I am assuming I am not the only one, so wondering how others find coping strategies?
I find the ‘fear’ starts usually late evening, by the time I go to bed, I know I am tired & need to sleep, but struggle to let myself drift off, pretty much all of my episodes have happened in the early hours, my most recent was Thursday 9th Jan, then another on Sunday, this is very unusual for me as it’s mostly months, in the early days it was years!
I also had a mild evening episode last Friday, we had been out for a meal😕
And then this morning not feeling good, or even now, but I think this is ectopics.
Last year I had a monitor for a whole month, as prior to that I had episodes three months on the trot!
What did the monitor catch ? Nothing!
Then I had two more months without any problems and now November, December & January..
Sorry all, I appear to have rambled on a bit! 😕
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sugaredalmonds
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This type of thinking is obviously not the productive kind and you must guard against it because it works against you. This is really a life change in how you use to deal with yourself versus how kind you can be now. It kind of reminds me of that catchy phrase: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." That's the good news. Every day is a new day to start fresh. Afib teaches one to do things differently. You really have to slow down and really listen to what you are saying to yourself. This is a difficult lesson but you have to be loving to yourself.
Hello Sugar A the best advice I can suggest for AF anxiety is to learn controlled breathing and relaxation techniques.
I have frequent long episodes of P-AF and have found that getting anxious can make my situation worse, it can cause a release of hormones that exacerbates the situation . I find controlled breathing and relaxation techniques have helped me enormously.
Jeanie posted a thread the other day on getting to sleep which may help you too...
Just want to reiterate or agree with doodle 68 that using Relaxation techniques (meditation)and for me concentrating on my breathing from the lower part of my abdomen rather than my chest seems to help. Also drinking water when afib starts and during episodes helps. The more anxiety before, during or after an afib episode truly makes episodes so much worse. Reading many many posts on this forum has helped tremendously. Best to you.
Thank you for your thoughts & advice, most appreciated .
I empathize with you. My a fib hasnt surfaced in almost 2 yr but Im sure if it did, it would bring back all my old fears and anxieties I try to forget about. Does your doctor know you are having more a fib?
Thank you too, I remember those days when there would be nothing for a few years, I would offer think perhaps I didn’t have this problem & had been misdiagnosed! 😉
All above excellent advice but I'm worried about your avatar name which may perhaps be a clue. Many people find sugar exacerbates AF so perhaps look at life style?
Do you know I have never thought about that before, my avatar name🤔
It must have been a subconscious thing when I thought it up, but to be honest I will hold my hand up to being fond of the sweet stuff all of my life 😏
Also the last couple of episodes, the one I had eaten biscuits ( which my husband actually commented on how sweet they were)! & the other time, when it happened after the meal out, I didn’t have a dessert but I did have a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice!
This link has been on my mind, suffice to say I have not had anything sweet since then, simply because I am of course afraid, & clearly if this is a new trigger for me then I will continue to abstain .
Sugar + anxiety = stressed body + agitated mind. Add poor sleep & lack of exercise & you are the perfect path toward declining health & AF. Sugar is one of the main antagonists for AF, Diabetes & other cardiac issues.
It’s really important to limit your sugar intake, that includes sugary drinks, biscuits, cake, cereals etc.
Cut down gradually & slowly as if you suddenly stop eating sugar when you are used to large quantities you can get withdrawal symptoms, which are most unpleasant. One step at a time - but you need to take the 1st step so what’s the easiest thing to give up? Make a commitment & stick to it.
You may find the Healthy Eating forum helpful - lots of meal ideas & recipes.
I had an episode of afib just after New Year. I had been free for nearly 15 months . I am sure it was due to too much sugar. My husband had made me a honey and lemon drink to ward off a cold I had been fighting off . Later on I ate some pudding. I fell asleep and woke up about an hour after eating the pudding in afib. Luckily it did not last long and I was back in NSR when I woke up the next morning. My husband has benefitted as he got to eat all the rest of the pudding!
What you have described is just typical of how we all experience AF.
