Saw this on Facebook this morning and guess it may have been translated into English from another language. So true, I've felt dizzy and AF has started a few times after getting up from bed too quickly. My dad had a stroke in the middle of the night after getting up to go to the bathroom. I've seen this message before and always heed the warning.
Jean
My name is Alexander, I am a cardiologist and a paramedic. A very important warning for those who wake up at night to go to the bathroom...
You must be careful with the " one-and-a-half-minute law " that is scientifically proven " by waking up suddenly " to make your physiological needs normally, you hear that someone " was well in health and died suddenly during the night without reason ". the most likely reason is that when that person woke up to go to the bathroom, they got up from bed in a hurry, right now, the brain needs greater blood flow, for having rested, causing a state of fainting there The stroke happens...
In this case, it is recommended to learn the " One-and-a-Half-minute law " that can " save
.
When you wake up to go to the bathroom, you must first: " stay lying down for 30 seconds " and then " sit in bed for 30 more seconds ", lower your legs quietly and " sit on the End of bed for another 30 seconds " and only then get up to go to the bathroom.
With these steps the chances are gigantic to survive a sudden stroke, regardless of age...
Share with all your family and friends. Remember that you can save yours and the lives of many people sharing this information...
Prevention is better than healing
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jeanjeannie50
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Thank you so much for the advice. It is such a good idea to get up slowly in the night. I will certainly take care to do that and also make sure my husband does too! It is now 2 weeks since I had my Ablation and all is going well, but I still have to rest a lot and not do too much between rests. I think this is quite normal? It’s so good to have it over and done with and be on the “up”!
Hi Liz, it's so good to hear that you're doing well after your ablation, they can sometimes make you feel tired for a while afterwards. You'll soon be feeling so much better and more energised. This lovely sunshine certainly lifts our spirits, doesn't it!
Hi sewingscissors, I had my Ablation on the 8th Feb and I am managing to walk in to my local shops now but still get very exhausted, I think maybe it is still too far to walk. But generally I'm feeling good too. 😊
Thanks Jean problem is I'd probably have wet myself waiting a minute and a half I wake up very desperate for the loo it's the blood pressure tablets unfortunately. 🙄
It turned out to be sleep apnoea....who knew, now I can definitely wait the minute and a half as I have to turn off the CPAP etc before leaving bed. it has cut down my nocturnal loo visits hugely.
Yes I am sleeping very much better and longer too. There's a slight sound of air rushing in the actual mask (I have a nasal mask not full face) but the machine is silent. I have used it for 3 months and I haven't needed my daily afternoon nap once in that time. So a vast improvement. So the pressurised air rushing up your nose acts like a stent in your throat so holding it open and stopping it collapsing, it's very simple. I still have one or two apnoeas but over the whole night, so not a problem, and some hypopneas which are when your Sat's drop by 40% but you're still breathing. The machine increases pressure when your breathing rate drops and compensates for it. Very clever.
Interesting re how your CPAP machine works. I'd love to try one and I'm pleased that it's helping you so much. I often feel that my airways collapse in and stop me taking enough air. I one said to my GP did he think I could have sleep apnoea and he answered no you're too skinny, well I can tell you there is no way a size 16 is skinny! Felt quite pleased with myself and had to let my younger sister know that I'd been called skinny!
I'm really good heart wise at the moment, now into my 5th month being AF free after a cardioversion at the start of January. Am trying to be good with what I eat, but still eat too much of what is good for me. I snack on mixed nuts, need I say more!
Did you watch the BBC4 programme, about diet and it's effects, last Thursday evening? I was enthralled at how some people were hoping to keep themselves younger by the food they ate. Quite extreme diets too some of them. I intend watching it again on iplayer.
Yes Jean it's a common misconception that only obese folk get sleep apnoea, but I have been under weight all my life, up until my heart problems I am now a "normal weight", and have had sleep apnoea at least since my teens. Even at the AF meeting last month I had to point out to the cardiologist speaker that not everyone who has it is overweight. I definitely felt that I was stopping breathing and so kept asking for a sleep study, but it took my daughter sleeping with me after my accident when my partner was away, to kick up enough fuss for me to be tested. She told the cardiologist "my mum actually stops breathing and I counted to about 12 before she gasped and started again " so he arranged the sleep study. The result was that I completely stopped breathing 23 times an hour and many more partial drops. and each time that happens your heart rate shoots up to compensate hence adding to the AF in my humble opinion.
I'm so glad you're feeling better, its such a relief when your heart calms down and settles isn't it?
Yes diets … I'm not sure extreme is good for us, I've tried various ways of healthy eating but I'm not good at sticking to it, and deprivation doesn't sit well with me, life is to be lived after all. But that said I class myself as a flexitarian, I don't drink or smoke, I try to eat as many fruits and vegs as possible and good quality meats, nothing processed and I have very little bread because it bloats me out. I do think a little of what you like does you good, but in moderation. Oh and a little bit of sunshine each day if poss!
