I just spontaneously converted to NSR 2 hours ago after a 2-day afib episode. It happened during or right after a brisk 30-minute walk. The previous episode, I converted while working outside doing strenuous stuff in the cold to repair some gutters.
I keep a detailed "Afib Diary" because I am always trying to identify triggers as well as successful (or not successful) conversion strategies.
As far as I can tell, I am a vagal afibber. In which case it would make sense that exercise/exertion could help convert me, since that will raise the tone of my adrenergic nervous system and reduce my vagal tone. My afib typical starts after dinner, when I have some post-meal bloat, and am sitting in the recliner, feet up, digesting and relaxing... all vagal triggers.
Walking and other exercise also means I am not in my typical hunched over shallow-breathing computer posture. My chest is more expanded (less pressure on heart and vagus nerve) and my breathing deeper.
Not recommending anyone else try my strategies, because afib is unique in each one of us. What might help one person convert could actually trigger Afib in another. But I do think it's worth it to keep an Afib Diary to try to identify some patterns.
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PlanetaryKim
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Hi Kim so nice to hear from you.. I just found out today about the vagal thing too... I wondered if bending over suddenly would start it as it seems to with me .. it makes sense that could involve the vsgal nerve...Thank you for the info... I don’t seem to have typical AFib - most times I am just having the faint awful feeling Nd my heart may thump a few times.. ‘I can see that it’s taken a sudden jump to 180 but hasnt stayed there the last few times ...think I’ve only had it 4 times since August but still terrifies me when it happens because I do feel like I’m going to die .. hard to explain (and it’s not a panic attack) I had a brain tumour in 2015 do not really afraid of too much health wise...
By the way I do think mine was more flutter.. but they still call it AFib... so confusing.I was in bed last time I had It.. so wonder if exercise would help me?
Thing is with feeling faint it’s difficult to want to exercise..
You are so right that exercise can help convert back, to NSR. I have had it happen a thousand times until now. My AF bouts come at night, when in bed, almost every night. In the morning, when I stand up and get active, it stops at once, from itself. So good idea about a diary! Yes, another thing - when in AF, what I can see on the base of very irregular heart beat, my HR never goes above 90. I am pleased with it, I can only imagine what the HR of 220 looks like...All the best!
All makes sense to me. I believe a brisk walk is beneficial for some of us because a regular steady repetitive exercise is likely to get the heart to go back to 'normal'. I walk twice a day with Nordic poles about 2 miles in total come rain or shine; I should do more but I am not an enthusiastic walker! Best wishes for a peaceful Christmas.
My afib events always start once I'm asleep at night, usually after having more sodium than I should have had. They predictably last 12 to 13 hours and then just stop. While they're going I take metoprolol and diltiazem to keep my heart rate under 100.
You have me seriously wondering if I should go to the gym in the morning while still in AFib and try to do the strenuous workout that I do 5 days a week normally while in sinus rhythm.
I have a modest home gym in my living room, which I use most evenings while I'm watching TV. I have noticed when I'm in afib, I can't lift my normal weight, I literally don't have the strength. i have to reduce my weights and do less of everything, fewer pushups, etc. I can't say that my reduced gym workout has ever converted me. and it actually doesn't feel too 'safe' when I'm in afib. But my walk today was not too strenuous. It might be a case where aerobic exercise like walking is better (less burden?) than anaerobic workout of weight lifting? I don't know. Are you able to lift your normal weight when in afib?
I have started remaining in my chair at the table after dinner for at least half an hour. Having had a bad back for 30 years I do not find any chairs or sofas confortable to sit in so I lie down when I am not standing up . I always used a kneeling seat for meals or the computer as this puts the back into a good position. Normally I lie on my front propped on my elbows for at least an hour before lying on my side or back . I used to find this ok straight after a meal but I was still getting afib from time to time. It nearly always starts after dinner. Since I started remaining at the table I feel less bloated after dinner. When I get up I potter about in the kitchen for 20 mins to put off the relaxing a bit further. So far so good.
They are great for the back but less good if you have bad knees. I have not been able to use mine for a while as my hip was so bad I could not get onto it . Now in the clinic 48 hrs post replacement. Am mobilised but it's painful and the physio is a nasty litte man with no empathy!
Sounds like oyu need a new physio! My knees are ok, but back could use some help. Those kneeling chairs always look like back has zero support tho. or is your chest resting on something?
No the support comes from having the back in the right position with the curve in the lumber region going inwards. Your back muscles get a bit sore at first. Have you ever ridden a motor bike as passenger? It's a similar position.
If you feel bloated after dinner then you have digestive issues. You could try taking a probiotic daily with food, or digestive enzymes with your meal. Both can be bought from a health shop.
Thanks. Have tried many versions of those to no avail. I am on a drug that gut bacteria interact with, creating a metabolite. Also low IgA while I am on that drug, which results in compromised gut lining. It is what it is for now.
