Afib Ablation and Anxiety

[Lllbrown72]

I am 47 and was recently diagnosed with Afib. Because I am so young I don’t want to be on medication for the rest of my life so I elected to have a cardiac ablation 3 days ago. I have found that since this diagnosis I can’t sleep and am constantly checking google and my kardiomobile ecg expecting for it to tell me something bad. Here is the thing. Since the ablation every reading on my kardiomobile is normal sinus rhythm yet I still feel obsessed with something happening. I have asked the dr for Xanax and I took it once and it did help with the anxiety however I don’t want to become addicted. I need advice. I want to free my mind of this!!

[Hidden]

Hi, your story sounds similar to mine. I was 47 when first diagnosed, 51 now and a successful ablation 2.5 years ago.

I still feel ectopic beats and have short runs of tachycardia (had one last night) And also became obsessed with my Kardia device expecting to see something wrong.

I took the battery out and put the kardia at the back of a cupboard in case of emergency.

Whilst I can see that these devices can be a good thing for diagnosis, they can also become a source of concern to some people (like me)

I suggest that you hide the kardia or give it to someone to keep for you. You are in NSR, enjoy it !

[Lllbrown72 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Just knowing I’m not alone has me feeling better. It has been hard dealing with it.

[Hidden in reply to Lllbrown72]

Glad to help in some small way.

The thing to remember is that AF will not kill you, I have had to change my thinking so that when I feel palpitations or raised HR I just need to ride it out.

Every day I think that today COULD be the day that I go back in to AF, but you have to just get on with living. Worrying about the what ifs isn't going to help

[BobD Volunteer]

Lock the kardia in the shed and throw away the key. Then go to AF Association website and read our fact sheet on Recovery from Ablation. Then rest and relax. heartrhythmalliance.org/afa...

[7164]

Lil

I was given a like diagnosis 14 months ago. I got myself a smart watch and became obsessed by looking at it. It did my head no good and increased my anxiety. I locked it away 😊

I suggest you like Bobs advice if you can. Afib really does your head at the beginning and sends anxiety through the roof. I still learning how to deal with it . It takes effort to persuade yourself that it will be okay. Stay strong 💪

[Hidden]

I was diagnosed almost 4 yr ago, luckily havent had any a fib for the last 18+ months. I remember those early days, anxiety overdrive! It took me a year to get a grip, realize a fib could be managed and it wasnt the end of my life. Hang in there. For every day you dont see a fib, that will make you one day less anxious. Learning relaxation techniques helps.

[Maisiemay13]

I was offered an Ablation today if I wanted it due to my intolerance of meds but decided to give it six months as I cannot always tell when I go into PAF hope I made the right decision (maybe I listened to the risk too much )

[Lahodges10]

I am the same! I’ve been checking the app on my phone constantly 😩 I felt a sense of relief when I was finally diagnosed, felt good for a few days and then today had quite a few episodes.

I would say, and I must take my own advice, as someone that works in complementary therapy I’d really ensure you are getting some self care and down time - even more more so now. I always recommend reflexology or some acupuncture, some nice bath oils, lavender pack etc etc. I’m not an expert but I’ve been trying to educate myself as much as I can since I found out what I had (I’ve had awful anxiety, I do now feel it’s due to the fluctuating heart rate and sleepless nights!) the thing is, I’m no doctor, but when our heart is not doing what we need it do to it is most definitely going to effect our moods...our whole body system works in sync so if something is off in one area it’ll cause a domino effect elsewhere. I’d 100% recommended as much self care as possible from now on. I listen to a meditation on iTunes before bed. I have also been drinking buckets of chamomile tea (again, before I knew what it was I thought I was having panic attacks and was glugging rescue remedy by the bottle!)

Anything that helps you relax and switch off will really help ease the anxiety and racing thoughts (I have them too!) wish you well, Lauren X

Ps I know exactly what you mean about feeling too young for this, I’m 35 and have 3 young children. They’ve seen me go into an afib episode many a times and when we didn’t know what it was it was terrifying. I’m hoping for the op to as want to feel normal again! Let us know how you get on)

[Lllbrown72]

Thanks to everyone who left a comment. Every comment helps

[LordGabriel]

After my cardioversion the monitor was behind me. I practically broke my neck constantly turning to look at it.... when I got home, constant pulse checks, blood pressure checks.... phone app checks.....

10 months on.... I hardly give it a thought let alone a check!

You do calm down ..... ❤️❤️

[thumpthump]

I had a catheter ablation a few days ago and already become slave to my Apple Watch.

I’ m hoping as I recover I’ll become less obsessive. For me I’m more interested to see my resting rate reduce as it’s gone from 50 to 85+. Once that resolves I’ll be much happier!