Thank you for your reply. I well know the feeling of having done too much. But I am learning to listen to my body. I hope your recovery continues to go well.🍀
Hi. I take perindopril and when I need the toilet I have to go fairly quickly. Never thought it could be due to this medication. Thank you got making me aware of it.
Can relate certainly. It's bad enough being woken with a start and flipping into AF (or flipping into AF in my sleep and waking with a start).
When little one wakes up in the night/morning I try not to leap out of bed, times I have - even during the day napping - to get the door for example - I always feel dizzy and sick the first few minutes after being upright.
It certainly matches with what I'd say was unneccesary strain.
Yes, I can see that it must be more difficult for you not to spring out of bed when you hear a child cry. Perhaps a good excuse to let your other half go and investigate? I hate doing anything slowly, it makes you feel old, but the fear of a stroke and the results terrify me!!!
I do try to let her handle it, but when it's a 5am cry and she's about to get up at 6 and do back-to-back 12 hour days I can't help but try and leap up and protect her from stressful wake up prior to hitting the ground running.
I'm better at it than I was, the Health Visitor noted we were probably going into her too much and we should let her self sooth, this was back when she was 8/9 month old. We now run a mental checklist - is she hungry... has she got her soother/bunny, is she in pain/temp/banged herself on the cot. If this is no, and we've been in, and she's got all those things covered, we tend to leave her to it and she settles within 10 minutes.
I still hold my breath when I hear her groan as if it's going to be a bad night, but recently she had a bad cold (2nd in three months) and wasn't awake half as much struggling and voughing as she was the cold prior to that - probably down to her knowing we weren't going to rush in immediately.
Baby aside, I tend to try to wake up slowly. There's been a couple of instances where I've been on my own with baby, she's been settled and I've got up at 6 opened the curtains brought her into my bed and lay there watching it get light and trying to wake up "naturally" with the daylight.
John, yes, I used to be the same, but not anymore. I've had several severe AF attacks start after springing from bed. Goodness, this enforced, but wise slowness makes me feel old!!!
Yes, thanks, am in rude health really for an old git !
That said there are just a couple of little glitches that crop up every now and then and your recent post re the speed of getting out of bed brought home to me one of them. A little, wee tad, of dizziness about an hour or so after getting out of bed. BUT, nothing there after. Maybe not dizziness, maybe just a wee light headedness. Not enough even to send me clutching at furniture for support or anything else to stop me falling. Nothing like that at all. There maybe palpitations too but as with a lot of my AF I am asymptomatic and so sometimes its hard to tell who's who in the zoo ............. not enough to worry me and send me hurtling off to my GP. No particular frequency of occurance either.
I have captured these moments as best I can on my BP monitor and on the portable ECG device I use (NOT Kardia) and all is looking fairly normal. The thing is for the rest of the day I am normal .......... although that's a bit of a profound statement !!!
Thing is with me, right back in the day, the best indicator of an issue, AF wise is my BP and HR - always has been ... sudden variations, accompanied by pronounced and unmistakeable trend lines, i.e. BP rising rapidly or falling rapidly signify my Apollo 13 moment ... you know in the movie, Apollo 13, where Tom Hanks utters those immortal words from outer space ...'Houston, we have a problem'. And these were both spot on - a nice steady 126/71 with HR at 65. But Hey Ho.
Can you please also remind me of the date and time of the next Exeter gathering of yours and Bobs. Need to try and reorganise work arrangements.
Hope you are also fit and well and taking a nice measured, paced, lifestyle.
Wednesday 3rd April, breakfast at 11am. Have put you and your partner on the list.
Could your slight morning dizzy spells be connected to eating breakfast, or lack of fluids?
Yes, I'm well and not on any pills for AF, other than Warfarin. I took myself off Flecainide and Metoprolol a few weeks ago, those pills seemed to cause more problems than they solved.
I took note of you saying a while back that oats had an effect on you and stopped having them for my breakfast. Now use buckwheat (not a wheat, but a seed) for the base of my muesli. Feel better than I have for years now.
Thanks for that. I'll confirm it when I have organised a swap of my working days.
Actually, you mention breakfast and fluids prompted something. When this occurred I had only been up say, half hour, and at the time had not had anything to eat or drink since the night before. I am normally a person who is good for nothing until he has had at least a bowl of cereal. So perhaps that was it.
There again some say I am good for nothing anyway.
So glad that my comments on oats worked for you. They are deadly for me, even oats in biscuit form. Well done you for getting off the meds. I've often dreamed about that BUT on the other hand my party bag of drugs seems to work for me and all my cardiac readings and values are at the low end of the normal range so I don't feel like disturbing that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
My physiotherapist gave me a similar rule after my heart valve replacement: transitions take at least 5 minutes. So he would pick me up from the ward and insist that I walked slooowly for five minutes to the gym. At the end he insisted on five minutes of slooow exercise to calm down. Until then, I used to jump up in the night, be active with a heart rate of 130+ then two minutes later lie down and the HR would not go down for ages. It was the sudden reversal that was dangerous. But if I stayed up for 10-15 minutes (no lights on), walked a little then sat in a comfy chair etc I had no problems.
