Rhythmic Arrhythmia

[RatPurdy]

I am interested in finding out whether anyone else suffers from a cyclic arrhythmia. Mine usually recurs every 10 days, plus or minus a day. I cannot see any reason why this shld be so regular.

Anyone else noticed this in their attacks?

[jeanjeannie50]

Yes my attacks for many years would happen every 4-6 weeks. I knew once I'd had one I'd be fine for the next 4 weeks.

[RatPurdy in reply to jeanjeannie50]

JJ ...Thanks for yr comment. Did you ever notice any correlation between digestive upsets and arrhythmia onset ?

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to RatPurdy]

I discovered that artificial sweeteners were a sure trigger. I now avoid all food additives and am so much better.

[exmouth in reply to RatPurdy]

Hi RatPurdy I’ve just eaten rather a large meal and just after I’d finished I started another episode of af. These last few weeks I’ve had quite a few episodes I’ve started vitaminsC and Magnesium today Although I’m not too over weight I’m making a real effort to lose weight I’m hoping this anxiety will pass as I’m just waiting for the next episode Take care and keep safe

[betsea in reply to RatPurdy]

Yes

[Karendeena in reply to RatPurdy]

Ratpurdy I had a stomach upset a few weeks ago and it set off an episode for me the first one in 6 months! I am told it could have been dehydration that triggered it

[Griffin9 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Me too. Every 4 weeks and then I could sleep easy for the next few weeks.

[doodle68]

Hello RatPurdy 😀 my episodes are very regular.

When first diagnosed 5 years ago the episodes went from occasional to monthly. Then 2 years ago I began having them every 10-14 days for 8-10 hours. I can find no logical reason for this regular pattern .

The episode became more frequent recently with a change of medication which I have ceased to take so it will be interesting to see if I revert to my old pattern.

[RatPurdy in reply to doodle68]

Doodle ...

Thanks for yr comment. Have you noticed any connection between digestive upsets and the onset of your cyclical AF ?

[saulger in reply to RatPurdy]

Yes, I find that onion will trigger an episode. I try to stay on a low FODMAP diet because of food intolerance.

[doodle68 in reply to RatPurdy]

Hi RP I tried keeping a diary looking for 'connections' but found nothing.I don't have 'digestive upsets' a no smoking no drinking vegetarian my diet is as recommended and the best I can get it.

[Physalis]

Mine were every two or three days. They started with my average hr going up to about 140 and it stayed like that for up to 30 hours then it would suddenly stop I had no idea why.

Nothing in my daily life had changed. It was if it popped up after a nice sleep and was full of beans and then quite some time later got tired and decided to go to bed.

I think it was probably lucky for me that my ablation happened when it was just about to go off again so didn't need any encouragement to show itself.

[Clarrie]

Yes I have attacks every 7-8 days lasting between 36-48 hours.

[Boudica_HD]

Mine are every 5-8 days and each AF episode lasts 2-4 days. Unfortunately I seem to be bucking my usual trend at the moment as am currently on Day 8 of the current episode of AF. I’m not panicking yet though as I’ve been 14 days in AF before and self-converted.

[joolzj]

Hi Pat. I am female, coming up 60, no other conditions and BP etc normal. My question is to you and the other responders too. Are these episodes happening while you are on medication? I was just diagnosed last week by a cardiologist friend (from consultation and and apple watch readouts). I want to at least be prescribed a beta blocker or antiarrythmic to have when an episode comes on but I thought that would stop it? I feel for those of you who talk of events lasting days. That must be incredibly debilitating and exhausting. My longest has been 3 and a half hours but I have read that the heart is being damaged during attacks so it is vital to try to stop it or lower the heart rate? But it sounds like episodes can carry on regardless of meds?

