Vagal af

Read quite a bit here about vagal af, not really understood it much, after going into AF last week I held nose and blew which worked, back to normal, in the hospital I explained to the nurse what I'd done and she wrote I'd performed a vagal manouvere.....does this mean my AF is vagal🤷🤷🤷

[BobD Volunteer]

Interesting question Juggsy. A lot of doctors do not even accept that there is such a thing as vagal AF but others do. Prof Schilling once agreed that AF could be more likely "when the vagal tone was low." In othe words when sleeping or after a large meal. It should be noted that truely vagal AF should not be treated with beta blockers which can make things worse.

What you performed is the Valsalva manoeuvre which is used to calm tachycardia but I have never heard this refered to as a vagal manoeuvre. Terms change over time!

[Peddling in reply to BobD]

So how do you know if you have ‘truly vagal’ Af if doctors as a whole don’t recognise it. Plus - how does it make it worse?

[Hidden]

No, it means the opposite. Vagal manoeuvres slow down fast heart rates, and can stop fast AF. They don’t work if you have slowish AF, which is usual if you have pure “vagal AF”.

Some people have “adrenergic AF”, many have a mixture of the two.

[secondtry]

Vagally mediated AF is both good and bad. Good in respect if you identify the right action for you of many discussed (and you appear to have done that) you get back to normal quickly and Bad because you have to accept that sensitivity and adjust your lifestyle accordingly - the latter sounds difficult but I have found it unexpectedly positive overall.