Suggest Treatment For Atrial Fibrillation

Posted on Fri, 3 Apr 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Fri, 3 Apr 2015 Answered on

Mon, 20 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I have suffered from atrial fibrillation for over 20 years and have taken warfarin for many years. I have had unusual heartbeat many times and I always go to Emergency -- they hook me up to all the wires that are necessary to watch my heart rate. It would go quite low (around 40) and quite high (190 ). They keep an eye on it and if it goes on for a long time they get out the paddles. Each time my heart has kicked in and as a result everything has gone back to normal. At which time I go home.

During the night the heart rate was all over the place and I knew I had to go to the Emergency -- which I did by taking a taxi. Normally my wife would drive me but she has Parkinsons and has given up her drivers licence in order to be safe. After all the paper work I was taken in and put in a bed. A man came to see me presumably a doctor (he didn't introduce himself) and said it was OK and I could go home. When I indicated I should see a doctor he called someone who said the same thing. It was OK and I could go home. I left and took a taxi home arriving around 8:30 a.m. As I was feeling anxious and concerned, I got into bed and subsequently slept for over 3 hrs. I got up around 12 noon and my wife had made a cup of coffee and a sandwich which I ate and enjoyed. However my heart is still jumping around and missing beats. Could I take one Lorazapam to help with my anxiety and sit and read today's paper? My email address is: YYYY@YYYY

Answered by Dr. Divakara (27 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Yes you can take.

Detailed Answer:
HI

Thanks for posting your query.
Greetings from Dr.Divakara.P

Well yes definitely you can take a Lorazepam for now . That will help you in relieving your anxiety and also may settle down your heart rate.

But you seem to be suffering from attacks of Atrial fibrillation and you need to be put on rate controlling medication which keeps the heart rate on the normal or lower side.

Also you need to undergo certain tests like Serum TSH, Serum Metanephrines and Electrophysiological studies to know the cause of Atrial fibrillation. It may be worthwhile to consult a cardiologist and discuss about these options.

Hope this information was useful to you.
Any clarification feel free to ask.

Regards.

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad