Hi HU'ers.
This article discusses the similarity between afib and anxiety. The conclusion is interesting.
'Although chronic stress can affect your cardiovascular health, there isn’t enough evidence to suggest that anxiety causes AFib'
I don't entirely agree with that but let's agree to disagree. Interesting read - link below.
Paul
I totally agree. Anxiety is not a cause of AF but AF is a cause of anxiety which propogates the existing issue. Therefor if you have AF anxiety will make it worse.
Agreed and the opinion of my cardiologist
I do not believe it causes it but if it’s been laying there dormant I do believe it will trigger it. When I had my first real a fib event although looking back I think I may have had some sooner, life was hell. If I get upset now I absolutely feel it in my chest almost immediately and if I take my heart rate it’s going to be over 100 although nowadays that’s normal for me again. If you look over your lifestyle you will probably see many things that attributed to a fib I don’t think just one thing does. I must be honest, I have always been overweight for the most part, I am a type to diabetic never high but it is there. Oh it is what it is. I can’t turn the clock back and they were years I was in the best of shape and I see thin people who had no health problems also end up with a fib or worse. I had a very dear friend who ran constantly marathons etc. always healthy and one day just walking up his stairs to his apartment he had a fatal heart attack. I had a lot of heart issues in my family on both sides unfortunately I do not know what they were because I was young no one bothered to share. My paternal grandmother and grandfather died on the same day one had a stroke one had a heart attack not in the same place. There are so many factors to a fib and heart disease how do we know? My mother died of a myocardial infarction however it was caused by her cancer. She was a smoker all her life a heavy smoker. They can guess about it but at the end of the day will people listen anymore than we did until it was too late? I think they should spend more time finding a cure then learning why we get it. I think of myself as an older car and parts breakdown. Why? Probably where in tear not the way I drove. Does it matter why? To me I’d rather just have it fixed and keep running.
When I wake in the night thinking I've heard a noise, well I can tell you my heart beats crazily. I've never thought about whether it's AF or palpitations, but it certainly feels like AF.
Jean
Hey,
Me neither, I do not totally agree with it. Having Afib now for 2-3 years, I know I had zero of the Afib risk factors, except chronic stress and 2-3 years of highly acute traumatic agony. At least it Afib is the result of anxiety for me...Here I am at AF forums...
Also see this scholarly article on >>> anxiety may lead to afib and it must be taken seriously, below
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
Best of health.
PaulBounce, I agree with you. It is a weird article. Every sentence contradicts the one before !
My feeling is that anxiety causes one to focus inward and become more sensitive and fearful.
I found that the mind-heart awareness is strengthened and I feared that I must be in control / involved in the beating of the heart.
Since some of the vagal pathways were sugically ablated, I am no longer conscious of the workings of the heart and gained mental peace. I discussed it today with Dr Ohtsuka and his response was that it shows that the procedure is working !
Great news Saulger. So pleased it's working and I bet you are as well.
Paul
I'm over the moon, Paul. Euphoric !I hope you're well.
The key point is (at the risk of stating the obvious) anxiety needs to be a prime concern for us AFers.
AF and all the tests can certainly cause anxiety but also I believe anxiety can contribute to AF triggering.....I proved this by revisiting a place on holiday where I had a pre-diagnosis bad episode and I felt the pre-AF build-up and immediately left the area. My AF has also been brought on by visiting medics and before a family event speech.
Everybody is different of course hence I put more emphasis on my individual experiences and less on studies notwithstanding that they are good for drawing your attention to topics possibly overlooked.
My suggestion would be employ every tool you know about to combat anxiety and be patient it takes years rather than months but I have found it worthwhile in reducing my concerns on AF coming back and as an unexpected bonus more not less life enjoyment!
The article seems to be written by someone who has very little knowledge of AF.
Many websites use article writers who do lots of research and then write an article to help a site improve its rankings on search engines.
Anxiety occurs when an AF episode commences and then that anxiety is like putting wood on a fire.
That is my take...
I do firmly believe there is a strong link between stress,anxiety and AF. According to the article it is a ' reasonable factor in promoting AF episodes'Also vice versa!
I am sure my AF was aided and abetted by a period of acute stress ,not the root cause of it,but definetly involved.
I had about seven years of worrying about my youngest daughter before I was diagnosed. I'm pretty sure that was the main cause for me.
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