dear all, as you know was diagnosed last Sunday in A&E. Thought was coping each day, but as the evenings turn to night, I get more anxious and lie awake. Also, diabetes not great, so I am worrying on 2 fronts (1 not helping the other). Any ideas on coping with the anxiety until I can see a cardiologist? (not expecting an amazing 'cure' then, but I feel at sea...) I just did a meditation. Great while it last 30 mins later, back to anxiety (measured blood glucose 2 hours post meal and its 9.6!! Not good). You've all been so helpful, I am hoping you have ideas Thanks ❤
New - Coping with the Anxiety? - Atrial Fibrillati...
New - Coping with the Anxiety?
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patience12
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On the plus side if I trust my Fitbit (can I?) my heartrate is ~80 bpm which is slightly lower. Resting bpm is ~68. Hoping thats ok.....
Have you taken a look at the AF Association webpage that I gave you the link to a couple of days ago?
patience12 in reply to
Hi - yes I did thanks. I read a few case histories. I guess I'm still just very anxious and thinking the worst. thanks.
in reply to patience12
Pleased to hear that patience because the more you learn about AF, the less anxious you will become, but there is no hiding, it can be a bumpy road! The key thing to remember is that provided your AF is controlled, either by using prescribed drugs or by having a procedure such as a cardioversion or an ablation, there is no evidence that AF will shorten your life and if we are honest, that tends to be our major concern once diagnosed. From what you say, your heart rate is within normal range so try and keep calm because otherwise heart rate and blood pressure will increase due entirely to your reaction rather than your AF. Try to avoid getting obsessed with monitors for blood pressure and heart rate etc., because all that will achieve is more anxiety and even higher readings which will not help at all. From what we have heard thus far, you are beginning to get a plan together with plans to see a cardiologist privately and that is a good idea but if I were you I would just cancel the skiing holiday because that will remove another cause for anxiety at this early stage. I’m sure you will have read all the many replies telling you that skiing etc need not be a thing of the past because thousands of people in the UK continue to carry on with their activities once they are on a treatment plan which stabilises their condition.
We were all anxious like you are now, and there are still times when anxiety will kick in, but in the U.K. alone there are close on 1.5 million folk with AF and the vast majority continue to have a relatively normal life.....hope this helps....
patience12 in reply to
thanks - i know you probably feel you are repeating yourself to me, but it does help, so thankyou. I think it is the wait to be seen as you say as right now its not controlled, just waiting on beta block and thinners. However, will see GP Monday 6th Jan for a 'chat' and Cardiologist 16th Jan, I can't wait. Doesn't help I have a deadline for a dissertation on 21st Jan, but I am coming to idea of writing to uni and telling them they'll have to give me time to get my head straight.
And yes, we are going to cancel skiing, once GP (presumably) gives us a letter for Insurance. We are already insured, (annual policy) so I hope we will get all money back (fingers crossed) Thanks again.
If you are on beta blockers and thinners then you are 'controlled' already.
You are not alone - there was a time when I met another patient at the hospital cardio clinic and she said she would go to bed half dressed "just in case....." in case?? She would have to call 999 & paramedics would have to take her to A&E, she would even have her coat & a case packed all ready. Because when af struck a 2nd time it terrified her. I used to keep bedside radio on just to take my mind off the actual af/faint feeling/feeling sick racing heart that seemed to speed up just as I was hoping it would slow down- it would last from 2hours to 10+hours & leave me washed out & really poorly for the rest of the day. You will find there are many others on this site who are the same. It has helped me so much over the last few years to get to know how it affects others. It is often difficult to deal with because you cant help but feel anxious when 1st diagnosed. I am sure you will have peace of mind when your cardiologist goes through treatment/s & medications available. Have you a date to be seen in cardiology?
thanks Gowers - yes I have now 16th Jan with a cardiologist. I could have been sooner, but I wanted the Cardio + electrophysiology specialism that others recommended here. Its seems a bit sick, but it helps knowing others find it anxiety inducing too as it reduces my anxiety to read that. (Sounds horrible doesn't it!?) thanks again.