That's interesting to hear your experience. I guess the rule of getting out of bed slowly, probably relates to everyone as they become older.
I had a friend aged about 60, who's partner placed a cup of tea by her bedside, as she reached to get it she knocked it over, reached for some tissues to wipe it off the carpet (still in bed), lent down and had a stroke. Since then I never do any bending, either from bed, or shortly after getting up.
Having worked with people who've had strokes and seeing what they can cause, for me the fear of having one is great.
For some, maybe strokes. For me it was the racing heart. I think in my wife it has triggered AF more than once. Sudden movements are ALWAYS wrong as you get older.
I take siestas, even in the winter. I have no problems getting up from a siesta, but I do notice problems in the night. When you think about it, there is sense: the body takes longer to adjust. Then the body is just getting used to being awake and moving, and all the body signals are reversed.
Very interesting. However when I wake in the night to go to loo, at my age I have to get there and no messing about. I will try that though. Thank you for letting us know about this. Keep well
This is not only for old folk. The danger is far greater if you are awoken during a period of deep sleep.
Many years ago when there were drunken teenagers living with us (thankfully in the past), there was a hammering on the door in the small hours. One of my sons had been 'bottled' and was stood at the door with blood streaming from a head wound. My wife leapt out of bed to attend to him, while I very groggily went into the bathroom for a wee. As I stood there, I passed out and fell, hitting my head on the side of the bath. My son survived the experience, and luckily so did I, but this was a direct effect of combined shock and leaping out of bed unprepared when in deep sleep.
I suppose that when waking naturally for the call of nature, the urge has already brought you out of the deep sleep stage, and the danger is less. Nevertheless, there remains a danger, especially as we get older.
Crumbs, that was all a bit of a shock for you! I think the heart having to work harder as we get out of bed and stand up, can cause AF too.
My daughter has rare panic attacks when she's in a situation she doesn't like. She works at our main hospital and once when I was in A&E with AF/tachycardia she rushed over to see me and passed out, hitting her head as she fell on a passing trolley. She was checked over and her blood pressure had dropped extremely low. I assume every time she gets in a panic it drops, we AF people know what can happen if our BP drops too low = AF!
Hi jeanjeannie50, thanks for that, it sounds common sense but have just given this advice to my Colin who gets up every night, he is still recovering from having his kidney out and then has to go back about his heart so all tips like this greatly received thank you,
Interesting. Haven't heard this about strokes before. But have heard the biggest danger is a drop in blood pressure which can make you fall or faint with bad consequences. I wonder who this Alexander is and why he doesn't give his name? Best wishes.
Blood pressure is one thing. Sinusitis is similar and can aggravate. Sometimes in some people just turning suddenly in bed can sometimes bring on dizzy feelings. Just moving from sitting to lying can bring on a wave of dizziness 30 seconds later which with practice you can learn to ignore and regard as pleasant just like we used to regard the jumps in hovercraft on a rough sea. Some people get the dizziness over by turning first onto their side then pausing (dizzy wave), then pushing up to sitting (no dizziness), in a kind of roll.
The biology is that there are two systems: sympathetic (fight or flight) and parasympathetic (relaxation). It is an extremely common misunderstanding/error to view them as opposites, so that when one goes up, the other goes down. In fact, both are at work all the time. When you are asleep, both are resting. When you wake up suddenly, the sympathetic increases gear very quickly! The parasympathetic responds slower and it takes a while for equilibrium.
Now, what happens if you spring into action (sympathetic) then go into reverse gear? The parasympathetic is still half asleep, stays there, so the sympathetic has to slowly die down.
Thanks for sharing that information Ian, I'm sure it could help a lot of people. Will remember it should I get any dizzy spells in the mornings as I have done in the past. You know sometimes solutions to problems are so easy, we miss them! I think you need to put your latest response here in a post of it's own so that everyone sees it.
Looking at the above and reflecting on my own experience, It would seem sensible to wake up and get up slowly. I have had an odd dizzy spell when up in the night for a pee - probably got up too fast!
Also although I am largely unaware of being in AF (my latest report says 54% load) the occasions when I notice it are almost invariably first thing in the morning (known in the family as 'slow' mornings) when I walk the dogs slower and also (often due to moist morning air) I find breathing a bit more work!!
The other thing worth commenting on is to keep the shower cool as too hot makes things worse!
Yes, I agree it does seem sensible. I've been sitting on the side of the bed for a minute, before getting up, for a while now, and think I may have heard that advice earlier somewhere.
Interesting what you say about the shower, not heard that before.
The problem can be postural hypotension and bradycardia... and perhaps also AF.
When I had not learned to live with bradycardia and postural hypotension, I got out of bed in the middle of the night, and, while I was walking round the end of the bed... in the dark, I collapsed in a heap (waking up my late wife)... as it was dark I could not reach out for furniture for support.
When my AF got worse - some mornings I woke up paralysed from the neck down - and took a minute and a half to get mobile.
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Blacked out without warning.
Night Time
Weak & breathless in the morning 
Sleeping with af
