Waking at night with racing heart and palpitations.

[Crackerchops]

Hi all,

I am waiting for aorta valve replacement and with the new out break of Omicron I realise the wait is going to be longer then normal. I've been waiting since June last year so not too long. I am getting stressed waking up several times through the night with my heart racing and palpitations. I am on Beta blockers low dose. I realise no one can give medical advice I just wonder if anyone else is experience this through the night?I am on high blood pressure meds and medication for anxiety.

[jeanjeannie50]

Yes, a lot of people tend to have AF episodes at night. I've heard these attacks are normally vagally triggered. Are you eating your last meal of the day fairly late? Sometimes having smaller meals can help too. Humming or repeating the word ohmmmmm can help strengthen the vagus nerve. I've had AF for 16 years and can post you a list of things on here that may help, if you would like me to?

Jean

[Crackerchops in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thanks Jean,I would really appreciate some helpful techniques.

Kind regards

Allen

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to Crackerchops]

Here it is:

Having had AF for 16 years, three ablations and numerous cardioversions my advice to people who have just been diagnosed with AF is the following:

1. You are most unlikely to die from AF. I used to think that the way my heart bounced around I would surely be found dead next day. Still here though!

2. Changing your diet to a more plant based one, avoiding any foods containing artificial additives, not allowing yourself to become dehydrated, cutting back on sugar and losing weight (if it's needed) will all have a beneficial effect on your AF. Artificial sweeteners were a sure trigger for my attacks. How I wish I'd known all of this before having any of my ablations. Would I have listened if anyone had told me? Probably not, because I believed ablations would cure me - three didn't! They have helped some people though and my AF now is not so severe.

3. This is a hard one, but looking at gadgets that show your pulse and AF will make you anxious and anxiety feeds AF. I was obsessed with what my heart was doing for about the first ten+ years of my AF journey and my attacks were so debilitating I'd end up in a hospital ward, it has taken me a long time to take my mind off this subject and get on with living. The less I think about it, the better I feel. Now I used to feel cross with people who suggested I stop looking at my pulse rate machines, I thought that their AF couldn't be as bad as mine and they didn't understand how poorly attacks made some of us feel. I would get cross with anyone who said they could still go on holiday and carry on life as normal. They made me feel evil, by not understanding how ill I felt! In our minds AF is only as bad as we have experienced, for some people attacks are mild for others they're more severe.

4. Make sure you don't slouch, or unwittingly do shallow breathing. If you do your heart will protest.

5. Supplement with magnesium (I use glycinate from YourSupplements and also take vitamins B12, D3, C and zinc). I feel really well and there's nothing I can't do now, despite being in constant low rate AF. Or at least I think I am, I don't check these days.

Dr Sanjay Gupta of York Cardiology (in the U.K.) has made some really helpful easy to understand YouTube presentations.

I will post a link to them.

youtube.com/watch?v=-DSRf-J...(Not working as expected?)

[Meme50 in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Thank you for useful information 😊

[ETHEL103]

Yes I have palps and racing heart usually when trying to sleep.In persistant a fib.Its horrible.

[HeartofLondon]

I get that too. I had 6x CABG. I put my tachycardia down to drinking expresso coffee late.

[233444]

hi…I had a triple heart bypass a year ago…I was fine until recently,…now every night I wake with heart racing,and what feels like blood circulation issues in my riggt arm…and constant pins and needles in my left leg…i can sympathise..it’s very frustrating and scary…Im not sure if it’s medication side effects or something else..I’ve had an ecg done recently.and bloods taken and a holter test..all say ok…I now live a very healthy lifestyle ,so just at a loss….can I ask you please ..do you get the what feels like squeezing of your arms at night ?my heart races and then arms tighten as well….really annoying happening every night……good luck .kind regards paul