Stress for me the lead contributor to AF - professional help to reduce.

[secondtry]

I have no doubt that having vagally induced Lone Paroxysmal AF that stress was the major factor that triggered my AF - both directly re business, teenage child issues, loss of parents, domestics and also indirectly, as a result of stress, eating too quickly generally, sometimes junk food to mention just one example.

I dare say genetics had a part to play also but without the stress I may well have not been pushed over the edge. Hindsight is a thing of beauty!

If you are wanting practical stress busting suggestions, you may be interested in this link by an experienced neurologist covid19criticalcare.com/fiv...

It caught my attention as by pure coincidence, I found myself during my AF remission of now 10 yrs adopting all 5 of these suggestions daily. So if it works for one person it may help you 🤔.

[CDreamer]

Fabulous article - thank you so much for posting. My husband and I just celebrated our first anniversary living in a retirement village which we moved to for precisely the reasons noted in the article. I saw my husband’s cognitive decline massively after COVID infection and because he had no social life - no music as choir stopped, no voluntary activity etc. he had little or no social interaction expect with me - somewhat trying for both of us 24/7 for the period 2020-2022.

We now live in a lovely village with like minded, active and pro-active people. Hubby is now the villages’ choir master, we know the name of every person in the village and have either coffee or lunch with at least 2-4 people every day. I am active in several of the Village Clubs. Whilst not all the cognitive damage can be reversed, we are happier and feel more fulfilled as we are no longer in each other’s pockets 24/7! I cannot recommend this way of living highly enough - but most people leave it too late to make the move. We live in a lovely cottage and look after ourselves but help and care can be arranged at a moment’s notice, so many stressors have been removed. The main advantage is that unlike when you move into a ‘normal’ building or street the place is designed so that you do get to know your neighbours, socialise and be active.

It is nothing like the traditional idea of a ‘care’ home but a lively and friendly place to live.

[secondtry in reply to CDreamer]

Congrats on going for it! Thanks for reminding me about this option. It is an excellent way to improve social interaction in a different format for our age group.

[Teresa156]

Thankyou so much for this.

I can see so many similarities in what you’ve experienced, in your life to my own and ah yes, hindsight is a wonderful thing and so many times I have wished I could go back 20 years and do it all differently.

Like you, I’m convinced that stress was a significant part of how I developed my lone PAF and with many lifestyle changes too, I’m managing to keep it away - for now. I will certainly give these 5 steps a go 😊

Thankyou again,

Teresa

[secondtry in reply to Teresa156]

Great give it a go. As it is difficult to tell which changes have the most beneficial effect, my approach has been to throw the kitchen sink at it and then after it has gone away, slowly reverse those changes that were really missed, one at time.

Many I would not want to reverse as they have benefited my life.

[Teresa156 in reply to secondtry]

You have done so well keeping it gone for so long, it shows it is possible and a good positive mindset must help.

All the best to you.

[Auriculaire]

Great article. I am a keen gardener and love being outside . Although I like the actual tasks of gardening ( except mulching!) being outside among the plants , watching the insects and listening to the birds is very relaxing. It also fulfils my creative instincts and is my sole creative outlet since I retired as a dancer and dance teacher. Before that I spent huge chunks of my life doing 2 creative ( and physically demanding ) activities. My husband is a keen motor cyclist . Though at nearly 79 and 71 we cannot hack the long rides we did when younger we still always go on short holidays on the bike and are lucky that we have the splendours of the Massif Central on our doorstep. There is very little to beat biking through through the Tarn or Jonte gorges on a beautiful day with Beethoven's Pastoral coming through the earpiece in the helmet. Though I have to admit I neglect listening to music other than that. I do love reading though and since I learned to read as a child have very rarely been bored when left to my own devices. Today is a red letter day. The house martens have returned. They come every year to nest in our eaves and treat us to a marvellous aerial ballet that we can watch when eating on the balcony. Oh for some better weather! This has been the coldest wettest May for years. Maybe the birds will have brought that.

[secondtry in reply to Auriculaire]

Booking my holiday already 🤣. Seriously though the beauty of Nature is so absorbing that it changes the agenda, beneficial even if it is for a short while. As an academic said recently 'Nature has its own pulse'. .....very appropriate for us AFers.