How do we know it's an AF attack?

Me again (sorry).  Been having tremors in the heart lasting a few seconds to a couple minutes.  Is that an AF attack or just ectopic and what's the difference?   I know when I'm in a full on AF attack which takes hours and raises heart rate and rythhm but the flutters only seem to affect rythhm not speed of beats.   Weird?

[BobD Volunteer]

Realistically you need to see an ECG to tell with any certainty but I can tell you that we AFers do become overly sensitive to what our hearts are doing. Ectopic beats. those "missed beat" feelings are quite normal in all people but we do have a few more than usual and as a result our brains notice every one. Likewise we all get short runs of tachycardia when the heart may race for a few beats. All basically harmless but we notice and panic!

If you learn how to take your pulse it can help as  a regular pulse even one that may speed up and slow down is not AF which is irregular and with no rhythm at all. Ectopic beats can be felt on the  pulse as a pause as can tachycardia. You may wish to invest in an Alivcor (now called Kardia I think) device although if your minor arrhythmias are like my own non AF ones by the time you have found it and done a test all is normal again.

The big problem is not obsessing about these things and trying to get on with your life. A good mantra is "AF may be in my life but it is not all of my life."

Be well

Bob

[SteveA in reply to BobD]

Quite often my ectopics progress into an afib episode, if I can manage to ignore them they can go away but if I start focusing on them my anxiety rises and they become more frequent (or just noticable) and then more often than not I go into a 2 / 3 hour afib epsiode.  I am convinced my afib can be bought on by my state of mind!

Like you said Bob, if you can manage not to obsess (which can be easier said than done sometimes) it definately has a positive impact on day to day life.

[jennydog]

I know when an AF episode is imminent because I start to produce an unaccountably huge volume of urine. This phenomenon is called " micturition."

[Hidden in reply to jennydog]

That doesn't happen to me until I'm well and truly in AF !

[jennydog in reply to Hidden]

Yatsura, one of the monitors I had to wear showed that I had a 36 hour episode that I didn't know about. I do wonder if I am in AF for a time before I'm aware of it. Since my ablation the episodes are mild and I can function, previously I had to lie down and hopefully sleep it off.

Best wishes

[ange1960 in reply to jennydog]

wow this happens to me too, but more noticeable once I'm in AF.  Good to know it's a known affect.  I thought it was just me....

[BobD Volunteer in reply to ange1960]

It is caused by an enzyme which the distressed heart releases which tells the body to get rid of salt I am told.

[mincde in reply to BobD]

It is called Atrial natriuretic peptide.