary 2 days later had me in A-fib. He upped my dose of propranolol. (By the way, the higher dose cut my migraines in half, so I was thrilled.) Got a referral for a Holter monitor for 2 weeks. Showed me in A-fib 15% of the time, but, the sensor fit poorly due to its placement (I'm a female) and I had zero faith in its results. (It wouldn't make a beep noise when I pressed its button either.) Anyway, when I had picked it up I was in A-fib. Then when I saw my primary to discuss the results, I was in a-fib, and when I then saw my cardiologist, I was in a-fib. What are the chances it's only 15% when every time they give you an EKG you're in A-fib? Zip.
So they switched me to metoprolol, put me on Eliquis, and scheduled a cardioversion. Three zaps of increasing strength didn't do it. Put me on amiodarone and scheduled another cardioversion. Arrived for the 2nd cardioversion and... I'm in sinus rhythm. We all waited around another couple of hours, hoping I'd go into a-fib. Nope. So, sent home.
But they referred me to their ablation guy (again in a-fib, of course) and I had the ice kind of ablation in June, having stopped the amiodarone a month before. Recovery from the ablation was longer than I expected. Felt like hell for a week and tired for a few more days. But have been feeling better and no a-fib on the 2 follow-up visits I've had. Still on Eliquis, but I've gotten the impression they might take me off it if I pass the next EKG at the end of the month. Unsure of that, but really leery of inserting a little "fairy umbrella" thing in my heart, the Watchman. Also worried about a fall while skiing. I do have a really nice rubber Eliquis wristband, but it's under layers of clothes when I am skiing. My cardiologist is a hardcore skier tho, so at no point has he told me not to.
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All this was what was going on when we were in Lech for a much-postponed luxury mother-daughter trip. Needless to say, for me the trip was like being in purgatory. I was exhausted at the slightest thing and we'd brought our own equipment which we were dragging onto busses and trains. Just the walk to the hotel was exhausting. And of course conditions sucked there while back home, they were getting one powder dump after another. So, I'll always have a poor opinion of Lech while knowing it was in reality bad timing. Best I can say was the food was good and the views amazing, but I was relieved to move onto Innsbruck after a week.
I came home ready to give up skiing, and did not ski for a couple weeks when we got back. Fortunately, I skied closing day and it was absolutely stellar with fresh pow all day.
I'm also down 19 pounds, so I have hopes of a better season this year and have bought my first Super Senior pass plus shelled out $$$ for my locker. We'll see.
Oh, yeah, I also was sent for a sleep study, which ended up meaning I have to wear a CPAP at night (not happy about it, either.) Plus, they found some nodule thing on my thyroid during all of this. Very small, but some other thing we're keeping an eye on. We're also keeping tabs on something they found in a mammogram. This is why old people spend so much time comparing notes on their medical conditions. It's always something.