Just think in less than 2 weeks you will have not just peace of mind but also be on treatment plan/medication that will help you. I would suggest you write a list of questions & maybe keep a diary of exactly how you have been feeling. My cardiologist now says .. so where is your question list ?!!!! & he goes through each one with me. So often I have left thinking oh I've forgotten to ask that! I just keep a day to day log when I know I have appointment coming up as its so easy to forget or put into words weeks later how I have felt on the medication/s
Gowers and flapjack have nailed every point above , and I agree it is a worry, but we all have felt it and still do to a degree. There is light at the end of the tunnel though, I had my ablation April 19 and am now afib free after 5 years of having frequent 1-2 days paroxysmal runs and some urgent hospital visits thrown in, then more or less permanent debilitating AF symptoms from April 18-19 .
But, a lot of it is magnified by our own fears, especially when it first occurs .
But for reassurance, I had it for years,and no heart damage occurred, nothing affected apart from the anxiety it caused and QOL I lost fearing the worst , its hard but try to accept it and adjust to life when attacks occur, its important to be kind to yourself, allow yourself time to adjust, it does get better and things can change.
Stay strong and I hope it helps we all understand how your feeling.
Anxiety is our worst enemy and it’s not surprising that you are anxious. Time & information and reassurance that this is not immediately life threatening will help. Having a care plan - which will come in time but think on - the very fact that you are not considered an emergency is reassuing - irritating because we weren’t born with patience -but reassuring because if it were life threatening then you would be seen immediately.
If you meditate then you will be familiar with focussing on your breath and that is basically what you need to do - ensure you keep your breath deep, slow and regular - whatever you are doing.
Self=talk - imagine what a reassuring friend would say to you when you are anxious.
Distraction - just DO something that gives you pleasure - it really doesn’t matter what you do as long as you enjoy it. Pleasure releases hormones which counter the damaging stress hormones.
Recognise when you are getting anxious - keep a thought journal. There are 2 types of anxiety - the general physical symptoms which are relieved by breathing, meditating, mindfulness and allowing your thoughts to run away with you which fuel the physical symptoms so recognise when you get into this trap - self talk is the way out. Counter the ‘what if’s’ with ‘what if it doesn’t?’
CBT journal helps in this way - plenty on line - this is just one example - positivepsychology.com/cbt-...
Hope that helps and remember that we have all been where you are now - I certainly was 10 years ago - and I’m still here!
It will get better anixety dont help I know I have it too meditation is good take your mind off what you are thinking about its a year now since I was told I had par afib and life was scary but now tablets have started to work I am so much better I can go out now not thinking about what might happy still have bad days but more good one you will get there talking is good or texting is good
As Gowers says, it’s useful to have a list of questions, but when newly diagnosed, it’s difficult to know the right questions to ask,
If you go into the patient area on the AFA website then click patient resources, you will find 2 checklists. I filled them both in ( even though one says it’s for Primary Care) & took them to my appointment -it saved the consultant time & meant we spent more of it discussing my needs & appropriate treatment. The lists also prompt you to ask specific questions.
Hope this is helpful.
Pat x
patience12 in reply to
Thanks I’ll definitely take a look and print them off x
Hi, feel so sorry for you it’s horrid. I used to get it loads when I was on my medication for svt till I had my ablation. I went to counselling not believing it would work because I have always been a strong willed person. I did six sessions and it did work. Was referred by my doctor , good luck. When going to sleep think of nice holidays looking at lakes with the wildlife just calmly floating by. Sounds daft but does relax me. I go to Austria and just focus on the lake and try and cut out everything else on my mind. X
Hi patience. I was diagnosed 5 weeks ago and am feeling the same. All I can say is after starting flecainide 10 days ago I seem to be feeling better. Anxiety is still there but more in the background now. I’ve Just had 5consecutive good days so feeling more hopeful now. I find keeping busy helps as I think about it less. I have paroxysmal AF and seeing cardiologist again end of this month. Night time is worst for me to. Looking forward to your other replies xx
When I was first diagnosed and before I found this site, I googled like mad and became more and more distressed. I find it hard to believe now, but I wrote to each of my sisters telling them I had a life-threatening heart condition; that's what I believed at the time. Fast forward four years and here I am, relatively fit and healthy, and right now, my AFib is under control.
This forum is now just about the only site I visit (daily) for information, up-to-date treatments, other people's points of view and comfort; it is all here in abundance. You are not alone, please don't forget that.
