conscious sedation for afib

[bbuster]

I have afib and take sotalol and digoxin. I am scheduled to have my wisdom teeth out w/ conscious sedation. They will use either versed or propafol. My cardiologist is not concerned, nor is the oral surgeon, but I am - I have read that both of these drugs can cause palpatations. Of course, I petrified of going into afib. In 6 years I have only had 2 episodes, but I do occasionally feel missed beats..... I'm confident stress causes it - as a matter of fact, I'm positive. Any words of advice or insight would be much appreciated. Thanks so much!! I've also read horror stories about versed.... what am I to believe?

[cindy707]

Looks like it to me too......like they say "Life Begins At The End Of Our Comfort Zone" and it makes lots of sense to me and thats how i try to live my life....its either that or i may end up sitting  on a rooftop with a bottle of Jack and a sniper rifle....LOL

[RNRita]

OMG that was funny...so we share the same sense of humor, too?  

[cindy707]

I swear Rita no matter how bad of a day that i am having whenever i read your posts i get a spontanious laugh that just flies out of me.........your I Love Versed comment made me laugh...i was thinking of those I Love New York bumper stickers or the I Love Disneyland bumper stickers...i wonder what people would actually do if we had a sticker  on the back of our cars that said I Love Versed....but then here in California someone would probably say "I love the beaches in Versed too...was that the first time you had been to Italy?" LMAO

[RNRita]

I love Versed.  I have had PVCs, PACs, SVT, Paroxysmal tach....a lot of disturbances over 30 plus years.  I have also had 11 surgeries and the last 8 were with Versed to help.  Versed is in the same family as Xanax, Ativan and other benzodiazapines.  It is an anti-anxiety.  I always ask to have a little early...I don't care if they do open heart surgery after I get some.  Versed would never scare me!  Anyway, if you look at any medication, almost 90 percent of the time side effects can include heart arrhythmias.  A big reason is that when anyone gets a single PVC during a trial it is considered an "event" and each must be counted as caused by the med.  In a lot of cases, it is not related.  That is why you see some of the side effects listed for so many different meds that are so rare.....

[bbuster]

Look into LANAP.... there is NO WAY I would have gum surgery - yikes. It's expensive - $6,ooo..... but there is no cutting and no sutures... the laser is the width of 3 hairs and excellent results - not many periodontists do it - about 600 in the country....look into it - as I said, I'm trying to be proactive and they want the wisdom teeth out as well. As for the afib, my personal lossess happened so hard and fat that I believe i did not have time to recover before another hit - mother, father, brother, and the husband, My heart just was done in - broke! I don;t drink, smoke, or do drugs - it had to be the huge losses... thanks again....

[cindy707]

I think you are making the right decision in being proactive.  I am sorryh to hear about your losses....ditto for me..i had a huge family until the late 80's early ninetys and then we lost over 15 family members within an eleven month period to all sorts of random things so i understand completely what you are going thru.  Thank goodness i still have my sisters and kids but everyone above us parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, all passed away...it was definately something that i will take w. me when i leave this earth...we all just have to somehow power thru it and try to make some sense of something that occurs that makes no sense....trusting your  doc is paramount and sounds like you have a good one if your heart doc and dentist are in communication....thats a definate plus...i guess i am still a scare dee kat because i still haven't gone in for the planing or lanap.....thats next on my list and i am thinking that i will have to bite the bullet soon and go for it as well and planing i hear ALOT of horror stories about...good luck w. your procedure tho..........

[bbuster]

Thanks so much for your words!! I am doing this BECAUSE of my heart - I am having lanap done at the same time, which is laser deep cleaning. I want my oral health to be in good shape. I KNOW my afib began 7 yrs ago because of great grief and loss (I lost every member of my family in 30 months).... my 3 remaining wisdom teeth are fully erupted and the lanap supposedly only requires aspirin after... I hear these horror stories about versed, but I guess I must trust my docs. Thanks again!!

[cindy707]

Listen to Jerry is my advise on this one.....i have had more issues w. my teeth in the past couple of years then in my entire life and had atrial fib and a basket full of other things that got corrected and i'll tell you what ...i felt the same exact way that you did.  I ended up w. a rear molar that was infected, didn't know it, got an infection and went right back into atrial fib even after a successful procedure four years ago and my heart doc said that people tend to not believe how related the teeth and the heart are...the infection got into my blood stream because i waited too long and boom...back into atrial fib, back to the E.R. to be converted again and the heart doc said get the tooth pulled NOW.....i did and within 48 hours no more heart issues.  He explained that infection makes the heart irritable and brings up dormat issues...he was right. As far as the Versed goes tho you have to remember that your body is actually awake its just your mind that is in the twighlight stage and that was what i chose when it was pulled and no issues at all....i also had Versed when i had my ablation done and whats to say about it?  You are twighlighted and the only thing i can think of that was semi negative for me anyway was that i couldn't remember a thing about the procedure and that was a good thing.  I also had it when i had all four of my wisdom teeth pulled a few years ago and nada, nothing, no issues....i wouldn't be scared if i were you...i would probably be more concerned if your wisdom teeth are getting impacted or infected and they are still in your mouth...i would go for it but that is just my opinion.....good luck and enjoy your soup...(i hated that part of it)

[Jerry_NJ]

Call me "simple minded" but I take my doctor's advice.  Sounds like you have a go-ahead from both doctors...that's a lot better than getting conflicting advice.

Get the wisdom teeth taken care of, that will help lower stress and remove that from your AFib stimulants.  

My wisdom teeth are all gone, some might say so is my wisdom.

Good luck,