How long should I have an atrial fibrillation before going to A & E? The last one was 10 hours.?

When I went to hospital as an emergency (fibrillations coming every other day in spite of lots of medication) I was told that the
10 hours I waited was too long to be in fibrillation . Today the nurse at the local surgery who did my INR said 3 - 4 hours was long enough to wait to see if it would stop. I don't want to go to A & E for nothing but I don't want to have to be admitted as I was 2 weeks ago. Nobody here seems to have the answer. What experiences have others had?

Some people have AF as a long-term condition - usually older people - and manage it with medication and regular check-ups, but any cardiac discomfort is worth going to A&E as soon as poss for - it's not worth the risk.

Hope it gets sorted Pats, but you know you can get in touch if you need to x Report It

I'm not sure what A & E is, but I hope you are being followed by a cardiologist. You should be on some kind of medication to either correct the rhythm or control the fast heart rate. Meds like Amiodarone, Coreg, Lopressor are some of the most popular and there are newer ones out there. Mainly Beta Blockers and or Antiarrhythmics. If you have chronic atrial fib, you need to be on anticougulants, like Coumadin (which I am assuming you are since you are getting your INR checked). You need to discuss this with your doctor the appropriate length of time to wait before going to the ER. Atrial fib can be fatal if you throw a clot from your heart because treatment has been delayed or not treated appropriately. Talk with your doctor!

You should`nt have waited that long.You should go to the hospital within 15 minutes so that they can give you medication to control it.You could have heart failure if you wait too long.You don`t say what medication you are on,but it can`t be doing it`s job properly if you keep getting it.Please see your doctor again to see if your drugs need to be changed.I know how it feels,as I have it myself,but I am now on a drug called flecanide and it controls it much better and I have`nt been back to hospital for six months.

Don't listen to Amanda, her advice is ridiculous. If you are a paroxysmal afibber instead of permanent, then the guidelines for those who are NOT on Warfarin (blood thinner), even if they are on Aspirin therapy, is to go to the ER when you're approaching the 48-hour mark. To go to the ER when you're in AF for 15 minutes is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard. The ERs would be PACKED!! This would only be true if you passed out or something in those 15 minutes. AF will, over the course of YEARS, lead to heart damage/failure if left untreated for all those years, ie. you'd have to either be permanent or have long, daily episodes. The 48-hour rule is well-known, as the true risk with AF is stroke. If you're not on a blood thinner, then past 48 hours you're risk of stroke goes up considerably. Before 48 hours, (try to take a coated aspirin at the start of the episode to thin the blood a bit), the stroke risk is less and the ER will "convert" you without having to start you on Warfarin. As you mentioned your INR though I aasume you are on warfarin, & then your stroke risk is already low and you wouldn't need to go to the ER at all. This of course is assuming you don't feel unwell (i.e. passing out, sick, etc). If you can cope with the rhythm & take warfarin, then I don't see why you'd go to the ER at all. Not many people run to the ER after only 10 hours and you don't need to either. I myself have gone 40 hours with an HR of 160-180. Check out this very knowledgeable group...http://www.afibbers.net/forum/list.php?f...
They know more than most doctors about AF!!