pre af kicks off

[Tilly1957]

does anyone else get the feeling that an episode is going to kick off for the 2 or 3 days leading up to it? Or am I just hyper sensitive or imagining it? Nothing specific.

[mjames1]

No. Many of us have our canaries in the afib mine

Jim

[Tilly1957 in reply to mjames1]

🤣 hit 154 highest this time. Pip med is good, works pretty fast. Trouble was it stated just as I was going to do an olio food collection and I couldn’t delegate it. Usually I rest when it first kicks off. Oh well, joys of afib and all that. 🤣🥰

[wilsond]

Yes I used to get tetchy and / or teary!

[Tilly1957 in reply to wilsond]

I get little ripples of fast beats, too short to catch on any gadget - would need to be monitored for a few days to catch it. And it’s a almost tightness in the chest, and the almost feeling that i am going to feel that flip of the switch and ut starts, but not quite -oh what fun 🤣🥰

[wilsond in reply to Tilly1957]

Yes recognise that pattern. Horrible

[Tilly1957 in reply to wilsond]

am waiting for appointment with cardiology, surgery pharmacist doesn’t like me taking a pip (verapamil) as often as I have been - says it could be masking another arythmia. Logical I guess

[Tilly1957 in reply to wilsond]

oh, and the copious amounts of wee! 🤣🤣🤣 that is probably my first sign it’s on its way.

[Cookie24 in reply to Tilly1957]

Yes

[Saltcoatslass04 in reply to Tilly1957]

Yes I have the 'wee' thing. Plus my dog /cat start to act differently around they get very clingy.

[Tilly1957 in reply to Saltcoatslass04]

interesting, I will keep an eye on my dog & cat and see if the do you !

[wilsond]

They might be thinking of atrial flutter, I had short bursts of whirring ,quite fast.Hope you get some answers soon

[Tilly1957 in reply to wilsond]

is flutter erratic or a consistent rate while it’s happening? And thank you

[KiwiBlake]

Hard to describe, but I feel the warning signs. If quick enough I can take my PIP Flecainide to avoid an episode. I'll just add that I've only had to take a PIP on 4 separate occasions in the last 6 months. Danger signs normally after a particularly stressful or hectic event, be it work situation or an emotional situation e.g a funeral. I had an ablation last September, and last time I had AF was in January.

Cheers Blake

[Tilly1957 in reply to KiwiBlake]

I don’t take my pip until I am in af? Thank you

[Suesouth]

yes, I know when it’s imminent, don’t know why, just do

[Ppiman]

Yes, I think so. I get increased palpitations and ectopic beats in the days up to an episode AF, although my AF is infrequent and ectopic beats are common, so I might yet be imagining that! It certainly has never yet occurred out of the blue.

Steve

[Tilly1957]

I love the ‘canaries in the afib mine’ analogy 🤣🥰

[Blueflags]

Hi Tilly1957,

Yes I know exactly what you mean, for two or three days before an episode I have an indigestion type of feeling and my chest feels sort of hollow, and I keep getting short bursts of tachycardia, also have flutters which make me feel breathless and slightly faint, sure signs to me that I am due an episode.

I’ve been lucky, I guess, as having had a second ablation in Nov 2020, I’ve only had two episodes since BUT oh my gosh!! I had an episode on Tuesday. Had the warning signs then in the morning I got up and went to the kitchen and Wham! It started, long story short, had to have an ambulance on ‘blues and twos’ into hospital, heart rate jumping up and down from 85-220. Had the normal pre-syncope feeling, (horrible) BUT other symptom was I felt as if I had an ‘ out of body experience’ feeling that I was in a bubble with things going on around me but I wasn’t there and felt very strange, never had that before and worried me sick. They said that it was happening every time my heart rate fell sharply from high to low,

Has anyone else ever experienced that? I never want that again as it was frightening. 😵‍💫😵‍💫 would appreciate your views, thanks

[Denise-]

Hi Tilly, yes I do, sometimes little flutters, jaw aches or anxious. I usually try to 'fix' it by using my 'rescue' to calm me down but at least I know its coming and sometimes it goes away without an episode.

[Tilly1957 in reply to Denise-]

yes, I find it almost frustrating when it goes, ‘cos I know it hasn’t quite finished with me 🤣 X

[Denise- in reply to Tilly1957]

🤣🤣I always think, well not now but I know you'll be back 😅

[Bloodredroses in reply to Denise-]

what is your rescue ? 🧐

[Tilly1957 in reply to Bloodredroses]

to try and stop it from kicking off? I have a sleep, rest, hydrate, make sure I am not too hot, meditate. And if that doesn’t work and it kicks off. I take one verapamil.

[Denise- in reply to Bloodredroses]

It's a herbal medication that helps calm me, consultant quite happy for me to use it, used when flying too

[Tilly1957]

does anyone get an upset bowel (or diarrhoea) with af? (Asking for my sister)

[Finvola in reply to Tilly1957]

Yes, before my AF was controlled by Flecainide, violent diarrhoea was my nightmare - usually at the end of the episode when I reverted to NSR but occasionally during it. Together with the weeing, it made me very nervous about being caught in public having an episode.

[Tilly1957 in reply to Finvola]

thank you, I will let my sister know. Trouble is, she has silent af, was only picked up through pacemaker recordings .

[Cassag]

From my experience when this is happening I have to look at stress, releasing my diaphragm ( deep breath) which gets tight often with stress. The I look at hydration and use electrolyte if necessary and finally make sure I sleep enough. It maybe time to just lower the streess pressures. I try to be economic with what I take on.

[Bloodredroses in reply to Cassag]

Yes, agree totally with all in this .

[sugaredalmonds]

I was only wondering about this myself this morning & thinking of posting a question. For quite sometime the day before or several hours before I will have flutters, over the course of several hours, then wake in the early hours in AF. Also occasionally no flutters but just feel very anxious, as I did last night when going to bed, then some hours later after falling asleep, same thing, I wake up in AF.

[Blimeyohriley]

I get that. My heart just generally starts ‘misbehaving’ for one or two days. I equate it to a bike chain that needs oiling. It sort of feels like it needs a bit of lubricant to make it run smoothly. Then bam! 🤷‍♀️

[tomtom222]

Yes

[4chickens]

yes but difficult to put my finger on what it actual is, more a feeling

[Tilly1957]

weird isn’t it, it’s just a sense of feeling ‘off’ 🤪

[kocoach]

Being in the fight game for a long time, whenever I put on a boxing match on tv it would take it's toll on me, (high BP, rapid HR, mood change in essence a lot of negative reactions) until the girl I was living with told me why do you do this because every time you do, this happens. Well I finally listened to her and stopped and I feel much better and peaceful, even though she's gone I still don't watch the boxing matches any more and feel much better. Hope this helps.

[Tilly1957 in reply to kocoach]

it’s about learning our own triggers I guess

[Bloodredroses in reply to kocoach]

Exactly , that is physical triggering . Out of control situations or stress is my trigger . I think AVOID AVOID .

[Tilly1957 in reply to Bloodredroses]

oh yes, stressful situations I can’t control! I have worked hard to recognise this type of trigger and not stress when there is nothing I can do about it …… ooohhh do I have control issues or what 🤣!

[Bloodredroses in reply to Tilly1957]

yes it becomes very black and white. What to avoid in situations, people and commitments . Over committing . Planning ahead to avoid AF triggering factors. Can’t avoid shock altogether in life , but strictly avoiding potentially stressful situations . It means saying no to family and friends, but AF is a real condition. People talk about heart break for example and hold their heart . It is not just a mental condition .