Sneezing in AF

[Kjsp]

I have reasonably controlled AF with maybe 1 episode a month which usually terminates with PIP Flecainide and Metoprolol .With last nights episode I returned to sinus rhythm after about 3 hours but my heart has been racing all day and I was feeling pretty exhausted after 20 hours. Can you believe I just done a big sneeze and boom heart back to my normal pace!! Anyone else had this experience?

[Hidden]

Maybe something to do with the vagus nerve?

[jeanjeannie50]

I can see how that would work and you must be so relieved that it did.

Someone on this forum said they once reverted back into normal sinus rhythm when her husband drove their car over a pothole in the road. I wonder if a good cough might revert you next time?

Jean

[CDreamer in reply to jeanjeannie50]

That was me and link below.........

[Elli86 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

A pothole has put me into AF before as well. If I go over bad ones my heart will flutter and feels like it’s going to go into AF everytime. Coughing, sneezing 🤧 etc can put you in or out I think. I’ve read that getting your heart rate either over or under your AF rate can stop it as well. That’s why some people find exercise or sleep can put their heart back in NSR. I normally have a kip when mine goes and invariably when I wake up it’s back in NSR 👍

[secondtry in reply to Elli86]

I was surprised to read somewhere that coughing provides an electrical charge to the heart, which is no doubt why doctors get you to cough when using a stethoscope on your chest and why in some cases it can put you back into NSR.

[Elli86 in reply to secondtry]

Oh right that’s interesting. I would have thought it was just the movement/shock that put it back in. Does sneezing do the same thing then? Any sort of shock seems to do the business to be fair so next time I get one I’m going to try them all 🤣

[Janey1955]

Strangely I had afib for about 20 hours last Monday then I sneezed and it stopped. Something I had never thought of trying before. So next time I am thinking of carrying a pot of pepper Round with me - seriously!

Jane

[Elli86 in reply to Janey1955]

Is that the PIP strategy? Pepper. In. Pocket 🤣

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Elli86]

Love it!! 😂

[Tickerprobs in reply to Elli86]

Eeeee you Essex gentlemen are always coming up with something almost funny. The type of Afib that you have must be very difficult to deal with...what with the coming and going and the uncertainty of how you’ll feel at any given time. I have permanent AF and am generally restricted as to what I can do, all of the time. Although still have variations day to day. It’s a pity we can’t swap for a week, to appreciate each others predicament.

[Elli86 in reply to Tickerprobs]

I know stew apologies. It was a joke that wasn’t quite up to the northern standard but pretty close 🤣

I’ll be honest mate I’d take paroxysmal any day of the week! Permanent AF does not sound enticing at all and I’m hoping that I never get to that point 🤞 us soft southerners could not take it anyway! We are not made of as strong stuff as you brutish northern folk 😉😂😂

[Tickerprobs in reply to Elli86]

Well I have a bit of London in me and don’t think you Southerners are at all soft. My Grandad was a bare knuckle fighter and tough as nails apparently.

I suppose there are different ways of looking at the type of AF a person has. Having it constantly and knowing your limitations, or having it spasmodically and adjusting to suit. Primarily of course, it depends to what degree you’re afflicted too.

[Elli86 in reply to Tickerprobs]

You sure it wasn’t your great great granpappy? 🤣 rumour has it that he once took a kill from a pride of lions and came away with nothing but indigestion? Could be lies but I’m inclined to believe it 🤔

If all else fails mate you just pulled off the use of the word spasmodically in a sentence so for that I applaud you 🤣

All jokes aside I’d take paroxysmal all day long but like you say it’s hard to know for sure till you’ve experienced both. Hopefully I never will 🙏🙏🙏 I’m determined to give it the boot 🥾

[Tickerprobs in reply to Elli86]

No Elli...that was my Grandad’s Grandad. That was his only downfall: He always suffered with indigestion whilst eating raw antelope, especially when it was still moving. Yes he took pride in those achievements. That and taking his helmet off and tantalising the enemy.

[Elli86 in reply to Tickerprobs]

So it is true! I knew it! A moving antelope would be a challenge for most but not your great great grand pappy. Some say he was the inspiration for the film Flash Gordon?

I also heard he once took 14 live rounds to the head during WW1 and the only thing he had to replace was his dentures?

[Tickerprobs in reply to Elli86]

😂🤣 Actually Elli ...it was only 13 rounds to the head but he was always very superstitious. As for the inspiration for Flash Gordon, that came about because of his previous convictions but we’ll not go into that . ‼️‼️

[Elli86 in reply to Tickerprobs]

Unlucky for some but not your great great granpappy mate! There only convictions if your caught but as the Flash Gordon stories imply he never was

[captainKFF in reply to Tickerprobs]

Hi, what is your heart rate while your in permanent Afib?

[Tickerprobs in reply to captainKFF]

Hi Captain...70-80 bpm at rest.

[Janey1955 in reply to Elli86]

Hilarious. But you know worth a go.

