I'm having AF attack now started 45 minutes ago, my heart is racing , headache dizziness
I can count my pulse around 110 and pressure 120-130/80-90
I'm already on warfarin and bisoprolol , what else can I do ? How long I should wait, even if I went to emergency usually they do nothing more than monitoring
I feel miserable
Sorry but this is the world of AF Try to relax and rest. As you say emergency room will probably not do anything. Generally speaking you are protected by the medication so unless you feel you want other people around you I would leave it another hour or so before panicking and going there.
If you can count your pulse it really isn't too bad an attack.It is when it is around 200 and so erratic that you can't count it that you really need to start worrying.
BobD
It is still on for more than an hour , pulse still 110
I will wait for another hour and see if not back to normal I may go to emergency
My last cardiversion was 2 months ago , I'm afraid I need another
They told me last time it is better to wait too long , if so I need TEO which is the worse thing before cardiversion
Hi. I really feel for you . When you have paroxysmal A.F. it is easy to spend your whole life anticipating another attack and then when you have an attack you spend the time waiting to come out of it so your whole life is spent in a state of high anxiety and that in itself is not good. It truly is a viscous circle! Try to relax and as Bob says accept that A.F. is part of your life. At first I was just as anxious as you are but with the help of the fab people on here I have learned to ignore it. Initially I didn't think this was possible but gradually I came to accept that this funny heart beat was normal for me and now I only panic if something unusual for me happens. You get to know your own body and know when to get professional help.it sounds like you have protected yourself by taking the right meds so you have acted sensibly and responsibly and to an extent that is all we can do. I hope you get through this attack without too much more anxiety. X
You described exactly my daily suffering
I can't plan for anything since living each daily as normal is a challenge
I'm active working woman , I'm thinking to quit my work since it look like I can't carry out my duties as before anymore
My record full of sick leaves
Once I got out from business meeting running to ER , I felt next day very shame and can't tell what's wrong with me
My dear husband and kids are also suffering we can't travel for fun like others always I'm sick or may get sick upon stress or effort
I tried a lot to ignore and continue my day as usual but my body feel so weak and not balanced to do so
I'm better recently after joining this forum and knowing that I'm not alone and AF is common so I'm better in managing short AF attack but not all can be ignored
Thank you for your support and sharing your experience and hoe you will be better soon
Maitha
If you can ( & I know it's difficult ) try doing some deep controlled breathing ...it helps me to listen to some meditation music .
Try not to panic too much : you will be ok and your pulse rate is dropping slowly . I know just how you feel ...so here's a cyber hug to let you know you're not on your own.
Nikki
Maitha, I am so sorry to hear that you are having a fibrillation, the above advise is excellent and I guess, very, comforting so please know that we are all rooting for you. Phyl.
Thank you so much for support , really I need it since others don't know about our suffering
I'm still not feeling well , pulse still high for 4 hours now even I'm in bed , not so sever like when it started , hope it will be back to normal soon
Hope a merciless will happen and end our suffering soon just like magic
Maitha
It is now ten hours since my heart race started , pulse is around 100 at rest , going less for minutes then going up again , maybe because I'm on bisoprolol 
I may go to have ECG , I may need a treatment to calm down
I have my episodes about once every 2 weeks take 300 mg of flecanide and then wait up to 6 hours for it to stop. I did think the flecanide would make the duration between episodes longer but so far no such luck
For what is worse I have found support from members of this group to be immeasurable. What we don't want to do is to have unnecessary levels of anxiety as it can only make things worse. It was this anxiety over my AF that brought me to this forum and since I know other people feel similar to what I do it makes me feel a lot better.
I was just looking at my BP and pulse chart and it seems that I will go in and out of AF about every 2 weeks. I know that when I go into AF that next day I feel absolutely lousy but then gradually things start to improve. When I come out of AF it is always a frightening experience as I've described elsewhere on the forum with having up partial blackout.
Good luck and always make sure you've got some support around you even if it's only the Internet.
Robert…
Don't worry too much! Attacks can last anywhere from a few hours to a couple of days - mine last about 12 hours for instance. And I find if I can calm down that it can send me back into normal rhythm. I know it's hard! Scary's advice is really good though, I try meditation too and I find it helps me a lot, just to calm down if nothing else. And my heart rate goes up to 170 so it could be worse! 
Take care - sending another cyber-hug in case you need one...
Maitha please consider an ablation before you give up work. I put up with my AF for 5 years gradually getting worse and worse all the while slowly adapting to the impact it was having on my work , my mental health and home life. Eventually this May after much thinking I had an ablation in London. Best thing I ever did, it gave me my life back ! I hadn't realised how badly it had affected me until my friends and workmates said what a huge difference the procedure had made on me. The 'fog' had cleared. It's still early days for me but I am so much better no nasty afib for 3 months ! Even if I need to go for a secondary touch up (not looking likely at the moment) I consider the risks worth it, I am too young (53) to allow this thing to ruin the rest of my life - next stop is renewal of my Zumba class ! Enjoying life to the full again is worth it. Big hugs to you and do think about it !