My problem so far is that no episode has been caught on an official ecg so I can't be prescribed anything. [Have had bloods, ecg, and echocardiogram - all normal] I was very anxious but my doctor (on the phone) showed zero sympathy when I told him the episodes had increased in frequency and was utterly uninterested in my personal evidence from readouts from devices. He said to go to the surgery for an ecg when it was happening. I said, "Oh, good, so I can just wander up and an ecg will be done?". He said, "No, you'd have to make an appointment." So that was totally unhelpful as the episode would have finished by the time the appt came. I told him that. His only advice was to ring an ambulance when the next attack comes. The last one was a week ago so I'm just praying that going back to my healthy lifestyle and not drinking any alcohol which I'm sure was the cause, could reduce or eliminate the attacks. They were every two or three months. Then I had a big drinking night for the first time in months and sure enough, the next day it came on but I was abroad so chose not to ring an ambulance. Then I had one every day for six days. Though alcohol was the trigger, I'm sure stress and lesser triggers played a large part in the continuation as that has never happened before. Day one of the stream was the perfect storm because it was a stressful day anyway, moving to the next airbnb, carrying heavy luggage and I had run out of water! What a daftie!

[doodle68 in reply to joolzj]

..''Are these episodes happening while you are on medication? ''

Hi Ram 🙂 the answer is yes for me....

Firstly when diagnosed with P-AF I did all the right things/lost weight/no alcohol/increased excercise /perfect diet/avoid stress/plenty of sleep and stuck to it which may well have slowed down the progression of my AF .

I take Apixaban the anticoagulant, it doesn't affect the episodes but is essential to me for stroke prevention (CHADS score 3)

I take a Betablocker Nebivolol for 'rate control' which is supposed to lower my heart rate which is does when I am not in AF and don't need it lower but it seems to do very little when I am having an episode of AF and my heart rate increases greatly . It may be helping to reduce my blood pressure but it also makes me feel tired and my legs and feet are icy cold and tingly due to the effect on my circulation. I am not sure it is actually helping my AF.

I have just been trying flecainide for rhythm control and to terminate episodes, it works well for some but not for me it seems with side effects that greatly reduce my quality of life and an increase of AF.

Medication has become part of a vicious circle for me , the more I take the less I can do physically and the worse it is for having a healthy body and my AF.

I don't want an ablation for a number of reasons, once you say you don't want an ablation you seem to become a low priority.

There are set guidelines for treating AF in the UK called the NICE pathway which is the 'one fits all' standard treatment for everyone but we are all made differently with varying age lives and comorbidities. We each need to find what works for us individually.

So we will see how it goes , 😊 I already feel a new woman since stopping the flecainide

[Auriculaire in reply to doodle68]

Snap for the Nebivolol. My cardiologist told me to take an extra quarter to bring my heat rate down when having an episode but it does not work. Bisoprolol works much better as PIP but I have almost exhausted the left overs I had when I changed over. On a daily basis Nebivolol gives me less side effects so I don't really want to go back on Bisoprolol. But I might have to as so far I have had no joy in persuading the cardiologist to give me it as PIP.

My afib episodes are now fairly regular with around an 8 week interval. They last between 8 - 12 hours .

[doodle68 in reply to Auriculaire]

Hi Auriculaire 😊 I was told to take an extra Nebivolol as a PIP when an episode starts and did so for some time monitoring any effects on my heart rate with my Kardia and it had no effect...I can't take Bisoprolol because of asthma and fear the side effects from it anyway.

This medication is routinely dolled out in line with the NICE recommendations but are we ever asked ''Is it working '' or told ''This is what should happen'' many of us meekly accept we have to take it without question.

[Auriculaire in reply to doodle68]

I have asthma too and that was one of my reasons for switching to Nebivolol . But I have been trying to reduce my dosage as I think my asthma would be better with no beta blocker at all. I had got down to .65mg and definitely noticed a difference but with two afib attacks closer together than normal ( probably due to having a major op) I have gone back up to around .8 mg. Even with this tiny alteration in dose I can see a difference. I would like to stop taking a BB altogether on a daily basis and just use as a PIP to get my heart rate down during attacks.

[joolzj in reply to doodle68]

That's all very interesting and informative, doodle68. Thank you.

