Just a quickie, anyone know why the dreaded AF tends (with me) to turn up in the early hours of the morning & ruin a perfectly good nights sleep?
I have noticed it creeps in sometimes in the late evening, but why when you’re in bed relaxed.
Answers on a postcard please 😉
Have you been checked for sleep apnoea, that is when we unwittingly stop breathing while asleep at night, it wakes us and can trigger AF?
Jean
Agreed, sleep apnoea and AF can go hand in hand, my EP got me in for a sleep study at the same time my AF was diagnosed.
Also, sleeping on your left side can trigger AF
In addition to the other posts, it can also be food and drink related. A large, heavy meal, especially if it contains ingredients that your digestive system finds unacceptable, and also especially if it is eaten late at night can also do it. I tend to eat light meals, small meals and early in the evening.
John
I always seem to be worse the hours or days after exertion or "overdoing it" and it's always when I've relaxed that it kicks in
I had this happen last night at 2:30. After trying to calm myself down with breathing I succumbed to PIP and was OK this morning except for the hangover type effects of a controlled overdose of Flecainide + 1 x 1.25 Bisoporol.
I did come up with the sleep apnoea theory some time ago for me and I do think that I do sometimes suffer. I did this because like you I would either wake up in the night with AF or would be greeted with it first thing in the morning.
I have been AF free for 18 months and this is only the third short episode but any episode however short is one episode too far as far as I am concerned, particularly as I have been stable.
I think it is really worth investigating the sleep apnoea theory if you are plagued with being woken by AF regularly.
Pete
Hi Blokey59
This article and some of the comments below it might interest you.
Oyster thanks for posting this site. Finally, I found a few people who have the exact same symptoms and are trying similar solutions. One person is like a clone.
Same with me, always when I was supposedly at rest, it seemed as if all the stress that had kept me going all day dissipated and was replaced by A/F so evenings, just before I went to bed was my time to go into it and then ofcourse it kept me awake most of the night.
Started 4.30am this morning but as I am wearing a four day monitor I’m actually quite glad.
Di
Hi there, I had an ablation four weeks ago. Still jumping around a bit but not bad. Until I get into bed then off it goes! Right side, left, back, doesn't make any difference!
I had nuclear stress test in 2009. My heart feltlike it was coming out my throat. Whole body shook. I took benadryl for whoe year and it calmed it down some. Anyone here just doing coQ10..
My AF attacks happen at night and wake me up. I asked the Cardiologist if it could be sleep apnoea and he laughed and said I was the most unlikely person to have it as I am slim and not overweight and didn't pursue it any further.
I would see a lung doc. My friend is skinny and has it. Sleep apnea. Your doc is full of turds.
I was getting pretty fed up with AF starting in my sleep, until I resorted to sleeping sitting upright. It sounds a pain, but it is so worth it. I have three pillows angled up the headrest and a large V-shaped pillow on top (stops me falling out of bed!). Now I'm so used to sleeping like this and never have an episode that starts in my sleep, unless I slip down into a flatter position.
I agree with the comments I'm about to be checked for sleep apnoea. I now take flecanide before bed which seems to help.
Don’t sleep on your left side
Just another 'out there' idea. I am now blaming my AF on being cold and hungry. Maybe your bedroom or bedclothes need some attention? I nowadays nibble a biscuit or some nuts before going to bed, just to take the edge off any hunger since dinner.
Hi. It could be because your blood sugar levels are low at that time. I have come to the conclusion that my AF episodes occur mostly when my blood sugar is too low, mainly in the early morning. I have a few crackers next to my bed and then do a guided meditation routine if I wake up with AF. I have managed to sit out the last two episodes. My heart went back into sinus rhythm after a couple of hours.
Yes I don't have Af much since my ablation but have loads of ectopics in the night. It drives me nuts
76 years old with A F
apixaban and hematuria 
shortness of breath
3% Afib burden and proposed medication