[Elli86 in reply to Janey1955]

🤣🤣 100% I’ll be trying it! Pip all the way 💪

[Frances123]

When I was first diagnosed 16/17 years ago I told cardiologist when I went into Afib it made me want to cough. Straight away he said good and told to keep doing it as hard as I could. I didnt understand why or ask but later I likened it to a bit like a DIY cardio aversion where I was trying to jolt heart back into rhythm. I once stopped an episode by jumping up and down a couple of times on a mini trampoline at 2:30 in the morning. I had stopped using it after it brought on an episode a few weeks prior and wondered if it would do the reverse. Glad you a back in NSR.

[Elli86 in reply to Frances123]

I think this makes ALOT of sense and is how I’ve been thinking about it in that it simulates a cardioversion, not exactly of course but it does provide a sudden shock/jolt to the heart that seems to work. I’ve also read that being upside down can help such as standing on your head. Not sure id recommend this as your already feeling quite dizzy but I’m going to try it next time if all else fails.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Elli86]

Elli once when I was in AF I'd read that putting your legs up the wall could get it back into normal rhythm. I lay on my bed and put my legs up the wall by the headboard. It made me come over really faint and I had to stop, but I laughed to myself when I thought of being found like that (with my legs up the wall) - what on earth would they have thought I'd been doing!!

[Elli86 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

🤣🤣🤣 the mind would boggle that’s for sure 😂 next time I go into AF I’m giving them all a shot. Imagine if you could get off all medication and just physically shock your heart back into rhythm every time. Your car would be ruined from continually driving over potholes but atleast you’d be in NSR. 🤣🤣🤣

[Tickerprobs in reply to Elli86]

Hey Elli...do what my son did and move to Australia. He hasn’t got AF but loves the life and the heat. G’day matey.

[Elli86 in reply to Tickerprobs]

🤐🤐 don’t mention Australia mate! Still quite a sore spot for me. Nearly got my mrs to emigrate there before kids were born. I pretty much had her on the plane and she changed her mind. 😩😩😩😩 didn’t want to leave her family 👎 I’d take Italy or Spain but she wouldn’t for same reason! I’m working on Cornwall now 😀👍 not gonna happen though until her mum kicks the bucket 🪣

[porridgequeen in reply to Frances123]

I was given the 'coughing plan' by my EP as well. Around the same time information on how to manage a suspected heart attack while driving suggested coughing your guts up while racing to the nearest hospital.

[CDreamer]

I can believe it, not happened to me but my strangest was travelling home after a family gathering in the ‘pot-hole’ winter. I was in fast AF and had been for about 36 hours and feeling miserable. OH was driving across heathland when he hit a pothole - it was a deep one and destroyed the wheel and axle. Sitting miserably waiting for the emergency pick up I suddenly realised I was in NSR!

healthunlocked.com/afassoci.........

[pip_pip]

Hi. Its becos the sudden out blow of air can regularise the breathing pushing you back into sinus. Quite often in A E they will ask you to blow out as hard as you can until no more which sometimes settles the AF. I have to say its never helped me. Phil

[Kjsp]

Thanks everyone for replying!

Love the PIP pepper in the pocket 😂

[MissTia123]

Yes! Sometimes a cough or sneeze can start or stop AFib. When I go to ER they tried to get me to cough to stop it one Hahaha

[secondtry]

Thanks for raising this point, I will add sneezing, coughing & trampolining to my list of natural ways of converting to NSR. Best wishes.

[EngMac]

Focus on what is happening to your back and you may realize that all these things, which I have done many times, affect it and the nerve pathway from the brain to the heart. If you wish, check out my recent posts for more info on my theory.

[Alan_G]

I will add 2 strange ones. I was in AF for about 12 hours and decided to ring my GP to ask if it was ok to go to the dentist for some work that needed doing. As soon as I got through to the receptionist, I went back into NSR. And to prove it wasn't a coincidence, another time, I was so fed up with being in AF I decided to go down to A&E to see if they could do anything about it. As soon as I walked into the hospital reception area, I went back into NSR. Strange.

[Bambi65]

There was another person on here several months ago that said he got out of afib, with his wifes help, by having sex. Talk about getting satisfied ... Guess I will add that to the list to try also. Im in afib 2-3x a weeks so .... Hubby beware, between the coughing, the sneezing, the pot holes, the trampoline, the legs up on the headboard and the sex, its gonna be one hellofa week for ya.... LOL

[Snowgirl65]

Kjsp -- I've had the same experience -- not necessarily a sneeze sending me back into sinus, but a sudden shock to the body. I was dozing off watching TV, still in a-fib, when the phone rang and I jumped a half-mile. A-fib was gone! I've also tried to induce the same effect by taking a very cold shower (success).

[Snowgirl65]

My second response to yours, is that I also self-corrected twice by laughing very heartily. I was in the ER with a-fib, and my brother was with me who told me a very funny joke. My laugh stopped a-fib just like that!

[jeanjeannie50]

This is one of the latest methods for getting heart rates back to normal. Rather than use a syringe just breathe out for as long as you possible can and yes you need help to do this manoeuvre:

youtube.com/watch?v=8DIRiOA...(Not working as expected?)

[Cangelo629 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

A natural approach to return to NSR is going to lead to better understanding of why AFIB happens and ultimately better treatments and even medicine thank you for sharing this.