Mystery chest sensations - can anyone help?

[OurCoach]

I wonder if this is an AF related issue or is there something going on in my chest that needs medical attention. Let me explain what I mean. After an AF event my chest feels normal - or I don't feel anything, I don't think about my heart rate, nothing. Then about a half day later the sensations start. I can feel my heart in my upper chest or throat. Sometimes I have heart burn as well. Sometimes I feel pain across my whole chest. Sometimes I feel sharp burning pain. The sensation or vibrations in the back of throat/upper chest area continues almost like a volcano bubbling away. And then boom, the AF starts. I often say I can tell an AF attack is trying to start because i've had a day or two of these sensations that become more pronounced. I get an AF start every two or three days and run for 4-6 hours. I'm six weeks post cyro Ablation. Can anyone share any insights for me please? Thank you in advance.

[CDreamer]

The burping pain and vibrations and burning in the back of the throat sound similar to GERD - acid reflux. This is a common affect following ablation procedure - as explained on the AFA - Recovering from Ablation sheet - link on the Pinned Posts and will often calm down but can take months to do so. That could be connected to the AF episode as the vagus nerve runs very near to esophagus, stomach and your heart - all of which will have been irritated by the ablation.

You should go see your GP who may prescribe a PPI but I would suggest that you read up on them prior to taking as once on them you may never be able to come off them as many people who start and then try to stop have rebound symptoms.

I had similar and these are the things I found helped:-

Eat small meals and nothing 3 hours prior to bed.

Drink plenty of water and if you have heartburn - sip hot water.

I found that liquid Gaviscon helped when symptoms at their worst.

Stop eating all carbs such as bread, biscuits, cake and cereal - they always make things x10 worse.

Leaving GERD untreated can cause long term affects so best to see if you can find a solution and Lifestyle Changes work much better long term than medications.

Hope that helps - CD

[OurCoach in reply to CDreamer]

Hi CDreamer. Thank you for your thoughtful response. I knew I could count on this group to help me navigate through this question. I don’t have a burping pain in the back of my throat. I feel my heart beating in the back of my throat. When I do have burning pain it’s typically under my left arm pit in that area of my chest. I don’t know if that detail makes a difference or not to your suggestion that it is GERD.

I’ve been trying to be as good as possible with diet tips I learn from this group. So my current eating patterns have changed dramatically. Since AF I have stopped alcohol, caffeine, spicy meals, cold drinks, sugar, white food (although I kept apples) and now it small portions that I very, very slowly and much earlier in the evening. I’m desperate to try anything that might help.

And still I get three AF attacks a week and this almost constant activity in my chest and back of my throat. Sheesh.

This affliction is cruel.

[zyxv]

Yes, it feels like 10 toddlers are playing football in your throat and chest!

[OurCoach in reply to zyxv]

Yes. That’s it. But what is the cause? Any thoughts??

[zyxv in reply to OurCoach]

That is Atrial Fibrillation. I had the same until my second cardio version and taking the right drugs - in my case Sotalol and Apixaban and it has now stopped. I would guess that your heart rate is high as there are lots of tiny beats going on as well as full beats. I would check it out further with your doctor or, in preference, a specialist in AF. GPs are generally poorly informed about AF. Good luck with it all.

[OurCoach in reply to zyxv]

Thank you. Yesterday i started the conversation and hope to get to the bottom of it. I'd like to think it is part of the AF craziness, and will stop when my AF's stop. Or I get a second Ablation, whichever comes first.