Many sufferers are symptomatic so we feel the heart going fast and arrhythmic and generally crazy. Asymptomatic suffers like you are more likely to take your cues from perhaps feeling slightly unwell or breathless. It might be an idea to invest in the Kardia ECG device, much mentioned in this forum, which would quickly tell you whether you were in AF or not....

It may be that you have permanent AF which seems to have symptoms as charlwood35 described. If you feel your pulse at your wrist or neck you should be able to feel the random irregularity of AF. People with paroxysmal AF have palpitations - a heartbeat that is very noticeable and unpleasantly irregular, usually very fast too.

For those of us who are too aware of symptoms, it's great to read that you are asymptomatic!

Symptoms can vary from one person to another and I found they vary according to the severity of the episode and what triggered it (adrenaline being the worst for me). Breathlessness, severe pressure inward on chest as if someone was trying to push my lungs together, inability to open lungs to breathe, galloping heart with pauses and very erratic, burping, flatulence and diarrhea - in other words, the perfect dinner guest!

I agree that a Kardia is a great diagnostic device but if you can feel your carotid pulse (centre front side of neck halfway from jaw and halfway from adam's apple) you will detect the chaos of the heartbeat.

Hi Silver Tiffy we are all different . I know instantly when I am having an episode of P-AF,

my heart starts beating rapidly and chaotically,

I become breathless,

my legs feel weak and shaky,

doing the smallest tasks takes a lot of effort,

I can't think with my usual clarity,

I often have a strange sensation in my throat,

I can feel my heart 'misbehaving' in the pulse in my wrist and in my neck (in the carotid artery). Now I know the symptoms are caused by my heart failing to pump oxygenated blood around by body efficiently it seems logical that they occur and no longer scares me .

To help my heart cope I do slow deep breathing exercises and a minimum of tasks at a gentle pace resting as much as I can. My episodes last between 8-15 hours , an inconvenience but I am used to them now

Wow 8-15 hours! Reading everyone's experiences I think mine last for about 20 minutes, yesterday the Dr informed me that I have intermittent AF it's still scary tho, thank you for responding

if you don't know what it feels like you are extremely fortunate and don't worry about it. x

The experience is different for different people. Basically you get an irregular heartbeat which is rapid (say from 85 to 150+). Duration can be long or short. Some people might not even be aware of this. You might or might not get breathlessness and dizziness. Basically, just check your pulse for irregularity at intervals. There are different types of arrhythmia, so you might not necessarily have AF.