Just wondering what I can do about my increasing sleep deprivation and anxiety about afib. I was diagnosed in 2017 after hyperthyroidism pushed me into Afib. In 2019 I had 3 carioversions including two a week apart. In both instances I woke up middle of night heart racing and it became Afib. Now since then I have had one episode in two years...BUT the mental scars remain. I almost every night wake up 2 or 3 times. Check my pulse. If it is going fast I have to sit up and breath deeply for awhile until it slows down. BUT during this time I am basically close to a panic attack wondering if this will be a repeat of those two episodes a week apart. I should mention I have a CPAP as of 2019 for apnea btw.
My primary doctor thinks I actually have a form of PTSD resulting from that week two years ago. The waking up throughout the night is really doing a number on my body. And my marriage since my poor wife is awakened while I am in this state to calm down.
I take a tiny amount of atenolol about 20mg daily. I have read that beta blockers can interfere with melatonin so should I just try taking that with the atenolol?
For something that has only happened once in two years ( I was dozing and a bang on the TV startled me and sent my heart racing..). Resolved by the next day.
I am exhausted pretty much every day from horrid sleep cycles due to all this.
Appreciate your time.
Kevin
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KevJenn
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I am taking Zopiclone...not every night .....not the high dose. But my GP only gives me 7 at a time .I do not have your problem of waking in the night but other heart issues .Z. seems to work well.You might have to sleep in separate rooms(not for me to say really) but for the sake of sanity......
I had acute Generalized Anxiety Disorder. It sounds like you have a bit of that.
One of the first symptoms was catastrophizing about little worries .... and not being able to sleep well.
After I broke the cycle of anxiety with temp drugs, I quit them and went the natural route controlling it effectively for two decades. All the while suffering from AFIB. 4 ablations.
You need to retrain your way of thinking. Everything isn't good .. bad, black .... white. There are many shades of grey inbetween (your brain is excluding). This leads to unnecessary worry. There are many books about worry and cognitive behavioral training (CBT) online. You might be surprised how much they describe your negative thought habits in the books.
To sleep better, put black-out shades on windows. Wear eye mask. Start guided meditation. I used famous UK Hypnotist Glenn Harrold's CD's. One good one was called COMPLETE RELAXATION. This helped calm me down, so I could sleep (do it daily).
If there's distracting noises while you sleep, get a white noise sleep machine generator.
Drink calming teas (like chamomile) during the day. About 1/2 hour before bed, take one Valerian capsule .... or take a 2mg Melatonin tablet. If that doesn't do it, try taking them both and see what happens. Also, get some Lavender essential oil and put a couple of drops on each side of your pillow. It will help you sleep, also. BTW ... most prescription sleeping meds are dangerous. Prolonged use can elevate dementia risk to extreme level (not to mention other negative health consequences).
No TV news ...... computer work ........ or anything stimulating .... before bedtime. Wind it down with a calming routine that promotes rest and sleep. Exercise of some sort is a great way to tire you before sleep, but do it earlier in the day (even if it's a mild walk, that's good).
Finally, take a magnesium supplement. I took a triple mag formula offered at Swanson Vitamins online. 300 to 400mg twice a day. It's calming ...... antiarrhythmic ..... and helps with sleeping.
Give it a try. Good Luck!
PS: Just read your post again ... about the 'bang on the TV' that startled you. That's another symptom of anxiety/panic disorder. It's called hyperacusis, where your reaction and sensitivity to sounds is exaggerated and throws you into panic/anxiety state. I had it for a few months, but then it dissipated the calmer I became.
Thank you for the insighful response. I appreciate it. I take magnesium supplements so that's one thing. I have started on Headspace which is for meditation. Last night I took melatonin and that helped. At least I got 6 hours of sleep which for me is great ( I woke up twice during the night but did manage to go back to sleep at least). Thanks again!
I would look at some form of meditation/mindfullness/prayer, I do 45 mins each evening before bed. You might also want to look at your breathing habits, you are probably not using your nose enough - when anxious try breathing through your left nostril only for a minute - might sound crazy but the reason is it is linked to our nervous system; left nostril calming, right nostril making more alert. For more info on breathing see YouTube James Nestor 'Breath' book & Patrick Mckewon Oxygen advantage.
Funny you mention the nose I have chronic congestion through the nose. Soon as I out my CPAP on it starts drying out those nasal passages and congestion starts again. I think I have a deviated septum.i will check out the video you mentioned. Thanks for the information!
