Atrial Fibrillation

[Camelliared]

A-fib. Woke up this morning with horrible irregular heart

beat. Went to surgery for ecg which confirmed this and

had bloods taken to check heart enzymes. By the time I

got home felt pretty much normal. Anyone else experienced

this? I have recovered well from a heart attack 7 months ago

and have done cardio rehab and currently in weekly cardio

class. I also walk a lot and do rebounding. Am suspicious

that it might have been caused by stress as I am a full

time carer of my husband. Dr. Says I am already on all

the appropriate meds.

[dunestar]

The NHS website lists a whole load of things which can spark arrhythmias - This is a quote "Common triggers for an arrhythmia are viral illnesses, alcohol, tobacco, changes in posture, exercise, drinks containing caffeine, certain over-the-counter and prescribed medicines, and illegal recreational drugs." I would say stress as well.

It's difficult with cardiac conditions as we are very aware of what our heart is doing, in a way that we are not with other organs. My experience is you can get into some pretty negative feedback loops quite quickly with anxiety as well. A way of calming everything down is helpful, but it's very much a personal thing as to what will help most.

[tunybgur]

Hi,

An irregular heart beat isn't necessarily AF, AF has particular features and is not considered immediately life threatening (it's quite common), but if it becomes persistent it will need treating especially as blood clots could form in the heart and cause a stroke, but this happens over time and is treated with warfarin or similar anticoagulants.

Unfortunately HA survivors (I am also one) do tend to suffer more from various arrythmias such as AF. One possible reason is that scar tissue forms on the heart where the muscle was damaged which can cause the electrical signals that operate the heart muscle to become a bit confused.

I suffered AF which is fortunately under control.

I still have occasional flare ups with certain triggers, for me these are cold and flu remedies that contain Phenylephrine Hydrochloride (Lemsip etc), liquorice, and good old fashioned stress, most arrythmias have triggers, learn what yours are and try to avoid them.

Try not to get stressed, but there are many effective treatments out there if required, but if these attacks become more common you must see the doc.

Good luck

[Qualipop]

I just had the same thing happening to me for several months. I kept a record of when, for how long and my BP and a pattern emerged that it always happened about an hour or two after taking both my diuretic and my BP tablet and occasionally but very rarely later in the day. I am still waiting for a holter monitor to try to catch an event but meanwhile I separated the two tablets but 2 hours. Now, instead of attacks lasting 90 minutes plus, they are much rare and only last 2 or 3 minutes. I took the record to my GP who was delighted and does think it's a reaction between the two tablets. It may be worth keeping such a record to see if there's a pattern to it.

[OrdinaryGuy]

I have had an atrial fibrillation condition for some ten years so speak from experience but not as a medical specialist. I think you take advice from the GP/Cardiologist on your atrial fibrillation event. if this is your first event you should keep a record of any other that occur and how long they last. if they come intermittently the are called paroxysmal I think. It is important the condition does not become permanent. There are specialist medicines for this condition so don't know if they tie in with what you already take. Speak also to the British Heart Foundation Help Line if necessary. Best wishes.