- Thank you for visiting this video segment
for Dr. AFib, I'm Dr. Morales.
In today's video segment we're going to be
addressing the caregivers for atrial fibrillation.
And so, if you have a spouse or a parent or a loved one
that you take care that has atrial fibrillation
this video is meant for you to help give you tips
on how to help your loved one take
care of their atrial fibrillation.
Wanna start off by giving all those caregivers a thank you.
Being a caregiver for somebody
with complicated medical conditions
including atrial fibrillation, requires a lot
of work, it can be very stressful
and sometimes you don't get a thank you.
So I wanna just wanna say thank you to
those caregivers who take their time
to really help out their loved one
with taking care of their medical conditions.
And thank you for being here to learn more about
your loved one's atrial fibrillation.
And if you think that this video is worthwhile,
you think this video is something
that other people can learn from,
please put a like or a comment or a share
because that's how these ideas grow
and we can show these videos to more people.
So people for who are caregivers.
What tips can I give for someone
to help manage a loved one's atrial fibrillation?
So the first tip that I would give would be
understand and recognizing the signs of a stroke.
As I've said in several other video segments
the risk of stroke is the most devastating
consequence of having atrial fibrillation.
Even with appropriate medical therapy,
risk of stroke never becomes zero.
So understanding the risk of stroke
and the signs of a stroke are very important for caregivers.
There's a very commonly used acronym called F.A.S.T
to help people understand and recognize
the signs of a stroke.
And each one of those letters stands for something.
F stands for face, so if you notice
that one side of a person's face
is weaker than another or their smile
is not symmetric or they're drooling,
that can be signs of a stroke.
The A stands for arm, so if they're unable
to move one side of their arms
or they're not able to control
the motions of one side of their arms,
which can also pertain to their legs as well
but the acronym mostly refers to their arms.
That could also be signs of a stroke.
The S stands for speech.
Speech would be the inability to talk
or the inability to talk correctly
or even saying clearly the wrong words,
which can also be signs of stroke.
And the last letter is T
and that stands for time.
The faster you get medical attention
when there are signs of a stroke
the better the recovery options can be.
So the first probably the most important
thing for a caregiver to be aware of is
to understand and recognize the signs of a stroke
and to seek urgent medical attention.
But what are other things that
a caregiver should be aware of
for patients that have atrial fibrillation?
The first one and the second one I would say
would probably be understanding signs
of progression of atrial fibrillation.
You're loved one may not really feel
their heart rate going fast, they may just notice
that they're not able to do as much as they want to
or you may notice they're unable to do as much used to.
A lot of times the patients won't necessarily complain
or describe anything that they're feeling
and it's actually the caregiver the loved one
who actually notices
they're more short of breath than they used to be,
they are not, even just talking
they sound more short of breath.
They don't have the same energy they used to have.
And that can all be signs of a
progression of atrial fibrillation.
And so it's important to discuss those symptoms
with your doctor to understand if
there are signs of progression
or they're having more frequent atrial fibrillation,
to be able to better manage the condition.
Because shortness of breath and fatigue
can be signs of just being a AFib or could
be a sign of the heart rate going very fast as well.
And so it's important to discuss these symptoms
with your doctor so that the AFib
can be managed as best as possible.
The third thing that I would say
would be very important for a caregiver
to understand is the medications they're on and the risks of
the medications that your loved one is on.
Probably one of the most important first category
medications are blood thinning medications.
Blood thinners are very important for reducing risk
of stroke and can be very effective.
But they're also blood thinning medications.
And so there's also risks for bleeding and anemia.
And if your loved one is older,
the older the person is not only
is the risk of stroke higher but also
the risk of bleeding is also higher as well.
And so sometimes bleeding can be
very subtle you may not just see someone grossly bleeding.
Sometimes it can be something as subtle
as just noticing a change your stool color
when you go use the bathroom and maybe
you're noticing things are actually more dark or black.
And that can be a sign of subtle blood loss.
But also things such as fatigue or dizziness
can be signs of anemia.
Which happens chronically when people are on blood thinners.
You may have very slow steady blood loss
that over time builds up and then when you start developing
symptoms you're actually fairly anemic.
So when somebody's on blood thinners,
having routine blood work to make sure
that there's no signs of anemia developing
is a crucial feature in managing
somebody's atrial fibrillation.
Also along with medications is know
what medicines they're on and know
which ones have particular side effects
or things that are dangerous or need
to be monitored very closely.
The two that come to my mind are digoxin amiodarone.
First digoxin is a very commonly used
medication for the management of atrial fibrillation.
Its been around for well over 20 years now
and it can be effective in some situations.
But the side effects can build up.
You can get toxic levels of the drug.
Especially if you have abnormal kidney function.
And there's even been some more recent studies
that using digoxin can actually increase mortality.
So this is one of these medications that if you need it
and you don't have any other options it can be very helpful.
But if you are on it you need to make sure
your blood levels are okay of the drug medication
and to take a little as possible.
And if you have the option to get off of it
then that should be
one of the first medications that you take off.
Another drug that has a lot of significance
side effects are is amiodarone.
Amiodarone is another very commonly used
medication to manage atrial fibrillation
which tends to build up a lot of side effects
but it tends to, a lot of them tend to
build up over a long period of time,
when people are on it for serval months or even years.
And they can develop shortness of breath
or eye problems or nerve problems
kinda a weakness in their gait.
And there's a variety, a long list
of side effects that can come from amiodarone.
It's used commonly cause it can
be a very effective medication,
but it does have a long list of side effects.
So if you're the caregiver for someone
who has atrial fibrillation always address
the medications with their doctor to see
whether they're still needed and whether
they're being monitored for signs
of side effects from the medication.
Whether that be anemia from blood thinners
or side effects from other medications
for atrial fibrillation, like amiodarone or digoxin.
So very key to discuss these medications
with your doctor and make sure that
there's a ongoing discussion
to see if these are the right medications
for your loved one okay.
But again thank you for all the effort
and all the time and dedication that you put
for taking care of your loved one
and thank you for educating yourself
about their condition by visiting here at Dr. AFib.
Thank you for visiting this video segment
for Dr. AFib, I'll see you next time.