The Patrick McKeown breathing exercises on YouTube are excellent and are all based on the Buyteko method. There are trained practitioners around the world.
I have had similar problems with CPAP and learning how to breath through your nose, which is the basic premise of both James Nestor and Patrick McKeown. Taping your mouth really helps you get out of the habit of mouth breathing. I would recommend reading both The Oxygen Advantage and Breath.
I think you will find this video of the link between Stress and Breathing by Patrick McKeown interesting.
Very interested in more info on your nose if you would like to share, is it your left nasal that you feel is more congested than the right?
I am 7 months into an experiment taping my mouth (<2cm square tape in the middle) at night, which not only gives me better sleep but I wake up with a clear nose. In addition, when I wake up in the night for a pee, it helps to go back to sleep if I put my finger over the right nostril and take 3 or 4 breaths just through the left one.
I suspect a lot of us have been underusing the nose for breathing - if you don't use it you loose it (i.e. it doesn't function as it should, such as with muscles.
You need to get a handle on your anxiety over afib. The best way to do that is learn everything you can about the condition and you will come to realize that you CAN live with afib without fear of dying, but to do that you need to try to stop checking your heart rate every time you wake up. The anxiety you're experiencing is simply making it worse. Knowledge about your condition will allow you to relax and learn to live your life without the accompanying anxiety. In the meantime, you can certainly ask your doctor about something to relieve your anxiety such as lorazepam or diazepam. Think positive!
Thanks for responding. I don't think actually I would die from Afib but it makes me miserable the times I have had it. Breathing problems..walking...sleeping..on and on..My father in law has it and barely notices it. Thanks again!
Hi may I make another suggestion the excellent comments already made. I'm coming from a different angle than medicine, drugs or procedures. Its called EFT Emotional Freedom Technique. Google EFT and Tapping. I subscribe to the American site which will come up on your search.
It's a totally different approach to reprogramming your thoughts and bad habits. Looks a bit strange at first sight, but it does work look at the hundreds of confirmations and affirmations. I believe in accupressure, acupuncture as well as Tai Chi and Chi Gong I have been a student of Tai Chi for over 30 years and I'm confident that EFT working with the bodies energy channels works. Try it. You have nothing to loose. I hope you find peace.
EFT is good, find a trained practitioner to help you and relaxation techniques including all those mentioned above will help - once you have tackled the underlying reason why you aren’t sleeping well which you already identified ie: anxiety.
CBT will help with that but you do need to do something as it won’t change until you change something and drugs will mask and not fix the underlying problem.
If you after CBT you still have anxiety and still have sleep problems then I would suggest seeing a sleep specialist who practices iCBT which is entirely different - Sleepio is the largest programme and often practioners are dual trained in CBT & iCBT.
This is good information. I appreciate it. I will definitely wil do some research on CBT and EFT and hopefully that will help. I don't feel like medicine addresses the mental stress associated with AFIB..
Before I started having this heart thing I had a point where I seem to have had adrenal fatigue ..which is not a thing in doctors eyes to be honest... But If I went to sleep early and one of my kids woke me (which they invariably would) I would wake up as if I had had an electric shock or a bomb went off and my heart would just feel awful... Now I don't get that and my kids are older and don't wake me but as I lie down to go to sleep my heart stops beating and instead purrs like a cat or an old phone. Brrr brrr brrr brrr...I mean you can't even count the beats its so fast more like a vibration. At that time I found Chinese herbalist really good for my sleep issues. I must go back to one because this is unpleasant. I don't understand what they do but they seem to have a more subtle sense of when something is off. Doctors don't seem to help until there's a gross damage happening but subtle things like odd feelings and aches and whatnot the Chinese traditional guys are amazing. My friend used to have to go to hospital to get herself shocked and now she can do acupressure to stop it herself. she went to TCM who was able to stop the heart thing with needles so she spent four years studying it herself. I was about to ring her and say what can I poke to help with this. I love acupressure its uncanny. When my mom had kidney injury she had these painful points on her leg turned out to be kidney meridian! It has saved my from having my tonsils out from double pneumonia from insomnia ...respect to those guys whatever it is they do. But it sounds like adrenaline issue that waking up in total panic mode. I found nettle seeds really good too. Just a teaspoon and calms the whole system nicely like a toke without the paranoia. And adrenal issues can happen from trauma or even a kidney infection and that messes with your metabolites which messes with the functioning of heart muscle. Its all connected.
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