Afib episode ---has anyone experienced this?

Posted , 3 users are following.

Just recovering from covid

In great athletic shape

47, workout regularly, eat clean for the most part, don't drink regularly, don't smoke, not on any pills

Got my blood test for heart health and it's clear

I do get occassional ectopics and paroxysmal Afib episodes much less if I'm stressed, underslept, exhausted( I have a lot on the go--day job, 2 side hustles and go out a lot for walks, to the gym, to record content as also am a vlogger)

Anyways I'm coming off tail end of covid and I had worked out hard and after 15 minutes

I was just sitting and my heart went out of sync, into an erratic, irregular beat, I could feel it in my throat

I just breathed deeply and I was back in sinus rythm. Total time was maybe 7 seconds

It also happend yesterday when I was sitting, after a meal, deep in my thoughts and my heart did the same but it was only for 3 seconds

Good news. it never happens when I'm active or mindful or in a calm state.

I don't get it regularly ....few times per year then it's gone and I'm back in normal rhythm

No other systems like I don't have any chest pain, don't feel faint, don't feel chest pressure

I think it's just my mind that's the culprit(when I'm emotional, stressed, thinking about something with deep feeling, I'm more prone to them), or a vagus irritation caused by eating a meal or could be caused by my body still being exhausted fighting off the covid infection

I'm okay now

I also ate like 10 packs of halls so maybe they have some stimulants

Anyways , based on the chads test, I don't have any of those factors so not going to get on drugs for anti blood coagulation

I eat natural blood thinning spices anyways(cinnamon, ginger, etc)

ANyways wanted to know if any of you experience these paroxysmal episodes and that's it

or is everyone here in persistent Afib

I'm not going to worry about it or see a Doc for now

Obviously if it becomes consistent, I'll have it checked out

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2 Replies

  • Edited

    Very good. You've pretty much captured all the behaviors and circumstances in which they occurred with me. I may not be as athletically fit as you are but I'm extremely active. The being stressed, thinking and even grieving have a significant impact on blood pressure. I think the key concept here is experiencing these feelings while sitting down and not moving around. Getting up and walking around during an intense phone call, for example, reduces your blood pressure during that call. Big meals, I recently discovered have a tremendous effect on my blood pressure. I think it's just all that volume of food and fluids load up into your bloodstream and there's just lots of traffic that's not only harder to push around but probably dilutes your oxygen carrying red blood cells. I would think your blood pressure would be inclined to rise and accommodate those circumstances. Afib, however, from the pattern I'm discovering, seems to be more likely to kick-in when pressure is higher, BUT, only after your heart rate is more rapidily increasing together with it. I noticed an interesting correlation between blood pressure and heart rate. More so with dehydration than with excess eating, when I exercise and sweat, I start dehydrating. At first, my Systolic pressure goes up to supply your body's instant rising oxygen demand. (Diastolic pressure either doesn't go up or rises just a little.) As you keep running, your heart rate starts increasing. My blood pressure soon goes to around 150/85 as the heart rate goes over 100. Then, as I keep running what happens is my diastolic pressure starts going down below 80, maybe like 75. I keep running like that as my heart rate hits like 120. After a few minutes as I'm losing fluids, there's less fluid/blood in my bloodstream, arteries perhaps dilating also and my blood pressure starts going down....say like 120/70. That's when my heart rate starts increasing way more. And I believe it's my body's demand for more oxygen, with this lower volume of blood that increases my heart's rate beyond what I'm conditioned for. I believe it's at this time my heart is getting the signal to go faster than it's capable of, and the Afib happened. Yes, there's a chance it can snap back into sinus rhythm, but under this circumstance, I believe somewhere in my body is still sending an even higher heart rate increase request to my heart. In the hospital, cardioversion kicked it right back. Now-a-days, just sitting there, when I see my heart rate start increasing over 100, and my blood pressure dropping below say 115/75, that means I'm dehydrating. I drink a bottle of water and my rate drops down to the mid 70's and my blood pressure goes up to like 125/83. Being in bad shape, and suddenly deciding to go for a fast long run, especially if it's hot outside and you don't really remember the last time you drank some water, I believe will definitely make this happen again. Maybe this is all totally not normal, I don't know for sure, but that's how I figured out my system works.

  • Posted

    I have had a heart condition for years which induced intermittent AFib episodes. I then got mild Covid in April 2021. At that point I went into permanent AFib. My Cardiologist told me that it was quite common for Covid to have this effect on people and to ensure that I was careful to keep up with the vaccinations and to try to avoid being in situations where I was likely to catch it.

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