Last night, I gargled briefly (with plain water), and it triggered an Afib episode. (Will it not leave me alone?!)
Has anyone else experience this?
Last night, I gargled briefly (with plain water), and it triggered an Afib episode. (Will it not leave me alone?!)
Has anyone else experience this?
What stops and starts an AF episode can be the same.
I have heard here of gargling being one action to get back into NSR, I find humming more effective though.
However, I am quite surprised such a brief action tipped you over into AF and can only conclude, if it happens again, that more work is needed on lifestyle choices and possibly (as a last resort) an increase in medication with your cardiologist's approval.
Agree what starts an episode can end it as well. Was about to say, gargling good for vagus nerve as is retching and humming! When I had my gastroscopy I gagged for England, but actually didn't mind for some reason, doc kept apologising. At the end I mentioned this ( every cloud etc) and she had never heard that.I hum constantly and drive friends and family to distraction. Apparently it is a calming , self soothing response of which I am completely unaware!!
Which lifestyle choices?
A search here should bring up lots of examples but stress reduction and diet changes are probably the most common.
In some of us - me included - the food pipe or oesophagus, presses tightly against the left atrium. My guess is that gargling could induce a wave of peristalsis in the pipe and that this would cause it to mildly irritate the heart and perhaps have set off an ectopic beat which could have sparked your AF. Even lifting the head can do this as I find (leaning forwards over the table can also do the same).
Steve
Thank you. Yes, me too with even slightly leaning over the table, especially after I've just eaten.