My AF began after a most stressful event. Have wondered if others with AF can remember if the beings of AF were when they had recently been overly stressed?
Also if those how believe a main trigger for them is stress if taking medications for stress has helped?
Hi Tux
Mine began two days after I fell down the stairs and broke 2 vertebrae. We had just moved house so I’m sure it was as a result of stress and shock. I personally prefer to use mindfulness meditation and occasional hypnotherapy to deal with stress and no nasty side affects. Medication only masks the symptoms. Hope this helps.
I also use mindfulness meditation, walking, prayer, acupressure and soothing decaf herb teas, yet there are times I’d just like to pop a pill for stress. Right now going through a stressful situation and for last three days have been having episodes of AF and racing heart. It’s disheartening as I’ve had almost three months with very little AF problems.
From what we regular read here on the forum there is no doubt that stress is closely connected with AF. We are not medically trained but it would seem obvious that if you can control or reduce stress levels, it must also help with AF.... Maybe non medical treatments such as yoga or mindfulness might be worth investigating......
Hi Tux 
stress is certainly thought to contribute to AF in some people and apparently there is even a term fo it ' emotion-triggered atrial fibrillation'
You may find this information of interest...
heartrhythmjournal.com/arti...
also cut and paste this link into Google search ..
chrome-extension://oemmndcbldboiebfnladdacbdfmadadm/onlinejacc.org/content/accj...
There is a school of thought that says the adrenaline our bodies release when we get stressed which is necessary for our 'fight and flight response' was fine when it happened occasionally (and for a limited time because humans died young) doesn't work so well when our bodies are subject to prolonged stress over many years and it can cause inflammation . That seems logical to me.
I know for sure that getting upset preceded some of my episodes and I have lived a very stressful life . I now do what I can to avoid stressfull situations and practice relaxation and breathing techniques including during episodes of P-AF .
Mine was diagnosed during a very stressful period while we were waiting for my husband to have an operation on a huge abdominal aortic aneurysm which could have burst at any time. I was calm on the outside but I'm sure my BP was sky high.
Hi Tux, my AF set in with a perfect storm of stress in 2008. I agree with your approach but suggest before popping any pills you look at other aspects of your lifestyle e.g. food reduce gluten and sugar by 80% and change bad habits/situations that contribute to stress. I say this because I believe AF is caused in many of us by a cocktail of reasons and the only one that is blamed is the one that makes the 'glass finally overflow', in your case moving house and a fall. I have changed my lifestyle radically over 5 years, I still feel I have to take 200mgs Flecainide daily but QOL is excellent nb stress is still there but manageable.
Definitely relate to this, I lost both parents within 9 months of each other, one to a road traffic accident and then the other to cancer, shortly after this I was stalked which resulted in a court case and prosecution and then came the A/F.....that was over 20 years ago and during those years I have taken the bog standard heart meds and blood thinners due to it causing a stroke but now live a peaceful and happy life courtesy of my trusty pacemaker. So yes, stress and A/F go hand in hand, if you can reduce the stress in your life it certainly helps.
Daughter had the same genetic cancer crop up again and while it was a worry we have both faced it over the years and with the extremely competent surgical team we knew any dangers would be lessened. She had all the pre op scans and tests including something we hadn't struck before, a PET scan. Operation went well and she was out of the hospital in 5 days (1981 it was 21 days for me then), everything was good.
A month later she got a phone call from a specialist gynecological hospital to tell her that her PET scan had been forwarded to them and there was a mass discovered that looked like probable ovarian cancer.
Next morning at 1.30am I was at our local hospital with what was AF. It luckily got in sync after a cardioversion a month later and then after her op news from the surgeon that the mass was caused by a severe case of endometriosis. She had to have a full hysterectomy at 35 but she is now doing well.
So yes I'm sure stress kicked off mine.
My AF started after being a passenger in a 'minor' car accident. Finished up with whiplash and cracked ribs, so nothing major. The ambulance nurse asked me if 'my HR was always that fast' at 130 bpm. I self reverted during my first sleep. That was all 23 years ago.
Although I'd had a stressful childhood, marriage and work-life, stress is only a minor trigger for me. The main one, which has developed since that accident is related to digestion, like so many people on the forum.
So, try not to dwell on your stress, it doesn't get you anywhere. Instead work on a good positive lifestyle, diet and exercise.
Just recently I’ve also noticed a connection between eating especially large amounts of food. Trying to eat smaller amounts more frequently and walking regularly helps. And have noted that eating and not sitting up straight while eating may be bringing on my afib. Also keeping very well hydrated helps me.