This forum is very comforting. I had my first attack in nearly 15 months in the early hours of this morning but the first one where I did not feel anxious and that was due to the great advice and reassurance of the people here. I took 200mg magnesium taurate and 2.5 mg Bisoprolol and when the constant trips to the loo abated, fell asleep and woke up 4 hours later in NSR. I feel a bit wiped out today so am taking it very easy. The anxiety is one of the worst things about afib but magnesium can help to overcome that as it is calming. But knowing that one has got through attacks before ( and this was a very short attack for me) and that there are lots of people here who have had afib for donkey's years and are still living fulfilled lives helps a lot. Hope you can get your dissertation time extended . Have you tried going low carb to keep your diabetes under control?
Thanks Auriculaire: is the magnesium taurate easy to get as I’m near a chemists . I mean is it a special type of magnesium? Or is general mag the same?? Thanks x
Hi Auriculaire - i bought magnesium which has mg oxide and mg stearate, but then checked my xarelto and it says it has a moderate interaction. So, I will ask the consultant. I asked the lead clinical nurse about anything to avoid on xarelto food or herb wise and was told 'no' so ...not sure now! A learning curve for me ahead methinks!
Magnesium taurate is recommended here in the videos of Dr Gupta who is a cardiologist at York . The videos are very informative and I would recommend that you watch them . Magnesium stearate is not really part of the formula . It is an anticaking agent used in the manufacture of many pills. Magnesium oxide is cheap but is supposed to be poorly absorbed and also will have more effect on the bowels. If the product you have bought is mainly magnesium oxide I would not take it. Magnesium taurate can be purchased on Amazon and ebay but it is more expensive. They might have it at Holland and Barratt.
Try iHerb fro Magnesium Taurate
Thanks - I’ve ordered Magnesium Taurate by BioCare 822mg (73mg elemental magnesium). Hope that’s ok but I’ll still check before taking.
Biocare have a good reputation.
I too had horrible anxiety when I was first diagnosed. I wouldn't even get in the middle lane or passing lane on a freeway for fear I could not get off at the next exit if I went into AFib. Forget planes, trains and elevators where I was not in control! They were not happening in my world.
When I was on Quinidine and Digoxin my anxiety got worse because in spite of the meds I was having A Fib episodes frequently. Back in the 80's and early 90's each episode meant a 3 day stay in the hospital, so it created financial anxiety too, as I was responsible for 20% of the hospital bill back then. I was younger, had a young family, and didn't make that much money and had the insurance my company gave me.
I was literally anxious for 13 years until I got my first Pill in a Pocket, Verapamil. Knowing I could take a pill and stop an attack in 2-3 hours made all the difference. When that stopped working in the early 2000's my anxiety returned and was full blown. What if I got stuck in an elevator and had an attack? What if I was on a plane? My world closed in again until another trip to the hospital resulted in being converted by Flecainide and getting that as my Pill in a Pocket. The only thing I worry about is that if I do take it I need to be near a bathroom as I will pee profusely 5 or 6 times in 3 hours.
The longer I have had that in my pocket, the less anxiety I have had, which along with diet and supplements like Magnesium, Vitamin C and Vitamin D, has greatly contributed to fewer and fewer episodes. I don't give it much thought, other than to make sure I have the Flecainide pills with me. I am super happy I made it one year with only 1 episode, and that was the result of me testing whether or not it was the carbs, which it definitely was!
We also found out that every BP med the cardiologist tried in succession, Lisinopril, Valsartan and Amlodipine, triggered my A Fib. I was taken off of the last of those at the end of last year when my BP dropped 45 points when my weight also came down when the carbs were gone from my diet. If anyone told me I would stop worrying about my AFib when I started this journey in 1986, I would have said they were nuts. When I look back on it I see why I drove my wife crazy with all my fears. My limits became hers as we stopped traveling. We are back to living our lives. In fact there is a sheet posted on the fridge detailing our next 5 vacations to the Caribbean and Mexico.
patience12 in reply to
Ah sounds horrendous, sorry to hear all that. I too need to limit carbs now (have done before, but ...drifted upwards to more and more carbs.) to decrease weight and diabetes numbers. I too am worried about travelling (what if I can't ever travel again etc etc) but am putting that out of my head until I have seen the cardiologist. Glad to hear you are travelling again and enjoying life!
Ianc2 in reply to
How did you test to clearly establish carbs as the prime cause?
in reply to Ianc2
The doctor warned me that my insulin levels were high and that if I didn't watch it I would become diabetic. My wife took it to heart and put me on Keto. I didn't realize it because I still had a good amount of food to eat. She changed out my peanut butter for a brand with no sugar, stopped buying jam at the store and made sugar free jam for me, she stopped buying any junk food. Bread disappeared and she made me a salad with chicken breast for lunch instead of a sandwich. My favorite cereals were no longer in the cabinet so I had leftovers or eggs for breakfast, she made crackers with almond flour, sugar was replaced with Stevia, the pasta, rice or potatoes at dinner was replaced with a second low starch veggie.