I have found that probiotics actually make the bloating worse! I do take Bromelain that works as a digestive enzyme but only a very small amount as it is a "blood thinner" . And before the language police get going I am describing it so as I don't know whether it is an anticoagulant or an anti platelet clumping substance.
Hi, I think using brief strenuous exercise to self convert back to NSR is quite common. I can get AF when sitting quietly after I have over done it on my bike. I can self convert by getting back on my bike the next day and cycling up a hill. This has worked about 20 times over the past 5 years. This is now my cure mechanism rather than having to visit the medics.
When I initially was diagnosed afib I found that 5 to 7 mins running and my HR reverted to normal and I went on an did the rest of my 4 or 6 mile run. Worked for 20 months and 9 episodes. Was magic . The 10th and 11th episode I had to run much further to get it stopped.
The 12 episode and it did not work and it would not stop. Sadly my afib had progressed . I was in afib at 130 to 195 resting for 8 days before I was eventually cardioverted in the CCU of my local hospital.
That was when I decided I was going to try an ablation.
Many is the time, while in AF, I've had to go out and cut the grass in the garden. I can tell you it's a great struggle and I have to keep taking lots of rests. Afterwards I've sat with a sore heart, full of self pity and thinking I shouldn't have done that. However almost without fail a few hours later, when I'm sitting quietly, my heart has reverted back to normal rhythm.
Pulling brambles up in the garden has brought on my AF at times, but as someone on here said recently what can start an attack can sometimes revert you back into normal rhythm. I'm not overly convinced that we should physically over exert ourselves too much when in AF, as I believe it may be just too much for the heart to cope with.
We discover so much by discussion on this forum. In some respects we can lead the way to reducing attacks.
Interesting comments. We are all different is the theme that shines through. My AFib has started as a result of strenuous exercise. I try to keep it in check by --I'd like to make two suggestions. Acupressure on the inside of your ear just above the cartilage flap above the opening. The Vagus nerve can be stimulated at that location. Gentle circular pressure.
The point called the Great Abyss Lung Channel 9. Located at the side of the wrist nearest the thumb. Feel for a slight indent near edge of the wrist. Gently massage for a couple of mins. Change wrists. Used in Chinese medicine for heart palpitations, chest pain and relieving cough.
Heart 7 called Spirit gate, again on the wrist, this time on the little finger side. Drop down from the little finger on the inside of your wrist. Locate the small bone that is line with the little finger, small hollow. Pressure on this area proponents claim good for insomnia, anxiety, depression and heart disease.
I'm also a great believer in massage the tips of your fingers or The 10 Dispersions. Proponents say Thumb for Lung. First finger large intestine. Third finger pericardium. Fourth Chinese call it Triple Warmer but relates to the whole of your thorax and its organs. Little finger heart.
When I am in afib, I can't read my pulse at wrist at all and have to use stethoscope. Also pulse-oximeter, though the heart rate won't be accurate in afib but the blue wave-form traveling across the bottom shows me the problem.
I'll see if I can try that. Mine always come within 2 hours of eating though I know stress is a big factor too - if I overdo it, push myself too far - you can guarantee an AF episode will follow within a few days. Still learning to find the right balance. I do admire you for putting up with it for a couple of days - I can't manage that - I've never been able to do much when I get mine but maybe I could go for a walk.
I am extremely averse to medical intervention. I just don't have confidence in what's being done to my body in those situations. So I am very determined to find a way to solve things myself. Not always possible. But possible more often than doctors would lead one to believe.
I also suspect I have vagal afib. I’ve self converted by running up a flight of stairs or other similar higher intensity effort. Doesn’t always work, but nice when it does!
A friend who used to go out with a local cycling club, once told me about a man there who had AF who raced to the top of a hill ahead of everyone else. When they got to him he was dead at the side of the road. That has always been a warning to me not to do anything too extreme.
I have had luck doing the brisk walk approach. Usually works 95% of the time. And for me, that is hundreds of times. It could be the heart; but to me, the back may also be a factor, since the nerves from the brain that control the heart exit the back. Only found one study on this possibility and two chiropractors who say they can fix AF by fixing the back. Unfortunately, I do not have access to them; and the ones that I have tried have not been able to fix my AF. I have tried all the vagal nerve options, ear, tongue, neck, etc without success. I have much more balanced left and right vagal nerves though, so this is positive.
I remember this one now Kim. I think mine are stress triggered - if I overdo it on the work front by pushing through or do not allow myself to come down if the work is stimulating, that's when I'll kick off. I've now started a diary similar to the type you've suggested. It's in written form so that it gives me time to sit down and reflect. Thanks for all your input into my post on that.
Good luck with your afib Diary. I find mine really helpful partly because my situation changes over time - or maybe just my understanding of it is getting more refined and nuanced, thanks partly to the diary.
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