Just found this statement when I was trawling the net regarding ways to stop AF:
"In some cases, when an arrhythmia comes on without chest pain, particularly if it is a fast, regular rhythm, lying down on the floor and elevating the legs and feet, hips close to the wall, resting the feet on the wall can rush blood down to the heart and make the heart rhythm come back to normal."
Are others aware of this one and if so have you had any success with it?
Written by
Dave1961
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I gave it a shot for 30 seconds but nothing changed. If I am still in AF when I get home from work I will try for a bit longer. Difficult in the office in case anyone sees me!
Hello .... well I haven`t tried this one ..... although I find that when sitting, bending double from the waist with head on knees, really works for me. The last episode I had of AF I did this and whilst in this position my heart beat was normal - I continued doing this until my heart beat returned to normal when sitting up. Took a while, but well worth it - I suppose it all depends on where you are at the time! I was lucky - I could take to my bed! Hope this helps and good luck. Dorothy.
Hi Dave, no I'm not aware of this procedure but will certainly give it a try when needed.
A few times my heart has reverted back into normal rhythm in the shower and I did think it may be the warm water that helped, but am now wondering if it's the bending to wash my feet.
Thought provoking post and good to have something else to try.
Very intetesting I will be intetested to see what others say thank you though chris
Before I was treated, I had to lie down if I was bad, otherwise my ticker could not get enough blood up to my head. Never tried putting my legs up or anything like that though as just lying down would do the trick, but imagine that would be even better.
I can't remember whether I went back into sinus lying down though. At the time I probably wouldn't have known anyhow and I didn't know what AF was.
It makes sense to me as it would mean your heart didn't have to struggle "up-stream". Better to get a treatment though as you can't lie down all the time , although sometimes I'd like to
Anything is worth trying BUT am I missing something?
The quote states " when Arrythmia comes on ----- particularly if it is a fast regular rhythm -----" Surely the whole point of Arrythmia is that it is irregular.
Jenny, regular tachycardia is also an arrhythmia. Tachycardia although a fast regular beat, is Irregular as in not normal not irregularly irregular as in AF.
Dave it clearly says " fast and regular" which AF is not. Tachycardia (fast and regular beat) is often stopped by the Valsalva manoeuvre which is when you hold you nose and with closed mouth try to blow out very hard and this may sometimes assist with AF at an early stage. It is also a little more discreet than throwing yourself on the floor in a supermarket. lol Anything is possible with AF as we know but I wouldn't want to give false hope to people.
As mentioned above tachycardia is one of the arrhythmias - When I have gone into tach the Valsalva maneuver did nothing for me apart from almost make me pass out! Not one I would ever try again if I am in tach. Because I sometimes have AF interspersed with tach (joy oh joy) I didn't really notice that specific part of the post was just interested in people's experiences. Not sure what false hope you're talking about??
I very definitely get 2 sorts of AF. My heart will race with occasional irregularity in which case as soon as it stops I can carry on as normal. Or, it is out of rhythm and a bit slow or fast in which case it wipes me out afterwards for the rest of the day. Will definitely try the feet on the wall approach. Have tried taking magnesium supplements as someone suggested but apart fro giving me an upset stomach it did no good.
Ditto for me although both types wipe me out in one way or another. Shame about the magnesium - you should try the transdermal spray. Completely stops the stomach issues
It's a bugger isn't it? Although sometimes something that DOESN'T work the first time round will work another time. The joy of our random little hearts. I keep meaning to make myself a little card so that if and when I go into AF I do not have to try and calm myself to think of methods to address it.
Dave - One thing stops me from doing too much bending when my heart is going berserk and that is because a friend of mine had a stroke while bending out of bed to mop up a cup of tea she'd knocked on to the floor. Just sticks in my mind!
However, a neighbour who gets what she calls 'palpitations' cures them by bending over towards her feet.
Hope you get some more responses, this is an interesting post.
You can have your tea in bed, just make sure you don't knock it over, grab tissues and bend out of the bed to mop it up. The lady who did this and had the stroke is now confined to a wheelchair. I think she was about 60 when it happened.
I have fast and irregular My Consultant told me to try to strain as if going to the loo but strain around the neck and upper chest. Did work sometimes in the early days. But that is just memories now
Nice to hear from someone who has actually tried it and its worked Will give it a go if I remember next time.
Thanks for this Dave and the other respondents , may put 2 and 2 together.
For ages, I have found bending over to do shoelaces etc uncomfortable and have also raised my legs when sitting down whenever I can. I just thought it was oddities of me and didn't connect it to the heart/AF issue.
My af is of the irregular type also upto around 180 Bpm I've tried jumping in and out of a cold shower , blowing on my thumb like one doctor told me to ( thought he was taking the mick lol) running up and down stairs , but nothing works for me bar waiting upto 20 hrs for it to pass , on the other hand my friend has the fast type of arithmia 220 + bpm and he strips is clothes off gets cold and lays down flat and that sorts it for him so who knows x
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