Stress

[Fun20]

My job is quite stressful. Do you find stress affects AF?

[Finvola]

Yes, it does but there are ways to cope with stress such as Mindfulness and relaxation and there can be strategies at work which help to minimise it. There are some posters such as jedimasterlincoln who hold down very intense jobs and who hopefully will see your question too.

I had just retired from a stressful job before I was diagnosed so I'm glad I missed that particular boat.

My best de-stressing advice, strangely enough came from a speech therapist who was used to dealing with singers and teachers - I was the latter - and her advice worked for me at that time. Anxiety and stress are known factors in AF and it is certainly worth seeking ways to minimise them.

[Polski in reply to Finvola]

And what was her advice please?

[Finvola in reply to Polski]

She analysed how I taught my classes - particularly practical sessions which were demanding because of my methods and the layout of the computer suite - I taught computer science, main subject programming. She advised me not to 'project my voice' as I had been trained to do but to speak quietly and to make physical changes in problem solving for students. I also had to keep a daily account of actions and stress levels. It took time - months as I remember but it worked at that time.

[Polski in reply to Finvola]

Thank you, that's very interesting.

[Finvola in reply to Polski]

There's more, if I can only recall it - it was nearly 40 years ago - one other thing was to list tasks which could be delegated, the hard thing being to act on it!

[Paulbounce]

Yep - for sure.

How to deal with it ? That's a tough call. Certainly when it affects your job and livelihood.

My way now is to accept that what will be will be. There's not much I can do about it so I'm resigned to the fact that things may not work out. Easy to say I know and not so easy to put into practise. I tend to be fairly laid back (ish) which helps.

All I can suggest is to try and turn a negative into a positive. Accept you have a stressful job but look at some things that will counter balance that. For example, exerise, diet and the like. Take some time out of your day to relax - yoga seems to help many. Worth trying maybe ?

Paul

[Hidden]

Hiya Fun20,

Yes, possibly, vaguely I suppose.

Let me explain ... I'm 76 and have driven buses both in rural and urban and city areas for over 25 years. I have driven throughout both lockdowns. So, to answer your question ........ when I am driving, having to spend 10 hours or thereabouts dealing with traffic, idiot motorists and commercial delivery drivers and aggressive passengers and passengers who won't wear masks nor can they show me an exemption card .......... I do not get stress ........ why because it doesn't worry me ...... why ....... because I have the power and the authority to move that bus or not move it. Under the Motor Traffic Act I am responsible for the vehicle and the load. If there were any doubts about any circumstances I found myself in I would find a safe place and pull the bus off the road, phone my controllers and let them sort it, I'd also leave the front doors open so that if anyone didn't like what I did they could leave the bus and walk or phone for a taxi.

Job done ...... simples !

However, what I have often ( but not always) experienced is when I'm off duty, maybe a few days break the first day or so after finishing a shift I will lurch into palpitations and develop digestive issues. Luckily, thus far anyway, I've never lurched into AFlutter or full blown AF. I think the reason for that is I have my AF extremely well controlled and rarely nowadays get an event.

Mrs CarnEuny has got used to it now, smiles and says well you'll have to drive buses for ever and ever and not ever, ever have any rest days, they are the obvious problem 😂😂😂

Hope this take on stress helps.

John

[Fun20]

Thank you!

[KMRobbo]

Yes . Only possible trigger I have although I can't say particular event caused it nor can I prove it as I can't recognize the straw that broke the camel's back. Stress releases adrenaline but generally there is nothing to physically fight. The stress response increases blood pressure and heart rate. I also suspect / believe the effects of stress are cumulative. Anxiety can be caused by stress. I may not be totally accurate here as my memory is not perfect but I think 3 of the first 5 afib attacks I had were Thursday evening/ night, one was Saturday one was Sunday. Not medically trained.

[secondtry]

Directly Yes and possibly indirectly by causing shallow quicker breathing through the mouth leading to issues such as sleep apnea.

[tunybgur]

I think stress is one of the major triggers, not only for Afib but for most cardiovascular problems.

[Morzine]

Yes defiantly .

I’m pretty sure it was stress that started this all off.

Sue

[doodle68]

Hello Fun 😊 I avoid stress whenever possible and walk away from stressful situations.

I have actually felt my heart 'leap' into an episode of P-AF when upset/angry/stressed and it is the only thing I can confidently say can lead to an episode.

You may find this article of interest...

heartrhythmjournal.com/arti...

Like many here I I have found that learning relaxation and breathing techniques helps to suppress stressful situations.

[momist]

Yes. Everyone looks for 'triggers' and I've been no exception. I never found any certain trigger, but I can confirm that stress seems to nearly always accompany the conditions which set me off into AF. Not always, so not really an identified trigger, but stress is most certainly a contributor.

[Madscientist16]

Yes, but I also think that it depends on the type of stress. For me, the usual stress from work is fine, but stress from other things, like speaking in front of people or dealing with family stress can cause me to experience more ectopics or AF episodes.

[Fun20 in reply to Madscientist16]

For me, I seem to suffer more episodes of AF when I’m working than when I am not.