"It was CONSTANT for FIVE DAYS??" ((oopsy))

Yeah, well, I promised to those I know with AF that I would update on a couple of things, and I did forget.  So here it is.  More specifically... the "5 day episode."

Last night as I spoke with the folks at the lab I learned that the 5 day long episode was most likely AF and not just some freak run-on event of ectopic beats.  Yeah, yeah... I knew that ectopic beats are something that happen on occasion, once in a while, just an extra, premature beat here and there.  And while those PVCs can happen often, they're not constant.  I guess maybe I just told myself that to avoid two things: 1) $150 ER visit (because I simply didn't want to incur the cost because I excepted this even to stop on its own), and 2) having to go through cardioversion via medication or electricity/shock.  I'm not scared, just didn't want to mess with it.  And frankly, my arrhythmia events normally stop on their own.

Yes, this time it went on for 5 days.  Yes, I was supposed to address it if it went on beyond 6 hours.  However, for every hour that passed I believed it would stop on its own.

Now in a previous post I did say I won't be doing that again.  It sucked, and it sucked for a day and a half after it converted on its own.  But... I also learned last night that T had no idea that it was "constant."  He was under the impression it was intermittent/on and off.  Oops.  I wasn't in bad trouble, and he wasn't angry.  But.. he wasn't real happy with me either.

I reassured him that I wasn't going to let it go past a few hours again... IF... it ever happened again at all.  And it may not ever happen again.

So... for those of you reading.... please don't do what I did!  Remember what AF is, and remember that the longer blood continues to pool in your atria that you're risking a clot forming, and even when blood pools for a brief period of time (such as in short bursts of AF)... you risk clot formation, which means you risk having a stroke!

I'm not sure why I allowed myself to believe that it couldn't possibly be AF.  Maybe it was because of the ablation.  I think perhaps that's most likely what I was thinking.  But if this happens to you, don't do like I did and assume.  Just call your EP or cardiologist, or just go to the ER.  But don't ignore it.  Go by whatever the instructions were that you were given when you had your ablation.

Okay.  I've done my part.....