Woke up around 1 a.m. with my heart fluttering around like a beautiful butterfly in spring ... or maybe a drunken moth banging around an old streetlight
Wasn't a BAD attack but enough to keep me awake. Decided to have my morning metoprolol early at 3:00 instead of 7 and hoped for the best.
Eventually fell asleep but woke up 2 hours later with no change and probably a little worse. Not hospital AF by any means just that kind of AF where you assume your whole day will be spent listening to your heart having a party in your chest.
Remembered reading somewhere about using the sound of a normal heartbeat to bring your own heartbeat back into rhythm. Found a heartbeat sound on the net and tried listening to it but it seemed too fast and I could vaguely feel my heart speeding up. Finally found one that was round my own resting heart rate (55-60 bpm) that would play for 8 hours.
**Everytime I put in the link here it just converts straight to a screenshot for you to play. If you want to get the link click on the "YOUTUBE" logo in the bottom right hand corner of the screenshot and that will take you to it on your browser and show you the link**
Put in my earbuds and within 5 minutes I started to feel my AF starting to decrease and by the 8 minute mark I was in normal sinus rhythm. Lay there listening to it for another 20 minutes just to be sure, got up and went on with my day!
I tried this once before listening just through normal speakers but i think having headphones or earbuds on makes a big difference.
I have no idea if it would be effective for a more severe AF attack but I was really happily surprised - and it was quite soothing after getting used to it.
Would love to hear if you tried it and how it went.
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Dave1961
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That's very interesting, thank you, I will try it for sure. I love the 'beautiful butterfly in spring' analogy, better than the usual 'bagful of rats!'
Definitely worth a go, I reckon. There's a strange logic about it. Also taking a deep breath and holding it for 20 seconds or so can help to deal with a minor episode.
I was given something similar by the Pain Control Consultant at Wythenshawe. The words the person spoke were actually annoying but the way he spoke definitely did calm things down.
What a brilliant idea. Slight problem, though..... I clicked on the image in your post and the slide bar indicated that it was playing but I got no sound (yes I did check my speaker was on!!).
Could you put a link up for us to download? That would be just great 'cos I will definitely give it a try.
I nee3ded to almost max the volume on my iphone to hear it.
Everytime I put in the link here it just converts straight to a screenshot for you to play. To get the link click on the "YOUTUBE" logo in the bottom right hand corner of the screenshot and that will take you to it on your browser and show you the link.
The book titled "The Brain's Way of Healing" by Norman Doidge, M.D. ISBN No. : 978-0-670-02550 - 3 says that the brain can change its own structure and function in response to mental experience - the phenomenon of neuroplasticity. So maybe the sounds are helping the brain reprogram itself and send different signals to the heart. This book explains a new look at what the brain can do versus what science thought it could do. And amazingly enough, the change can take place in a very short time with the right input.
**Everytime I put in the link here it just converts straight to a screenshot for you to play. To get the link click on the "YOUTUBE" logo in the bottom right hand corner of the screenshot and that will take you to it on your browser and show you the link**
I'm going to try that, Dave. I regularly lull myself to sleep listening to an audiobook, so I am quite accustomed to dropping off with an earphone in. Next time I get af at night, I'll try listening to a heartbeat, recorded on my phone. (Don't think I could get it on mp3 player) Did you record it on your phone?
Wasn't able to figure out how to download it onto my phone but if you google "heartbeat sound 8 hours" on your phone's browser this recording will show first. You can then click on it and bookmark it on your phone so next time you can go straight to it.
Playing a sound like this on your phone's browser takes very little bandwidth so you don't have to worry about data charges or anything like that.
Once I do figure out how to download it I will cut down to an hour or so and send you the file
Thank you, Dave, that would be great. I have listened to it, and it seems a bit strange, but I'm sure I'll get used to it. However, it is quite a fast heart beat, or seems to be, compared to my 60 ish bpm usual rate. Did you find that made you focus on the rate rather than the soothing sounds?
Had another episode today and it worked well for me and got me back in rhythm in 6 minutes - I always look at the time slide at the bottom of the video as soon as I am back in rhythm - its a godsend for me right now.
I'v e just checked now and its 50 bpm on the one I put in the original post. Are you sure you are picking the right one as someone has put another one in this post which is a fetal heartbeat which seems to be running at like 180 bpm!
I tried this today, it didn't help when I was out and about but it did bring me out of a 6 hour burst of AFL within an hour meditating with it in a dark room. Try to silence my mind and focused on the sound.
Came back to NSR and went for a five km bike ride sprint
I always find that if my heart wants to be in A.F. It is determined to keep trying. Some tactics are successful in relieving it for a while but it always returns to A.F. until it has run its course. Still it's good to have some respite. 9 weeks post ablation and still no A.F. so my fingers are firmly crossed.x
I have put an app on my phone which has 5 different sounds of heartbeats. One seems to be right for me, but now I need to have an episode of af to test it! Just for interest, I have had two episodes so far this year, whereas normally I would expect 3 episodes a month. I have absolutely no explanation for this, but long may it last! JanR
Thats a shame Peter - its been such a benefit to me being able to get these under control straight away without having to endure hours of "that" feeling.
As we know there is no one size fits all when it comes to AF - hopefully you will find yours.
I'm in a persistent episode, including two days in hospital, which was horrible and counterproductive. I just tried this. After 8 minutes I had some improvement. After 30 minutes, significant improvement. Not perfect yet but this is so hopeful. I was getting so depressed! Thanks!
Breathing in a regular rhythm helped me too, I would listen to my husband sleeping and try and get into his rhythm of breathing and it helped me go off to sleep and I would be in sinus on waking.
I get it! What I have done is put my phone on my chest and played a baby's heart beat from a You Tube video. Who knows if it works or not? but it feels comforting and distracting. so far I have never stopped an AF with it, but always felt better.
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- its been such a benefit to me being able to get these under control straight away without having to endure hours of "that" feeling.
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