You make me really cry when you described exactly my life right now especially mentally , I'm becoming worse daily
I have been through a lot before including two open hear surgeries and third major one , I feel I can't be through more of these scary adventures
I want to live normal life , I'm still not that old 48 but my body feels lot older
I'm planning to arrange for my ablation in London also soon , to put an end to my suffering and my family also
Can I know where did you have your ablation ? Which doctor / hospital
I'm living in Abu DHabi and I should arrange for it Properly including staying there for few months for recovery
Thank you for your support
Thanks a lot for your support and nice feelings
It meant a lot for me in this AF scary world
Wish you all the best
Maitha
Maitha,
I just saw this and as I read through it, it brought back all those awful feelings of getting through a day (or more) of AF. We've all been in your shoes and it is no fun. I hope by now you are back in normal sinus rhythm. But if you are not, I hope you are calm and comfortable, waiting it out. I just read an article written by a physician, who mentioned that when someone is having an episode of AF, the environment of the ER probably makes it worse, as it is so stressful. I tend to agree. If you are on anticoagulation and have your meds, and no symptoms out of the ordinary, staying at home is safe. Of course, being at home, just watching the hours tick by, is no picnic either. I try to just continue with my normal day as much as possible. I always try to spend time doing relaxation techniques of all sorts and I just anticipate and envision that wonderful moment when my heart converts back to normal. The reason I don't visit this site every day is because I do best when I think about my AF as little as possible, just taking my meds and doing everything I can to be healthy. Like we all say so often, it helps to know we have all been there. If ablation is the answer for you, I hope you can get it arranged soon. Be well. Don't panic. Take good care.
Maitha, I think the mental impact definitely needs to be considered- I think some docs just don't get it when they say learn to live with it. When I first got AF I was so scared I could not go out, wanted to be close to a hospital, thought I would die, could not travel or on my own, I got so bad tempered with everyone. I ended up forcing my GP/Doc to refer me for cognitive therapy which was really helpful and with meditation as others have mentioned I gradually became used to it, the coping mechanism kicked in, and I felt better -no more panic but I had to adapt my life and work environment (my boss was great when I told him what was wrong). During one cognitive session she asked me what was the one thing I felt I was most scared of - I said getting in a plane and flying to another country. In March this year I flew to Spain, no issues flying but I did have an episode out there but no panic. It passed, I felt I beat my demon. So it can be done, you can learn to live with it up to a point, but by late Spring I reached that point. I did not want drugs and don't tolerate them well and decided I'd had enough and with some pressure on my doctor I found an EP who after a cardiologists referral and private consultation agreed to do an ablation. My EP in London was Dr Rinaldi who works at Guy's and St Thomas hospital - he was amazing, I am so grateful to him for giving me my life back. I hope your previous heart surgery does not preclude you from being able to have an ablation (I had paroxysmal afib) I think you should definitely investigate further/consider it but everyone is different in our ways of dealing with this beast and that was my way. Your way may be different, I wish you the very best whichever you decide but please do not give in to it and give up your job, don't let it ruin your life. Take that step towards a possible resolution otherwise you will always be saying what if...x
how long did it take for CBT to work. I have panic disorder and high level anxiety, had my first AF last week. dreading the next one. I have now been referred for CBT. Hope it works for me as well.
Hi there it took a few weeks to come to terms with fully but the breathing and meditation exercises after the first session helped me relax straight away. Def worth doing ! Once you get used to realising you are not going to die you can start to make it easier to get through an episode. Key things: be kind to yourself and take baby steps. Good luck x
How I wish we could all wave a magic wand that would send AF out of this world forever; but not looking too hopeful yet ! I've gone through stamping of feet ( not really helpful but lets the stress out ) muttering & ranting at the inability to do what I used to do without thinking.....( some people would say no change there then ).... but since I've gathered more info & read /spoken on here am more able to ditch the worry and think.. soon it will pass. So many emotions are rattled when AF has a tantrum but now I know it WILL go..... it's easier to wait it out.
I know that it is a part of my life but not all of my life; the support here -the friendliness of you all - the sharing of info has to a large extent brought AF into perspective.
There are times when I feel thoroughly miserable ..the " why me" bit; nothing wrong in that we are human after all !
This essay/post/whatever is really a thank you for the understanding .... the feeling of knowing that just because you can't see AF it's still there .... and you have all been there ! Lovely to read about people who are now free from AF...one day I hope to join them .....
take care all and live your lives ...& consider yourselves well and truly hugged !
Nikki
Dear all
I'm still suffering and I'm now at emergency where doctors diagnosed my case as atrial flutter which I think it started on Friday and I'm currently under heart monitoring
I may have cardiversion for the third time this year early morning and the EP team will discuss ablation procedure with me
Actually doctor said even I was counting my pulse as 100 but it was a lot more which hard to count, but my BP remain reasonably ok
I'm thinking to agree to do ablation here in ABu Dhabi even the success rate they mentioned not more than 70 percent
I feel bad and can't waste more time of my life suffering like this
It is better to Live good or leave
Thanks all for support and wish no one else will go through this again
Maitha
Maitha, So sorry to hear that you are still suffering. We are here with you in thought and praying that you and the team will make all the right decisions so you can once again live well and get on with your life. Keep us posted!
warmest regards
Thank you grandma
My heart didn't come back to sinus rhythm this time , I'm in the hospital right now under monitoring
I discussed with EP team more details about ablation since I consider my case as unique due to my two previous open heart surgeries and a scar in the heart as well
They confirmed their capabilities to carry out such simple procedure for atrial flutter which will not take more than 30 minutes then monitor the result as they said and hope that they have the good experience
After discussion I decided to have ablation after tomorrow without sedation! , and stay at hospital for one night then go back home and recovery for one week before going back to my normal life as I hope
Hope it is as simple as that
Maitha
Well, I am glad a plan is in place and it sounds like they feel positive about the results. Good luck with your ablation. I will keep good thoughts for you! Wishing for a great recovery for you!
Good luck Maitha will be thinking about you x
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