rough day

[Rdiehl01]

hi all…ugh intermittent palpitations from 2 pm until 6 pm. Then started again at 8 pm and still have them and it’s 10 pm. Please help…any suggestions?? And please pray…

[jeanjeannie50]

You may have seen this list before these are all the tips I’ve saved over the years, given by forum members, for stopping AF. None have been written by me, all from other members here (names have been removed for privacy):

I am a therapist in private practice for over 20yrs.One of my therapies is yoga based. Having quite an accurate knowledge of anatomy, neurology and physiology also having PAF I have found this technique helps me immensely when my heart is fluttering like crazy. Make yourself comfortable either on a bed or lying on the floor, position a pillow under you head, Raise your left arm in an extension position as if you are doing the backward crawl. Stretch as much as you can and imagine that it is stretching your heart muscle...I bend my arm and position my hand under my head palm upwards.. Stay in that position for as long as you can or until the fluttering subsides...At the same time I think of something pleasant. It does not matter what you think about as long as it is a pleasant thought for you. This stops my heart jumping about almost instantly....I also place my right hand over my heart area...Don't panic and just keep calm thinking pleasant thoughts....I do hope this helps you. Kind Regards. C

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As someone else who finds yoga breathing and some positions helpful, I would love to try (xxxx) suggestion, but lying down flat tends to make things worse for me. My most helpful position, taught me by a lovely yoga teacher, is based on a yoga forward bend. I sit up with my legs outstretched in front of me and a pillow under my knees, and then bend forward from the hips not the waist, with my arms relaxed but outstretched towards my ankles, and breath deeply and slowly. It's not so good on a full stomach and is more comfortable with your knees slightly apart, and I guess you have to be a bit flexible to find it comfortable, but it has proved to be a great help.

I agree with (xxxx) that staying calm and focusing on something pleasant is a must, and I've even fallen asleep like this as most of my episodes occur at night.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, like AV nodal re-entry, some people have recurrent rapid rhythms that are infrequent and easy to self-control by using various methods to increase neural slowing to the AV node (so-called, "vagal manoeuvres"). Using these manoeuvres, one can sometimes stop the arrhythmia. These manoeuvres include:

Bearing down forcefully like you're having a bowel movement for 5-10 seconds, then slowly exhaling in the neck while lying down for approximately 5 seconds

Placing very cold (soaked in ICE water) cloth on the face abruptly.

Coughing forcefully

Rubbing the carotid artery (only one side at a time, never both) ---------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's a yoga breathing exercise that has worked for me before. Lie on your back, bend your knees up so they are above your hips and your lower legs are at 90 degrees. Take a breath in for a count of 4 then breathe out for a count of at least 8. As you breathe out, bring your knees into your chest so you curl into a ball. When you think you've got all the air out of your lungs, try and breathe out more! Breathe in again for 4 and release your legs out to the starting position. Repeat several times. It helps to reset the diaphragm and focus should be on a good long out-breath.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So, after discovering that making myself sneeze stops Afib. I have discovered another novel way to stop an attack. It involves drinking a litre bottle of water while holding my nose. It's especially effective if I experience almost panic as I can't get a breath. I don't always finish the bottle but find that's not always necessary to gain the desired effect. Works especially well if I catch an attack early.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This works like magic, and works every time.

A quarter teaspoon of sea salt mixed with 10 ounces of warm water. drink that and then put a smaller amount on your hand and lick it off. Within a minute my afib stops.

This may sound like a "wind up" but believe me it works, for me anyway.

Hope this is of use to someone.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found if I lay down on the floor and put my feet up against a wall, it seemed to stop my SVT after a few minutes, not sure why it worked, but it didn’t work for AFib though.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please let me know if any of these procedures work.

Jean

[Rainfern]

Hi Rdiehl. I’ve had a few illnesses and conditions in my time, and as a teenager even had open heart surgery. But Afib is the pits as far as I’m concerned. So just want to say I hope your heart soon settles, and it will do. I was relieved when someone explained to me once that having feelings of doom was a regular symptom when in acute Afib. But you won’t die of Afib, not if you are under medical care. Theres a whole lot of us on this forum who have felt just like you with palpitations, racing and crazy heartbeats. We’re here, alive and well. Keep us posted, let us know how it goes.

[pip_pip in reply to Rainfern]

I thought these feelings of doom were just me. Horrible...

[AustinElliot in reply to pip_pip]

I don't know if mine were feelings of doom, but I think I got pretty close with the initial AF diagnosis. First stab at my mortality, despite having other family pass away.

It took a good 2-3 months for it to really leave.

[peachtreepiggy in reply to pip_pip]

Nope, not just you. I freak out when the a fibs start up. It is a feeling of loss of control and there is nothing I can do about it.

