Feeling tired or short of breath can be easy to brush off. But for some people, those symptoms may be signs of an underlying heart rhythm condition called atrial fibrillation (AFib).
For Allen Godfrey, these symptoms were hard to ignore.
“I was extremely tired and very winded. It was like I was running up a whole flight of stairs,” Godfrey said.
An active outdoorsman, Godfrey noticed his energy and stamina steadily declining. After testing, his care team found the cause. “They said, ‘You’ve got AFib.’ That’s when I really noticed I didn’t have the energy and I didn’t have the wind,” he said.
AFib is a common heart condition that causes the heart to beat irregularly. Symptoms can include fatigue, shortness of breath, and weakness—often mistaken for stress, aging, or being out of shape.
“If you ask the common person… ‘Are you tired or fatigued?’ almost all of them would say yes,” said Dr. Prabhpreet Singh, electrophysiologist at Aurora BayCare Medical Center. “That’s where the discussion with your physician comes into play.”
Godfrey first tried managing his AFib through lifestyle changes, but when his symptoms continued, his cardiology team recommended a procedure called ablation.
“The ablation procedure targets those misfiring veins in the heart,” Dr. Singh explained. “We send pulses of electricity into those misfiring veins.”
Though hesitant at first, Godfrey says the procedure helped him get back to doing what he loves. Today, he’s walking, hiking, and enjoying the outdoors again.
“If something happens and I do [go back into AFib], I’ve got a great doctor and staff that I can come to and they’ll take care of me,” Godfrey said.
If ongoing fatigue or shortness of breath doesn’t feel normal for you, don’t ignore it. A conversation with your provider could be the first step toward answers.