Afraid i will go into afib again..

Thank you, I hope your right it scared me so bad I thought I was going to die😧 my heart rate was so high. My anxiety makes me fear this happening again, and if I get a Palpitation I freak out that I'm going to go back into afib..

I don't get the clear cut anxiety you talk about but even when NOT having an AF event my body behaves like it is having some sort of panic attack.  What I have found very very useful is learning a technique called EFT.   It's very simple to learn the tapping points and follow the procedure from reading a book or looking on utube.    I must admit it works best when I do it with a professional but its incredibly handy to use when you feel in a panic.   I think its more effective than CBT which is what NHS offer and so simple.   There may be classes near where you live too.   Worth a try. 

Thank you for saying that. I've had health anxiety for almost my whole life, and my bigest fear has always been my heart. So when this happened i didn't know what it was, my heart rate was over 190 I thought I was going to die. Now if I even have a skipped beat I go into a panic. It sucks because I have 3 kids and I just want to not think about this every minute. I have my newborn and I'm not sleeping and that makes my anxiety worse😥

Laurie one thing you must not do is not sleep lack of sleep will make it worse I use to have 50 toaybe 70 ectopic beats a min, yes its very very scary, trying to stay calm when it happens I know its easy to say but I've been there 😄 so I know it works, you have alot to deal and maybe need help to off load some of the pressure, once I had a HP of 240 it was very scary, Laurie you're not going to die !! when these attacks happen, let hope its just a one off try get some sleep and not worry you will be fine

Thank you again for taking the time to reply, I feel better taking to people that know what I'm going through😉 I'll try to get more sleep but with a newborn it probably won't happen for a while..lol

That's sounds like what happened to me, it's crazy. Does your daughter every get scared it will happen again?

Hi Laurie,

?No she doesn't, well at least not that she admits to me. Maybe she thinks there is no point as she is in Sydney, Australia and I am in Cornwall, UK.

?My AF is vagal nerve in origin and mine is controlled by meds and diet - worth noting frank61666 post which is on here.

?Mind you she has made one or two comments about her health that make me wonder if at some point in later life her AF may revisit her. She concentrates on her sporty interests and staying 'super slim' but as she ages she'll find she can't do Thai kicking boxing any more ! Thats when her problems are likely to start. No good me advising her - I'm only her Dad - she'll just do her own thing anyway  ! Ha! Ha!

John5006 - Just interested you mention that the vagus nerve is the origin of your AF - I have a feeling mine is too however when I mentioned it to consultant he just rolled his eyes  - was yours diagnosed as vagus nerve? 

Hi Kate,

Yeah well if you saw a Cardiac Consultant thats about what I'd expect from him/her ! If you had seen a Gastroenterologist that result would have been the opposite !!

?Short answer .... no it was never diagnosed my  a GP or Cardiac consultant, it is not mentioned anywhere on my papers.

Longer answer ....I was diagnosed with paroxysmal AF in 9 hours from first onset, in an A & E unit. No mention of any cause. A & E carried out extensive tests over a 6 day period and developed  my party bag of drugs. The doses haven't changed I might add over nearly 7 years. After about 4 months of AF I  became aware of an AF event occurring after food. Symptoms were, massive, massive bloating accompanied by discomfort, sometimes low grade pain in the chest, burping, intestinal gurgling, very loud and audible to anyone in the same room, and diahorrea.

?My GP had basic blood tests done to check on liklhood of IBS and Coeliac Disease - all clear. Offered more tests and I declined.

?Instead I went to a Nutritionist end result - recommended I go Wheat free, Gluten Free, and consider aspects of the FODMAPS diet. Over the years following this advice my AF incidents calmed down. It has been a long and at times a frustrating journey experimenting with food constantly (one mans meat is another mans poison comes to mind). I refer to this as my diet but thats not a really accurate term - more appropriate to call it my Food Intake Plan (FIP). Now I can confidently say my last recorded AF event was in April 2015.

So, for me at least get the AF diagnosed early, quickly and accurately - something that rarely happens these days judging from posts on here and other websites - get treatment started and listen to your body.

?Calm the vagal nerve = calm the heart !

?Since visiting the Nutritionist I have had one additional health scare - excessive sugar levels and was tested for Diabetes. Yes blood sugar was almost "Prediabetes". So, I went cold turkey and have cut out all added sugar from my FIP and as a result it has not interacted with my party bag of drugs (nor has anything else in my FIP) and my blood sugars have dropped considerably.

?So thats it ....I have been fortunate, speedy and accurate diagnosis plus sound dietry advice from a Nutritionist.

Hope this helps,

John

thanks for reply  - we are very similar in all aspects.   I did see a gastro consultant too who also rolled his eyes but I have read a very useful book on the hiatal hernia syndrome and vagus nerve imbalance.   Everything you say apart from audible gurgling is the same.  The one other symptom I get is this cold and shaky flu like symptom which ebbs and flows daily at random but diet wise etc and symptom wise I am a carbon copy of you.   Must read the book again. 

hi Kate,

Am amazed that the gastro guy also rolled his eyes. From what I've discussed and read they are much more likely to take notice of vagal nerve issues than a Cardiac guy.

Certainly the Nutritionist I went to knew all about it and she also receives referrals from a Gastro consultant for diet related issues. In fact she discussed my case with this Gastro guy, and his reaction was ..... 'not in the least surprised'.

Anyway, amazing that your symptoms are a copy cat of mine.

?The day AF kicked in these flu like symptoms started - very similar to your description. In fact that was the first I knew that something was amiss .... I just thought I was going down with flu. I had no feeling of cardiac issues at all - absolutely none. Until I checked my blood pressure. Then I found my blood pressure (I have my own monitor because BP had been an issue for me for some time) erratic. Then it became wildly erratic /unstable and falling - my normal BP in those days was around 136/80 - when it got to 76/54 with a HR of 85, I rang my GP - he got me into hospital immediately. The rest is history. All from these flu like symptoms. Never had them since. during the first 4 months I had a struggle with Bisoprolol but even thats fine now. Warfarin, no sweat - even with my FIP.

May the force be with you.

John

Hi,

I would not say, that I'm carbon copy, but some aspects are similar. My flutter (this is let say a mild case of the fibrillation) regularly shows up after food and followes a blow up. I went to my my friend, who is excelllent cardiologist and his team made diagnoses that I have vagally mediated fibrillation that is characterised by low heart rate (betwen 50-60 bpm before sleeping). The aFib events typically follow the food intake and the HR remains low even during the aFib event (between 70-80). In contrast, the typical aFib is mediated by elevated sympathic tone and has very high heart rate. What we should keep in mind, that the strech of the stomach may stimulate the vagal activity. That is why Gastroesophageal reflux disease or obesity may promote atrial fibrillation. I'm just speculating, that pregnancy may simiraly can press the stomach and result in aFib.

Gyorgy 1950

Thank you, the cardiologist was pretty confident it was caused by my pregnancy, so I'm hopeful it won't happen again?