[Rainfern]

Here’s what I did to calm ectopic beats and also to help accept rather than fight the Afib (which just increased the panic and raised HB):

Box breathing: Breathe in for count of 4, hold for a count of 4, breathe out for a count of 4, breathe in for count of four, hold for count of 4 andso on.

I can keep that going for hours if need be!

[Rainfern in reply to Rainfern]

Whoops just noticed I forgot to say hold for count of 4 between outbreath and in breath too!

[Ppiman]

All I can say is welcome to the club. I luckily have a 48-hour monitor on at present so that will have caught yesterday's raft of palpitations.

Mine, like yours, weren't AF - but they might as well have been. It's hard to put them to the back of the mind, but that's what I try to do.

Has your doctor suggested trying an extra dose of beta-blocker or similar? Mine has when things are bad. Actually, I don't find it helps much.

Steve

[peachtreepiggy in reply to Ppiman]

I have ativan (lorazepam) to take for anxiety when they really get bad. I don't know if it helps the physical a fibs, but it helps me mentally!

[Ppiman in reply to peachtreepiggy]

Doctors in the UK are reluctant to help with drugs like that, but I have read that it (and similar benzodiazepine drugs) can be a great help when used occasionally.

Steve

[peachtreepiggy in reply to Ppiman]

I only use it sporadically. I realize the risk of dependency at my age (69)!

[Ppiman in reply to peachtreepiggy]

I am given diazepam for muscle spasm to use occasionally and I do take that for heart anxiety.

I have read that for over two thirds of people, the drug is not habit forming, but no one knows who the one third is, I suppose.

I think the drug is valuable and should be used more often as it’s unique and far better than SSRI drugs (in my view). Used with care and only as a kind of rescue therapy, it’s unusually good at times. One downside I find is a slight increase in anxiety a couple of days after I take it.

Steve

[Alphakiwi]

Hi i have permanent AF and its not nice. So far ive found that taking a 40mg verapamil tablet when palpitations get really bad slows it up and i have a pacemaker set at 60 so my ticker wont go any slower . Find out what triggers you have. Like eating rich food or alcohol long slow excersising on a stationary cycle helps me. Just keep your life as steady andcool as you can.

[peachtreepiggy in reply to Alphakiwi]

I can't seem to find any triggers! Usually the episodes come when I least expect it, like when sitting on a chair watching TV. A few times they have occurred after a bad night's sleep, or a couple times, I have awoken from sleep with my heart racing. I am going to look into a sleep doctor to see if I also have apnea.

[Ppiman in reply to peachtreepiggy]

I think a slower heart, one that occurs while watching TV, but example, allows the ectopic beats to pass through the AV node more easily causing a ”missed beat”, i.e. an atrial “ectopic” beat, felt as “palpitations”. It’s said these can set off AF but my current theory is that they are, in essence, a kind of AF in themselves. AF “proper” is when the atrium gets full of these beats and bombards the node with so many that it, causes the tachycardia that we then call “AF”.

Steve

[Cavalierrubie]

Did you do anything to trigger your AF? I triggered mine yesterday with lifting a heavy object and not had an episode for some time. I find my AF stops quicker if l stay calm and relax as much as possible. I carry on as if nothing has happened. It has taken a long time for me to do this. I tell myself l have had it before, it will go and won’t kill me. I close my eyes and imagine l am sitting in a deck chair and sunbathing. I suffer with anxiety so it is possible to do. Hope by the time you get this you are better.

[108cat]

I just read your post, so sorry and sending prayers.

Like others I find deep breathing can calm the heart and also calm the mind which is really important. First thing I do is splash really cold water on my face, and drink a glass of cold water, then sit down to do slow deep breathing focussing on the outbreath, trying to control the mind. Sticking with the breathing until I feel I can take a natural deep breath. My understandingis that these things can affect the vagus nerve which controls the heart. If it's not working within say an hour I take PIP flecainide which usually works for me.

We're all with you, it can be terrifying. After all, the heart is the engine, the core of our being so when that is out of kilter it's frightening.

I hope it's settled by now ...

[Janith]

Hold your nose tightly and try to breathe out as you are holding your nose … for palpitations … do this a few times … also palpitations are sooooo annoying … l have found that they are related to bloating … so found a miracle tablet … it totally stopped my palpitations as well as my afib attacks. Why? Who knows? It is called Puritans Pride Multi-Enzyme Formula … take one in the morning before breakfast and one in the evening before dinner. I get mine off of Amazon. Very reasonably priced. It’s just the perfect formula. I have been taking it maybe three months … but zero Palps and zero afib and l feel great … probably too early to say it will cure afib but certainly has cured my palpitations. (Thus far)