Yes definitely stress started it.....
My started when i got made redundant 32 year working at the place I loved second home now do meditation help a lot enjoy life you only get one go at it be happy
I think work stress was responsible for mine but will Never know . Could not find other triggers. Strange though that I have had more stressful jobs but maybe the adrenaline affects more as you get older? Also I was quite tired when I got it. Just generally had felt more and more weary. Finally I have also noticed that worrying about having afib is stressful and so it's self generating. Even when I had my succesful ablation you worry I case it stops being successful !!(?). The answer is not to worry !, easier said than done.
Yes, the perfect storm sometimes for afib: emotional stress, getting extremely tired, getting older, therefore maybe not tolerating stress as well, definitely can be triggers for me. Also as you said worrying about going into afib makes matters worse. When I first had episodes my anxiety would soar, bp would shoot up, and I’d go to ER or even be taken by ambulance. Now I stop and maybe take Calm (magnesium drink). Turn on guided meditation , concentrate on just breathing and even if afib continues for a while the symptoms subside for me. Thanks for your reply.
My 1st episode started the day I scrolled down an email string from my line manager asking me to explain an incident in my department, only to find at the bottom that myself and my department were being blamed by another department head for something which was so not our fault. That evening, driving home I was feeling betrayed and trying to decide how to respond. Thinking how naive I had been. Then it started. I thought I was going to die.
Many episodes later the consultant suggested a mild anti depressant to help with the stress. I had already tried counselling and CBT. I now take 50mg sertraline and it works well. Leaving the company and moving to a part time job helped too. Now happily retired and episodes are less frequent.
My stress and anxiety usually comes after the afib kicks in. Nothing like being in the middle on an important presentation and the the heart flips from 60 to 160. Fortunately, I have an intervention 3 pill in a pocket combo that usually knocks it back. No cardioversions for three years.
Stress is always there. Your AF is your way out.
If you can avoid the cause of stress, wonderful. If you can't... Find another way to release stress and certainly medication is not the best one.
Hope you do.
Hi Gustasam, I'm curious as to why you do not think meditation is not the best way to deal with stress that may be exacerbating Afib?
My thinking is that it may or may not be for some people. However, for me it is most definitely one of the most important "tools" to help my Afib. Sometimes even reverting to sinus rhythm.
It is something that needs to be practiced and repeated. As for me I can't imagine not using guided meditations which helps me live with Afib.
Maybe you misunderstood. I meant medication is not the best way. I support meditation of course. Best
This is what triggers afib in a lot of people. Give it a try ...
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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt??
Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer
PS – there is a new study out backing up the above observations. You can see it at
cardiab.biomedcentral.com/a...
Really very interesting article.
I have been told I am pre-diabetic. I guess I may gave been for some time even though I eat very few sugary things. (Cheese is my downfall). The big surprise has been to discover that milk and bread (even my home-made wholemeal seeded bread) are just as bad as sugar for raising blood sugar/insulin levels. Cutting back on bread / pasta, eating more nuts and seeds and reducing snacking has made a big difference.
I think possibly AF episodes may be fewer. (But 2 ablations and Flecainide have made the biggest noticeable difference to the AF)
“Thank you” to each of you for sharing some of the stresses you experienced prior to your first AFIB episodes. From the responses there certainly does seem to be a connection, for many of us, between stress and the first episode of afib. It’s validating to realize I’m not alone in living with afib. Also there were many good suggestions as to how to handle stress. As I’ve said before this forum is a huge help to me.
Hello there, after a tough childhood and my mother's death I developped anxiety and especially AFIB one year ago after a talk with my girlfriend about all those events. It is like I became aware of my own pain at this specific moment while all those event happened years ago.
I definitely think stress has triggered AF in me. We all need stress (which I suppise benignly is vigilance and is a survival mechanism). It's when my background stress levels are high, something extra stressy will push it over the top. My persistent AF started when we moved house, which had meant 9 months of stress, but the AF actually began 24/7 when guests came to stay. That was the extra stress. Then the AF night and day gave me huge anxiety and it was a vicious circle. So you are not alone.
Now sometimes just thinking about something can start it! But like you if I get a grip, I find the relaxation techniques, self-hypnosis and breathing can stop it or make the symptoms manageable. They can bring my heart rate right down to 70 - 80 bpm. The irregular rhythm isn't then so noticeable. Still glad I had the ablations though.
I don't want to take yet another pill.
AF and IBS
Very Long Periods of Stress Can Cause AF
AF and Smartwatches
Stress certainly sets AF off!