With me I used to be quite cocky about it all - until I had an attack! That was usually every 4-6 weeks. Now in general I'm not a worrier, I believe it's a waste of time to worry about something we can't change and that may never happen. Whatever will be, will be. I went for my first ablation without a worry in the world, but for my second and third I wasn't quite so confident. However, I can remember the days when I had really bad attacks at night. You know those ones where it feels like your heart is trying to get out of your chest. I used to think that perhaps I'd die and would wonder how long it would be before my body would be found (I live on my own).
Now fast forward 15 years and that fear has gone. I've changed my diet, have retired from the stress of work and my life is quite peaceful and I love it. With that peaceful life my heart has calmed. Look at how you didn't have an AF attack when you wore a heart monitor, it was because you felt safe and more relaxed with it on. It's quite often the same when we go to visit our EP or cardiologist - we feel really well on the day, but get to a day or two later and all that changes as AF strikes again.
To me this just goes to show the power of our minds. If we allow ourselves to get anxious and worry about having another attack, then our body will oblige and produce one.
Did you eat a little more than usual when you went out for a meal on Friday? I find that eating a larger than usual meal and then moving around can often bring on AF.
I have some sleeping pills a very low dose of Zopiclone and rarely use them, so my GP is happy to prescribe, but if I feel myself getting agitated about not sleeping after I've been in bed for a few hours, I'll take one.
Recently I found some info on how to get to sleep that was more convincing than the usual stuff and Doodle has provided you with the link to that. Honestly, all I did was the deep breathing, allowing myself to relax more into my bed on the out breath. I just couldn't believe that at last I'd found something that actually worked.
My advice to you is to stop the anxiety taking hold, it will change nothing, whatever will be will be and worry wont change that in the slightest. Accept what you have, others have far worse and I'm sure someone with cancer would willingly swap ailments. Instead of anxiety, count your blessings.
Thank you so much for your thoughtful words, everyone has been so kind, helpful & reassuring today, I feel (in my mind) much better than I did this time yesterday evening..
Your comment in particular regarding when I wore the monitor, thinking about it now, that makes so much sense, it really had not occurred to me before ..
The meal last Friday, it wasn’t large, it was salmon en croute, with wild rice ( portion size not much bigger than an egg cup), however the fish was sitting on assorted sautéed mushrooms, which were surprisingly very sweet, I didn’t have a starter or dessert, however as I said I had a glass of fresh orange juice🤔
Yes I must pull myself together I know, there are many far worse off than me..
When I started with Paroxsymal AF like yours I thought I was going to snuff it would not drive or go anywhere. Then I went online with a chat to a US cardiologist ( like the Yanks they tell you as it is ) and he said "Once you realise it is not going to kill you ( unless really unlucky) life will improve. And from that day forward all was good. Ah until I bought an Apple watch 4 - now binned that again you spend all your time thinking you are duff. SO drink the coffee and tead and enjoy life.
I did consider getting an Apple Watch , but then realised that it had the potential to make things worse for me...
My Afib always happened in the evening or late evening as well. Finally found out it took the entire day of eating to eat enough sugar to trigger it. Here is the data I put together on it:
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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 (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). 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 (afternoon) 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??
I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.
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:
I was a lated almost 3 years ago but still get regular ectopics and 'weird' activity going on in my chest and I'm almost most anxious about it at night.
What makes it harder is people telling you to stop thinking negatively. When you can't predict what your body, heart more specifically, is going to do it can be almost terrifying.
My wife is one of those people who often tells me I'm too pessimistic but it's funny.. I was an optimist until I had my first eps and was diagnosed with afib!
I've come to believe that it's more active at night due to probably two things: 1. The fact that I'm vagally stimulated and 2. Just plain old tiredness. So when I lie down the heart activity usually kicks in. There's not a lot you can really do except try to be optimistic and hope it improves.
Dave I think another reason we notice heart activity at night is because we are still and quiet and 'heart aware ' alert to any small changes in beat patterns.
Even when not in P-AF I can often feel odd heart sensations when in bed at night that don't turn into full-blown episdes of P-AF. When I get these sensations I go into a relaxation/measured breathing routine and they are soon forgotten by sleeping.
It's good to be aware but we should try not to let it make us anxious , that is not good for our hearts.
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the best advice I can suggest for AF anxiety is to learn controlled breathing and relaxation techniques. 
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