Pavel: The problems escalated, I was taking medication to calm down
Pavel is 59 years old this year and works as a clerk. He enjoys sports and his physical condition reflects that. He first suspected that something might be wrong with his heart about five years ago.
“I felt occasional irregularities in my heartbeat, an increased heart rate, and palpitations. Otherwise, I had no other issues, but these changes in heart activity always made me nervous.”
Other than these issues, Pavel felt healthy – except for common problems he attributed to his advancing age, such as back and knee pain or lower psychological resilience. The arrhythmias, initially sporadic, occurred mainly after stressful situations, after drinking alcohol, and during more intense physical activity, often in the morning.
“Arrhythmias occurred more frequently at certain times, without any apparent reason, and sometimes they didn’t appear for a long time. Initially, they always disappeared quickly, but over time they became more frequent.”
The occurrence of irregularities in his heartbeat was confirmed by his home digital blood pressure monitor. Because the problems started appearing more often, he visited a cardiologist after about two years. The cardiological examination revealed higher cholesterol levels in his blood, but no arrhythmia was detected on the Holter EKG. Despite the undiagnosed arrhythmia, Pavel started taking medication to lower his blood cholesterol levels.
Pavel’s cardiologist proceeded conscientiously and according to possibilities, performing an ultrasound of the heart in addition to the Holter EKG, but no heart problem was found there either.
“I trusted the doctor, he took my issues seriously but explained the need to prove the arrhythmia on the EKG. The fact that nothing was found reassured me, I believed I didn’t have any serious cardiac disease. Then COVID-19 came, and the waiting times at doctors were long, so I postponed my check-up.”
Irregularities in his heartbeat always made Pavel nervous; at those moments, he would stop exercising or try to calm down, and if the symptoms disappeared quickly, he didn’t pay much attention to it. Later, when they occurred more frequently and lasted longer, calming medication helped. Although he never felt physical discomfort like weakness, pain, or breathing difficulties during the arrhythmias, he knew something was wrong. He just didn’t know what.
Kardi Ai recognized atrial fibrillation on the second use
“A few months ago, my wife bought me a Kardi Ai band at the pharmacy, which she learned about through her work as a professional medical editor. It was at a time when I was experiencing frequent heart rhythm disturbances. I saw Kardi Ai as an optimal opportunity to verify the situation immediately and in private. Kardi Ai detected fibrillation right on the second use.”
He wore the band mainly when he sensed any irregularities in his heart activity. Kardi Ai always confirmed them. His cardiologist was already familiar with Kardi Ai at that time. Numerous episodes of atrial fibrillation were documented in the records from Pavel’s patient application. Pavel was then prescribed medications to “slow down the heart” and especially blood thinners, which prevent strokes. He also managed to capture atrial fibrillation, now frequent, on the EKG in the doctor’s office.
“Things finally started moving, my cardiologist scheduled me at IKEM for a procedure called catheter ablation, which can even completely eliminate atrial fibrillation.”
Pavel continues to use Kardi Ai to keep himself and his cardiologist informed about his heart activity – measuring whenever he feels heart irregularities, or once or twice a day. Kardi Ai will also be useful after the surgical procedure – detecting any potential new occurrences of atrial fibrillation.
After detecting fibrillation, I always received an email from Kardi Ai within a few hours with a sequence of recordings and a message stating that a specialist had evaluated the device’s recording for the presence of probable atrial fibrillation.
“In my opinion, Kardi Ai helped me detect a serious health problem in time, which could then be addressed promptly.”
