Sleeping Lying Down On My Side

[Arion52]

AFib twice in the past 6 weeks...Only when lying down on my left side...when in recliner sleeping my heartbeat is steady most of the time...Sleeping on left side was when it was set off...Caffenine reduction has cut down irregular heartbeat significantly

[pottypete1]

Not being facetious but best to sleep on your right. This is a common phenomenon.

Pete

[wilsond]

As you lie on left,heart sinks down against rib cage, andcan set stuff off,pain as thats my preferred sleep pattern!

[secondtry in reply to wilsond]

I thought it was not so much rib cage as pressure on the Vagus Nerve, which if sensitive is enough to trigger AF

[jedimasterlincoln]

Left side is always worse for me, and although I sleep on my right usually, I tend to try my left first to "get tired".

I've also struggled with my right hand side due to a failed cannulation around the time of my 21st DC cardioversion 10 days ago.

[whiststev]

Hi ,

I've had this issue for years when I go to bed and lie on my left it sets my ectopics off but soon as I turn on my right it stops ,so always the right side for me now got used to it now!

Good health

Steve

[annlynne]

yes ,lying on left side sets mine off too, I've been told that is quite common. I just have to put up with an uncomfortable back. It's just the best of two evils.

[Ashburton51]

Since having AF I have had to learn to sleep only on my right side.

[Thomas45]

I know I should sleep on my right side but find myself in bed once again on my left side, oops.

[Ianc2]

Good point. I have permanent afib. When I go to bed I lie on my left to listen to my heart bumping along in the same old misfiring way, then I lie on my back and relax and enjoy being still alive, finally turn over on my right hand side and drift away, often waking up on my back as the light comes up.

[Hidden]

G'day Arion52,

I've been following a more sensible nutrition plan for many years now and have been AF free since April 2015 .......... except for one night in Feb 2018 ......... woke up about 02 am with my heart banging away like it was trying to break out of Alcatraz ! AF ........ checked on my portable ECG device and my blood pressure monitor both confirmed AF. The ECG device showed all the chaotic electrical activity you could wish for.

Cause ........ sleeping on my left side.

It was a 'one off' ........have tried sleeping differently but it hasn't worked. So I just carry on sleeping on my left side.

The Feb 2018 event lasted 5 hours and then my heart slunk back to NSR all on its own, never to return. My BP though took another 21 hours to return to normal.

Since then no problems.

John

[cycleman75]

Hi Arion52, I was having palpitations lying on my left side. Then about 4 years ago

had it checked out at Hammersmith Hospital only to be informed I had moderate to severe Aortic Stenosis, which in short meant a replacement Aortic Valve was required.

All is good now, no Afib, no palps, plenty of exercise. AND can sleep on either side without

reaction; except if I lie too long on either shoulder it gets a bit painful. Stenosis affects people in different ways however decreased energy and breathlessness can be the main culprits. Many may not even be aware (as I wasn't) they have stenosis, so it's worth having it looked at.

All the best.

[SMRM]

Me, too. I sometimes can hear ectopics when lying on my left side (the beat is regularly irregular) so I switch to the right, but I toss and turn during the night back and forth, and later on it doesn't seem to occur. Since I've had my first ablation July '18 it has thankfully not progressed to an afib episode.

Good health to all!

[moods]

Yea, I get the same reaction from my heart when lying on my left and right sides. But I found a way to bring the heart beat to a slower level of beating; which is to put the free arm behind you, resting it on your hip this brings your shoulder back opening the heart area making it wider so the heart gets more space to pump, in other-words not crushing the heart with your upper-body weight. It works with me okay as my heart does gallop when I'm on my right side and wakes me up.

Ron.