When I went for my 6 month check up with the cardiologist he was thrilled because my weight, BP, total cholesterol, A1C and triglycerides were all way down. I also was able to report that I had only 1 incident of A Fib. I keep a log and give it to the doctor. When I returned home with the good news, my wife explained that she had switched me over to a higher fat, moderate protein and very low carb diet.
On my next visit to the cardiologist things were even better and I explained that my wife put me on Keto. He said he would give it a try himself, as he was looking more and more like Santa Claus. He told me to keep it up and asked how I knew it was the diet keeping me out of A Fib. I explained that I decided to test it and one day I blew the diet out of the water. I ate anything I wanted. Went to Wendy's and had a milk shake, bought some candy when I got gas, went out for dinner and ate loads of tortilla chips and drank a sickening sweet no alcoholic strawberry daiquiri etc. My wife warned me all day that I was headed for disaster. Sure enough at 2am I was awakened in A Fib. Took my flecainide, peed buckets and by 5 am was back to normal. That was my test.
My doctor was intrigued and did research. He is the one who found the article by Bill Sardi about elevated blood sugar levels being the primary cause of A Fib and sent it to me. He said he was advising all newly diagnosed patients that a low carb diet was mandatory (no pasta rice, no refined or fruit sugars). He told me that many others were as successful as I was in reducing the number of episodes and that he was using a Pill in the Pocket and diet as his primary treatment mode now, instead of putting people on drugs with multiple side effects.
Gowers in reply to
What a lovely post - thank you. Your right the anxiety/"what if's" are the worse, there were times especially in the early hours of the morning I wondered if I would ever be well & able to enjoy life again. I too was on Verapamil as a regular medication not pip, but, slowly over the years it had to be increased to the max. Then came change of meds each dose increasing as needed. I believe Flecainade is the one recc by most cardiologists.
Patience12 - I am so sorry that you are dealing with all of these issues. I would agree that anxiety is the hardest to deal with. Please know that you are not alone. I apologize that I have not read your medication list. However, a beta blocker will help you lower your heart rate and it will also help a bit with anxiety. I have found that the best thing for my mental health and to get a handle on anxiety, is to take a walk. It helps anxiety, is good for your heart and your blood sugar. It has been my savior on many evenings when anxiety was the worst for me. Hang in there. It gets better. But please know that this condition is a process and not a one time fix. But a full life is completely possible. ❤️
Thanks so much for the encouragement it’s so helpful knowing others have been through it/ going through it x
Thankyou: its so crazy to suddenly have this out of the blue. I think thats the challenge to get my head around. My bisoprolol and xarelto are managing it until I see cardiologist. I am not returned to NSR so guess I have permanent Afib ...I have diabetes, and I have lost 21lbs since Sepetember. Then Xmas: where I ate lots of sugary things, so it does make me wonder if that was enough to trip me into Afib. (I am not on meds for diabetes. I hope not to have to!). Anyway, its encouraging a full life is possible, as all I can focus on are things I cannot do anymore. Trying to be positive though! thanks x
Hi Patience 
like many here I use relaxation techniques and controlled breathing to help with my episodes of P-AF, I am no longer anxious about it, the episode are an inconvenient part of my life.
While watching Dr Gupta's (The York Cardiologist) live Q and A session tonight anxiety was raised and Dr Gupta mentioned someone called Barry McDonagh and DARE. There is a book and an App.
During my first year with afib , I took many an ambulance ride to the ER with what I-thought was a racing heart,chest pain and anxiety through the roof,,,,some of it was and some of it wasn’t,,,I’m sure the ER staff was getting tired of looking at me,,,but it was so real to me,,,it seems anxiety was at the root of all my feelings and it did race my heart and my blood pressure would be sky high,,,after being checked out,,I always felt ok again,,,I found this site which was a life saver for me,,,information and a caring attitude from so many,,,I read all I could find about afib and tuned in to any help to cope with anxiety,,breathing,distraction,prayer,,,,whatever was suggested,I tried,,,,I have come so far in 4 years,,,yes, I still have afib but it doesn’t have me anymore!
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