Any tips on helping to stop an episode?

[Melleray]

Hi everyone - just spent all afternoon in A&E again. 5 hours this time. No caffeine, no alcohol, no food - just walked to the local shop to get some milk and bang! A lovely sunny day too - was hoping to read the Sunday papers in the garden - but enough moaning. I just wanted to ask what you all do when you are having an attack, and if there is anything which works for you to stop it?

[Slattery]

I do deep breathing exercises for 10 minutes and is helps my heart rate slow down which relaxes me. Sometimes it works and other time it does not, but it is worth a try. I wish you well.

[Sunny-fl]

I drink cold water, hold a cold cloth on my neck, shoulders and wrists or splash cold water on my face and it helps slow my heart rate.

[Melleray in reply to Sunny-fl]

Hi - thankyou. I do think cold stuff has some effect as I once reverted in the ambulance when the medic put an ice cold blood pressure cuff on my arm.

[Loking2105]

Hi, I recently had the same experience too. Most of my episodes starts suddenly without any notice so I normally just laid down flat and it will goes in around 30mins - 45mins (mine goes up to 260 per mins and something it coz me fainting ). The methods such as rubbing on one side of your neck or drinking freezing cold water don’t normally work for me for the past 12years. (I have been diagnose with a SVT then confirmed to be AF since the age of 15! ). There is only once in the A&E hold the breath and pushing it out really hard works. The doctor called that “similar to pooping”. if anything last for more than 1 hour I generally will go to the hospital as I will start feeling lack of breath and dizzy. Agreed with the other, try all method everything as you don’t know when they might work. I’m having my ablation done tomorrow and hopefully no more episodes!

[Melleray in reply to Loking2105]

Sounds like you have had horrible experiences too. I have had 250+ pulse and I know how awful that feels. Very best of luck with you ablation.

[jedimasterlincoln]

Over the years I've tried most things separate or at the same time:

Lying down

Gentle exercise

Extreme cold to the face (water/cloth)

Vagus nerve stimulation (basically try to make your ears pop)

Increasing fluids

Complaining

Ignoring it

Tablets

Chemical Cardioversion

DC Cardioversion

Of the bottom three - the only one to work more than once has been DC cardioversion despite trying the others numerous times.

[wilsond in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

Love the complaining method!

[jedimasterlincoln in reply to wilsond]

It used to be the oh no I'm really scared method but the more it keeps happening the more is turned into complaining inconvenience method

[wilsond in reply to jedimasterlincoln]

Agree totally!

[secondtry]

Sounds like you have vagally mediated AF. I believe the reason why you went into AF was that 'you relaxed too much' - looking forward to a relaxing read in the sun. In the short term, be wary of situations coming up where you know you will be super relaxed and do some deep breathing or other counter measures e.g. I used to focus on something stressful to balance my mood or do something active prior to the relaxing event. In the medium/long term do your homework on the Vagus Nerve and build into your daily routine regular relaxing exercises/habits; the idea being that this develops less of a contrast when the 'Sunday Papers' come up again as you are already part relaxed and AF doesn't start. Hope something there helps, just my personal experience/deductions.

[KMRobbo]

Initially used to clear mine by taking an extra verapamil and then going for a run - 7 to 10 mins cleared it. However after 22 months this stopped working so ended up in A&E . Then got put on daily flecainide and diltiazem which mostly kept it at bay.(but the drugs were not good). Since had an ablation nearly 4 months ago.

[seasider18]

What did A&E do for you ?

[Melleray in reply to seasider18]

Preparing to give me amiodorone infusion when I reverted - thank goodness!!

[seasider18 in reply to Melleray]

That was fortunate. I'm in permanent AF and I've gone to A&E a few times. They did all the usual tests without giving me any medication and my heart rate went down to an acceptable level after a while and they let me go. Now I just sit it out at home.

[Melleray in reply to seasider18]

Don't they ever try to cardiovert you? Are you able to manage ok if it is in permanent AF? You could at least be on medication to keep the rate down.

[seasider18 in reply to Melleray]

I had two successful cardioversions that lasted for well over a year. Now they say that my right atrium is too big for a cardioversion to work.

Actually my rate is not usually that high and mostly I am not aware of it. NOAC's were contraindicated as I have a tissue aortic valve. As Warfarin gave me sore joints and other side effects I paid to have an Amplatzer amuluet fitted.

[Melleray in reply to seasider18]

What is that?

[seasider18 in reply to Melleray]

It is a mesh filter fitted into the left atrial appendage (another is a watchman device) that stops any blood clots from getting out. At the moment the NHS are not providing it due to cost savings after successful trials at ten UK hospitals.

[Melleray in reply to seasider18]

Ah yes, I understand.

[doodle68]

Hi Melleray nothing seems to stop my episodes of AF, however, one thing I can do is to make it easier for my body (my heart just being one part of that ) to cope with highly symptomatic episodes that last many hours. This means staying calm/doing breathing excercise/ only doing the tasks that are really necessary around the house/ using distraction in the form of the radio or reading.

I have never been to A&E, that will be a last resort if I feel my heart has laboured too long or I have chest pain. I think the anxiety caused by going to A&E will make me more stressed and consequently make my A&F worse . What can they do that I can't do at home, stick me on a trolly in a corridor for 15 hours maybe and give me drugs to convert me back to NSR but I don't wish to do that unless I feel it is absolutely necessary and I haven't reached that point yet.

The other thing I can do is to help by body by changing my lifstyle and I have done exactly that with some success

[Melleray in reply to doodle68]

Unfortunately if I move around my pulse will soar to 250+, so I wait for a couple of hours and then go to A&E in case my heart starts to race like that.

[porthole1]

Cough cough cough for as long as it takes as if your choking,this has worked for the last five episodes I’ve had of SVT....SIMPLE

[Melleray in reply to porthole1]

Wow - that's different!

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to porthole1]

Sounds like a new one to try. Thanks for sharing.

Jean

[Fruitcake100]

Sometimes I expell all air then hold my breath for as long as I can. It has occasionally stopped it .

[Kennyb1968]

Have a look at some of my posts - I've found a couple of methods that work for me