Insomnia and Afib

[maria68]

Good Morning everybody- this forum has been so helpful to me and made me less anxious. At the moment I’m taking Flecainide - 2x50gms. However I seem to have developed trouble sleeping on some nights- I’ve always been a good sleeper up to now. It happens that I can’t get to sleep, get anxious and then the AFib starts up. I take an extra flicainide in the night as instructed by my cardiologist and an extra one in the morning. I don’t take bisoprolol because it lowers my heart rate too much.

Has anyone else had this problem? It’s exhausting after the AFib attack plus little sleep.

[BobD Volunteer]

A F and anxiety are common bedfellows so you are in good company. I think many of us have problems sleeping especially if you aer highly sysmptomatic. Some people also hear their hearts via something called pulsatile tinitus and this can be hard to block out when trying to sleep. Add in the usual "having to pee every twen minutes) AF trick and it can be very hard to get a decent night sleep. Relaxation techniques are many and varied and no doubt others may offer theri solution. I just get up and read till I feel drowsy again.

[maria68 in reply to BobD]

Thank you for replying- I’ve tried reading as well , it helps a little but the whole experience of sleepless nights is so exhausting.

[maria68 in reply to BobD]

The next day after taking extra Flecainide I feel very breathless. Does anyone else feel like this on this medication?

[Finvola]

I wrote a long reply which disappeared down a hole in my computer!! Below is the gist of it:

Anxiety about insomnia is a problem which people without AF have but for us AFers anticipating another episode is awful and will certainly contribute to the viscious circle.

I found that propping up slightly on pillow(s) and using mindfulness and breathing techniques helped me to fall asleep. Mindfulness exercises help to focus the mind and get rid of distractions such as worrying about AF and not sleeping. You only need to be successful once at this to establish a 'victory of sorts' which makes it easier the next time - and so on.

FutureLearn run Mindfulness courses online and they're free - I can certainly recommend the one I followed.

futurelearn.com/

[maria68 in reply to Finvola]

Thank you for your reply Finvola- your suggestion about Mindfullness is certainly something I’m going to take up. I’m glad it helped you. There’s nothing worse than tossing and turning in the night with the addition of palpitations is there?

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Finvola]

Have looked at your link, but can't find the course for helping with sleep?

Jean

[Finvola in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Sorry - that was unclear of me - the link is to FutureLearn for details of any Mindfulness courses in the pipeline.

[Finvola in reply to Finvola]

Just checked and the four weel course started on 1 July but if anyone wishes to, it is possible to join and save the exercises and notes missed. There will probably be another course in the autumn.

[maria68 in reply to Finvola]

Thanks for all the info about the course.

[Hidden]

Hi maria68, I'll share a few discoveries I've made that have helped me very much in dealing with insomnia, which I had suffered from fairly frequently. I also had various waves of anxiety along the way in dealing with AF and have been surprised to see this basically disappear after identifying and remedying certain physical issues.

First, I make sure to take supplements earlier in the day. Not sure if that may be an issue for you or not. Some of the supplements I'd been taking would be overstimulating if taken past around 3 pm.

I've mentioned elsewhere that I worked with a naturopath, who diagnosed an activated Epstein-Barr virus. I've been on a protocol that has been strongly boosting my immune system to move this virus out. One of the surprising and welcome effects of the protocol so far has been an overall strengthening which has reduced my anxiety. As I told my doc, it feels as if reinforcements have appeared! 😊

I have also recently been learning about the impact of EMFs and RF on health. This is basically the electric "pollution" that we tend to have in our modern, wired homes. It's quite difficult to be completely free of the impact, but there are fairly simple changes that can make a big difference, in my experience.

The wi-fi router emits RF; once I turned my wi-fi off at night and made other changes near my bed, such as moving a surge strip that had been placed right under where I slept, I have slept much, much better. The difference in my quality of sleep is remarkable as a result of making these simple changes. I actually leave the wi-fi off most of the time and use a wired ethernet connection, so it works well for me.

Cell phones should be in Airplane Mode if kept near the bed. It's best to avoid having other electronics plugged in near the bed.

I'm still learning more about this, but at this point, I can highly recommend trying out these simple remedies.

Hope this might be helpful to you.

[maria68 in reply to Hidden]

Hi Nella423, Thank you so much for your post. There are some very interesting suggestions here. I’ve already decided to take my supplements earlier as you mentioned. As to the electric pollution - it’s all new to me so I will see what I can do-I’ve already put my phone on Airplane mode. I do hope your insomnia is continuing to improve.