Gosh it really seems hit and miss with medication. As you say, we're all so very different. But I suppose there is only a finite number of medications and procedures for AFib and a lot of folk seem to have the same ones.

I asked my husband if I could take one of his bisoprolols (which he takes for high BP) if I get another attack and he was adamant that I should never take anything that has not been specifically prescribed. I was getting a bit gung ho maybe since I have no other health problems and have a 0 Chads score... It's back to waiting to call an ambulance! it's so nerve-wracking actively waiting for the next attack without the peace of mind that I can take something to relieve it when/if it comes...

[doodle68 in reply to joolzj]

Hi Rameaumam 🙂 yes the options for AF treatment are limited .

I have never called an ambulance although my episodes are long and horrible and I would only do so if I had chest pain . If I did I would be calling one every 10 days and spend my life on a trolley in A&E risking catching Covid and getting very stressed .

I accept the episodes every 10 days as part of my life now and cope with them by just doing essential tasks slowly then laying down and doing breathing excercise/ relaxation techniques /using the radio for distraction .

I can live with that if I am ok between times.

[LaceyLady in reply to joolzj]

You need a 48 hr monitor

[Redden222]

Hello RT

I would say I have a cyclic AF at about every 10days +/- a day. My AF HR is around 85 to 100 BPM and it lasts on average 20 hours. I was diagnosed earlier this year and take edoxaban and Bis ( 2.5mg/day) . I guess I have a slow day one in every ten as I would normally walk about 10k a day.

What makes AF a bummer to me is my passion is hill walking; I’ve managed a few 3000ft hills this year but have held back on some long days on the hills ( ~ 8 + hours) so far. Winters coming so will probably hold off until next spring and rethink doing longer days.

[Cally53]

My episodes occur roughly every 10 days, there never seems to be a trigger, although mostly they do happen at night, so most likely vagal.

[Tomred]

Hi mine is around about the same

[Snowgirl65]

Mine too would occur at regular intervals, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why, i.e. what I did, didn't do, ate or didn't eat, that would set it off so rhythmically.

[Karendeena]

Yes, mine came almost to the hour on a Saturday evening and ran until the early hours of Monday morning. I found this very strange! My EP changed my medication from flecainide to sotalol and this seemed to disrupt the pattern. I never know now but the episodes are less frequent....at the moment 🤔

[AussieHeart]

It took me to faint twice before any doctor took my symptoms seriously. I was sent to (in order) neurologist and ophthalmologist (sudden eyesight loss), audiologist (balance) and exercise physiologist, to cardiologist then cardiac electrophysiologist who agreed to implant a loop monitor where they discovered “paroxysmal” atrial fibrillation. Mine is often at night (vagal?) but any heavy lifting, overdoing exercise even in the garden (raking leaves) will bring on irregular beats to fast palpitations, sweats, fatigue. I blame dehydration, heat and humidity but interestingly once put on low dose Bisoprolol GUT issues stood out as triggers. For example aged cheese, chocolate or any sweets, spices like curry (avoid tumeric) too. My biggest issue was constipation so another doctor (added to this list) helped me most. A gastroenterologist put me on 4x 500mg of Magnesium in the morning and another 2 tablets at lunch. Combined with 1/4 tablet (0.625mg) of Bisoprolol at night and dizzy spells disappeared, can tolerate exercise better, fewer migraines, fewer episodes that landed me in front of all these specialists. Interestingly I’m doing so well that I’ve begun weaning myself off Bisoprolol with the intention of using it as a pill in a pocket (at a dose of 1.25mg or 1/2 tablet) should symptoms run longer than 15 mins.

[Ppiman]

These are my thoughts from what I’ve experienced and read. That dose of magnesium (3g) is a laxative rather than a mineral supplement. It’s a very effective one, too, and safe.

Untreated, constipation and intestinal gas can easily force the stomach high against the diaphragm and push that into direct contact with the heart; in some this causes ectopic beats, and, in prone individuals, these will precipitate afib.

Maybe the “trigger” is that?

Steve