Atrial Fibrillation and Cardiomyopathy

[Scubapro146]

Dear all,

I am hoping someone out there can help me. I am 29 years old and have been diving since I was 17. Two weeks ago, I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, Cardiomyopathy and Congestive Heart Failure. My cardiologist has put me on a regiment of drugs listed below and has told me my diving is over for at least a minimum of six months providing the meds take effect. Needless to say, I am devastated especially if it turns out I can never dive again!! Are there any special procedures that I could have done? I am assuming there are other divers out there with this problem. I have spoken to DAN and I have been given the name of a Cardiologist down in Philadelphia who specializes in Hyperbaric Medicine and I plan on going to see him as well very soon.

Digoxin 125 MCG
Amiodarone HCL 200 MG
Warfarin Sodium (Coumidin) 6mg two days per week 3 MG the other five days.
Altace 5 MG
Toprol-XL 50MG

Thanks for any good advice!!
:11:

 

[TSandM]

Scubapro, I am profoundly sorry to hear about this.

Having cardiomyopathy and congestive failure and atrial fibrillation at your age is rare and very worrisome. I think you need to talk more to your cardiologist about what the causes for your condition are, and what the prognosis is, and what steps they are taking.

As much as I love diving and empathize with your frustration, you have bigger things to concentrate on right now than whether you can dive.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Scubapro146,

How very distressing.

I think I know the physician to whom DAN has referred you and he is a very competent chap. He'll give you the straight story.

You ask, "Are there any special procedures that I could have done?" I don't understand what you mean by this. Could you please clarify?

In the meantime, you're obviously grounded from scuba. If I was you, I'd be very diligent in getting your condition precisely diagnosed and aggressively treated.

Best of luck.

DocVikingo

 

[Scubapro146]

Hi DocVikingo,

Thanks for your reply. I have heard things about an EP Study to characterize the Atrial Fib and also about Ablation. Also, I have heard that they can try and shock my heart back into the correct rhythm. Are these things I should investigate?
Thanks

 

[Misplaced Priority]

Man! You are way too young to be having to deal with that! So sorry to hear. I would hold off on diving as you never know when a environmental condition may appear that would cause you to exhert yourself. That could throw you into a full blown respiratory crisis with pulmonary edema. Hope you can get yourself well.

 

[DocVikingo]

Hi Scubapro146,

It might be of interest to you to Google up some lay coverage of these and would place you in a better position to discuss them intelligently should they be raised by a cardiologist. Your local cardiologist would be your primary source for such discussion.

However, there's no point in getting too far ahead of the situation. Hopefully you'll have a better idea of what you are facing after consultation with the DAN referral.

Regards,

DocVikingo

 

[TSandM]

There are a lot of factors that go into deciding what to do with a patient in atrial fibrillation, and whether cardioversion is appropriate or EP mapping. Your situation is complicated by the diagnosis of cardiomyopathy. We can't reasonably give you useful information -- I second Doc V's recommendation to do some Googling of cardiomyopathy and prepare yourself with questions for your cardiologist. You should get some patient explanations of what they see going on and where they are going to proceed for you.

 

[Scubapro146]

I have heard rumors that my condition could have been caused by diving. Is this true?
I have always stayed within recreational limits and never had DCS.