Hi after been diagnosed with AFfib recently,still waiting to see cardiologist,I'm confused
I sometimes get fast /loud beating of my heart...is this af?...how do I tell difference??
Recently had a stress test with no symptoms..coped well with it
Sorry to be a pain
Hi Simon and welcome.
Palpitations = a sense of feeling your own heart beat, however fast or loudly, is a description of what you feel and is often used as a shorthand description of what you feel, medically it has no meaning.
Atrial Fibrillation is a medical term for a particular type of arrythmia (rhythm of the heart) which is irregular, chaotic rate and rhythm of the upper chambers of the heart and can be fast or slow. Only an ECG will diagnose AF by looking at the pattern and for the absence of a P wave. If you take your pulse then you will feel it being irregular, sometimes fast, very fast, slow and/or pauses = typical of AF. You may also experience other symptoms such as exercise intolerance, breathlessness, peeing more than normal.
For more all information on AF and possible treatments we suggest you visit heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...
You will find this community supportive, helpful and with some very knowledgeable contributors.
Best wishe CD.
Hi, I was diagnosed recently with AF. It is overwhelming at first and difficult to understand. You will find all you need to know on this forum, but anxiety goes along with it, and it sounds as if some of your problems are anxiety. My anxiety went through the roof when I was first diagnosed - very scary. It will get better with time, and its NOT life threatening and treatable. The Cardiologist should sort you out so try not to worry (easier said than done). I have a fast heart rate, ectopic beats etc. etc. but I have been told my heart is healthy. Wishing you well.
Hello Simon and welcome to our community.
What you describe sounds like tachycardia - which means heartbeat above 100 bpm. A common type of tachycardia is SVT which means it comes from the atria, or upper chambers of the heart and my cardiologist is not too worried about shortish runs of it.
AF is a chaotic beat - slow then fast - all over the place and many people find it highly uncomfortable. SVT is usually fast and regular and I for one, found it easier to cope with than AF. Both arrhythmias come from the upper chambers and we are usually told 'it won't kill you'. I always add under my breath 'it just feels like it'!!
Great that your stress test was OK - good news. When you feel the first heavy beats starting, try to relax and do some deep breathing with your belly muscles, not your upper chest. Breathe in slowly to a count of 5 and out slowly to a count of 5. Try to do this for at least 5 minutes - it will slow the heart, relax you and the tachycardia can stop. Look up Valsalva maneuver which also can stop a regular tachycardia but, unfortunately not AF.
Learn to take your pulse - in the neck or at the wrist and you'll feel the difference in the two. As CDreamer advises, go to the main website and read, read and read again before you see your cardiologist. That way you'll be ready for questions and answers. Anything you want to know, just ask.
Hi Simon
Welcome to the club no one wants to join. This is a condition that can be managed, but also can be tricky to do so.
You need an good EP If you have AF. Cardiologist is a plumber, EP is a technician. Also you should be on anti coagulants. I’ve had this for around 20 years. Make sure you are aware of all the facts. It can cause problems . Do your research and read read read. Try and be aware of your triggers.
Eat well, exercise if you can, but don’t overdo it, and sleep well. Try not to stress. Yes it can be dangerous, but so can lots of other things we do.
Hi Simon, welcome to our forum. First let me say that you are certainly not a pain by asking your questions. That's what we're all here for, to learn from others experiences and give support whenever we can. So feel free to ask as many questions as you want.
Heart arrhythmia's are strange occurrences and there is generally no way of knowing when they are going to start or stop. There are also many ways that the chambers of the heart can beat erratically e.g. fast, slow, out of rhythm, top chambers playing up or the bottom ones etc. It's a horrid feeling isn't it and I can tell you there have been times long ago when I thought I would surely die, because of the frantic way my heart was bouncing around in my chest. Well here I am, still alive and kicking after 14 years of AF and do you know what, I hardly stop to acknowledge it now. It seems the more attention you give it the worse it gets, it's as though anxiety feeds the chaotic beats.
You've had some excellent advice from others here and the only thing I would add is that a lot of people have been helped by changing their diet to a more plant based one, cutting out all food and drink containing artificial additives, avoiding sugar and taking magnesium supplements.
Jean
Thank you all so much for your advice and kindness...such a wonderful forum
Feeling a lot better and reassured
God Bless
Simon - you might want to give this 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?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??
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 study backing up this data you can view at:
Cardiab.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2840-7-28
I will certainly try..thank you
Diagnosed in emergency room ..thank you
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