Spiritual practice to overcome anxiety

[Tesheron]

I was just diagnosed with PAF about a month ago at the okay age of 68. This has been a bitter pill to swallow since I have had such excellent Health all my life. I currently take flecainide, Coreg, and aspirin to keep things under control. But I am hoping with some lifestyle changes to eventually be off medications entirely. But I can so relate to the posts of all of you here particularly with regard to the anxiety of not knowing from day to day whether it is going to come back. Let me say that spiritual practice can be a big help here. Prayer and meditation are particularly helpful because of their grounding influence and helping to keep the mind in the present moment and not wandering off as it tends to do into worst-case scenarios that aren't happening. A couple great quotes which have been helpful to me are as follows: "Wait on the Lord be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait I say on the Lord" Psalms 27:14. Or another one by an unknown source "He who fears he will suffer already suffers because of his fear." Blessings to all of you out there and may you all enjoy an excellent Way Forward. TT

[Hidden]

Thankyou for sharing that truth. I have found a peace that only God can provide. It has reined in my anxiety and I’ve remained calm and hopeful thru some things that my “ old self” would have not been calm.

[Hidden]

Hello Tesheron, welcome to the forum. I’m guessing that you live in the USA because in the U.K., aspirin has not been prescribed for AF for several years, essentially because it can cause inflammation which can lead to an internal bleed. We tend to use either Warfarin or one of the newer anticoagulants jointly known as DOACs.

Most of us share your frustration about the impact AF has on our lives and there is a lot of evidence that improving lifestyle goes a long way to improving the condition and if your faith helps you overcome the anxiety which also effects most of us then so much the better. However, AF generally does have a tendency to get more troublesome over time so it might be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the wealth of information available on the AF Association webpages to find out more about the treatment options available......hope this helps.....

[scardycat]

TT, I BELIEVE YOU CAN AND YOU WILL WITH LIFE CHANGES YOU MENTIONED, AND YOUR WISDOM THAT WAS VERY VISIBLE, YOU INDEED WILL BE OFF MEDS. SOON WITH THE THINKING YOU HAVE, I BELIEVE YOU CAN DO IT ! I JUST FEEL YOU WILL DO IT!!!! I BELIEVE IN YOU! GREAT QUOTE'S.... YOU HAVE ALREADY HELPED ME, AND WITH THAT I SAY "YOU CAN, AND YOU SHALL" KEEP THINKING JUST AS YOU DO! ... MOST SINCERELY ~ *-*

[Hidden]

Hebrews11:1: Faith...

Faith in a power that is greater than us..

When my world is going ape as it often does l repeat this mantra to myself...

' O ye of little faith'

The key word being FAITH.

Carol.

[10gingercats in reply to Hidden]

My faith is in myself and it has never let me down.

[secondtry]

Welcome Tesheron, yes anxiety with AF is a real baddy with all its implications and should be addressed very early on in your AF life. I have experienced two key benefits from AF, firstly the anxiety can drive you to focus more on your Faith (this has not only got me through it but more than that it has reset my own life beneficially, thank you AF!) and secondly it improves your health (sic) in that part of my efforts to get off the pills has got me to improve my diet & lifestyle habits substantially. Good luck.

[Junoesque]

Thank you for your words. I have had PAF for twenty years now the first twelve of these undiagnosed. I was in a great state of anxiety in those first twelve years and I became a different person. I was scared to go anywhere in case I had a ‘funny’ turn. Instead of my great enthusiasm for living I became full of fear and anxiety. I always prayed and felt my guardian Angel close by. Which was the only thing I could cling onto.

Eventually hey diagnosed me with AF. But unfortunately the medication made me feel unbalanced I was on Sotalol and Warfarin. After many years I found this forum and realised I wasn’t alone and that there was no cure and I eventually came to terms what it really is.

With my love for the world nature and all living things my love for a higher spiritual being I am now coping.

When I am in AF I sit quietly and concentrate on my poor heart with love and it gets calmer and settles down to a slower pace. Poor thing takes such a hammering.

Without love we have nothing.

[venum in reply to Junoesque]

Well said

[jeanjeannie50]

Good morning Tesheron and welcome to the forum.

I'm sorry to hear that you've become yet another victim of AF, but I would say you have a very wise outlook on how to cope with it. I love the quote "He who fears he will suffer already suffers because of his fear". That in my opinion is so very true.

Best wishes

Jean

[R1100S1]

Hi

Think your attitude and self help will go a long way in helping you cope with AF. Somehow I don’t believe it will provide a miracle cure. However good luck on your journey

[kyoom]

Hi Tesheron,

Thank you for those words of encouragement.

I felt inspired after reading your post.

Wishing you the very best.

I also repeat this passage "God our Lord does not give us a burden greater than we can bear"

It help me to put our problem in perspective as compared to others.

Enjoy your day.

[Ianc2]

My dear old mum died at 102. Her favourite saying - often directed at me - was

'Tell God your plans and Make him laugh'