Afib or anxiety

[Keswickcres6]

Can anxiety be mistaken for afib I got took to hospital last September heart jumping everywhere and they said it was afib but I've also read anxiety can do this its not happened since I'm on bisoprolol 5mg every day I don't take apixiban I take tumeric instead I've just had echcardiogram and she said she was happy for me to go just waiting on results now apart from a few thumps every thing is fine just had health check with new GP oxygen levels perfect and blood pressure good so can anxiety attacks be mistaken for afib

[Buffafly]

Yes, GPs often diagnose anxiety instead of AF if they haven’t got an ECG to show AF but if you had an ECG in hospital that would definitely show If you have AF. It seems the bisoprolol is helping. Are you not taking Apixaban because it wasn’t prescribed or because you don’t want to? If it was prescribed it would be best to take it because the worst outcome of AF can be a big stroke.

[Hidden]

Virtually nobody here is medically trained so it’s not possible to offer any definitive advice but I would think it’s unlikely that anxiety attacks could be mistaken for AF or versa visa. Generally, anxiety comes from having AF and if you have had an echocardiogram, then you will also have had an ECG and assuming you were in AF at the time, it would be easily identifiable. I would be surprised if you have been prescribed beta blockers and anticoagulants if your doctor was not sure you had AF. When in AF, the majority of home monitors for BP are inaccurate.

Your decision of course, but I would suggest you rethink your decision NOT to take Apixaban. Any one diagnosed with AF is exposed to a significantly increased risk of having a life changing stroke and provided your bleed risk is deemed as normal, you could seriously regret not taking the Apixaban as prescribed. I cannot say that alternative natural therapies do not work but one has to question whether or not they are exposed to the same rigorous testing and trialling regimes. If they do not work, the consequences could be dire and there is no opportunity to turn the clock back.......

[Keswickcres6 in reply to Hidden]

You can also have severe bleeding with apixiban

[Hidden in reply to Keswickcres6]

I’m afraid this is an old chestnut and of course, what people decide to do to protect themselves is entirely up to them. It’s all down to the balance of risk. The frequency of people having a stroke when suffering from AF (whether they know they have it or not) is well documented. Unless someone (or a close family member) has a history of spontaneous internal bleeding, the risk of bleeding from taking a DOAC is significantly lower and is deemed to be slightly lower than taking Warfarin. Ordinary day to day bleeds from cuts, scrapes and the like may take twice a long to stop if taking a DOAC, if on Warfarin, this may vary depending upon INR levels at the time of the accident. If you are comfortable with the efficacy of natural therapies which, as far as I know, are not subject to NHS trials then so be it. Blood clots can form at anytime and without warning. I truly wish you well.

[jeanjeannie50]

Anxiety can certainly trigger an AF attack, but you say in your post that you could feel your heart jumping around and AF was diagnosed through having an ECG.

AF often just strikes for no reason and is not usually something that can be experienced or recorded all the time - just when it strikes. This is called Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation or PAF for short and in between those attacks every test on you will record as normal. PAF is the most common form of AF and people who suffer from this often take medication just at the time of the attack, others take them every day if their attacks are more persistent. Alongside the tablets they take, will be a daily anticoagulant which will prevent clots forming during an attack and causing a stroke. Have you been put on one? People with AF have 5 times more chance of having a stroke than the average person.

Jean

[Hidden in reply to jeanjeannie50]

"People with AF have 5 times more chance of having a stroke than the average person." Possible, but what are the chances of having a stroke for an average person?

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Hidden]

I don't know! Do you? I'm sure there's probably some wise person on here that does.

I worked in a nursing home for 10 years and have seen the effects a stroke can have. Some people can't move, speak, eat - they're fed through a tube in their stomach, or control bowels and urine. Like a living death. I have a great fear of having a severe stoke like that, think I'd rather just drop dead and that's the truth.

[Keswickcres6]

I've took tumeric for 7 months and I've never had a atrack since it happened I've just had a echocardiogram and there is obviously not clots on there a specific they would have kept me in they said when I got took in in September it is lone afib I was just wondering if it can be mistaken as I have read it can it's called fake afib and it can be misdiagnosed

[Keswickcres6 in reply to Keswickcres6]

Meant to say there is no clots on there as they would have kept me in

[Buffafly in reply to Keswickcres6]

Atrial tachycardia with numerous ectopics can very occasionally be diagnosed as AF but your medication would be suitable for that, also for anxiety so win-win! Turmeric does nothing for arrhythmia though.

[Mugsy15]

Anxiety can manifest itself as pounding heart, breathlessness, feeling terribly ill etc - but it can't pretend to be AF on an ECG. AF has a distinct signature on the readout, whereby a little 'pre-beat' seen in sinus rhythm is absent.

What no ECG can diagnose is a blood clot - but with lone AF (no other co-morbities like old age, diabetes or past heart attacks, for example) your increased risk of stroke is likely to be low.

Incidentally, what you are taking is TURmeric, not Tumeric.

Pedantic I know, but so many people mispronounce that word and it gives me anxiety!!

[Keswickcres6 in reply to Mugsy15]

Lol