This is something that came to me this morning so I thought I'd share. Before I got my Kardia I had an oximeter which also shows heart rate and sort of shows rhythm if it works at all with AF. We always advise people suffering from AF + anxiety/panic to practice controlled breathing which is not easy to do. I have started checking my oximeter because I've had a bit of inflammation in my chest probably from hayfever and it seemed a good idea at this time. When I noticed my HR was a bit higher than usual I tried doing my Tai Chi breathing - slowly breathing into my abdomen through my nose and then slowly out through pursed lips. It was fascinating watching my HR dropping slowly, eventually to lower than my normal resting rate.
So I'm suggesting purely from my experience that practising your controlled breathing (preferably when not in AF first) with the help of an oximeter or your Apple watch might be helpful. I think this is would be a kind of bio feedback? An oximeter is available from youknowwhere fairly cheaply. Please let me know if you try it and it helps 💜
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Buffafly
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It really does work and building into a daily routine 2 or 3 times a day and making it a regular practice is so helpful. If you would like to know more of the science behind this then this video I found very helpful, most of this I knew but you learn something new every time and I didn’t know just how important nasal breathing was and until I paid attention - just how often I was breathing through my mouth during the day - I have the nighttime sorted.
Hi Buff I have posted this in response to another thread....
'' Yes I use Diaphragmatic/'belly' breathing and even if it doesn't stop an episode I believe it takes my attention, help me to sleep through part of an episode, helps to get a good supply of oxygenated blood around my body, reduces anxiety and decrease HR and BP so all in all very usefull even if it did take me a while to grasp something which is like rubbing my tummy while patting my head .''
It has certainly made a big difference to me and made coping with P-AF more managable.
The other night in bed with 'a hammer thudding in my back ' I was able to go to sleep
Buff a word about oximeters, I purchased one with top reviews from you know who and it doesn't work accurately when I am AF , some do I understand so worth checking .
I bought one for my wife but when I use it very often shows my heart rate to be in the 50's. The pacemaker clinic says that the device does not let my heart rate go below 60bpm.
Deep breathing is such a powerful tool. Also remember when you breath out slowly to say the words 'and relax' to yourself. Make the words last for the whole exhale. I received this great advice years ago from an NHS professional. It also helped to cure my panic attacks and it works for my AF too.
I can attest to that - as "relax" is my "word" that my hypnotherapist gave me to calm myself when under stress. Once learned it creates a whole new outlook when stressed.
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I have posted this in response to another thread....
Things are changing for me too.
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