![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
Hi Susan Your story is familiar to most of the people that post on here. When I was first diagnosed as a Paroxysmal "Fibber" a year ago I became obsessed with my pulse and my fingers were rarely off my wrists monitoring each beat of my heart. Each sensation of an "extra" or "missed" beat would lead to a frantic dive for the wrist and a rise in my anxiety with the oby BlueSkies - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello Elizabeth, Welcome to this Board - it is a good place to be! Like you, I am not a Lone Afibber, in that my afib is permanent. The people on this BB are very gracious in allowing me to post here and ask questions. It is a wonderful place to come for encouragement and a listening ear. If you are up to sitting at the computer for a while, read back through the archived Bulletin Boards (seby Emmie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Great Raybok! - I think we all need to play a little, if it means a small piece of dark chocolate once in a while, a walk on the beach in the rain or baking cookies with a grandchild and nibbling one while they are still hot. You notice I said "small", "nibble" and "one" I have discovered that a cure for something boring is moderation. I refuse to let afib control myby Sharon Glass - AFIBBERS FORUM
Jamie and George, I too have afib and have been afib free for over a year now. I have given up what i think might trigger my attacks Alcohol, Caffeine, Decongestants and Carbonated Sodas. My doctor also gave me foltx to lower my homeocysteine level which it did. But and I mean but i still sit in my evening chair at night with a feeling that the beast could come back at any time. I am onby steve Daley - AFIBBERS FORUM
Cynthia, I am a senior myself and a little ashamed that I'm not handling this "thing" better than I am. I will say I have improved quite a bit. Episodes used to scare me so much I'd bop into an anxiety attack along with the AFIB. Now, I just get mad. As to the baby aspirin. As I said my cocktail seems to be very delicately balanced. Whenever, a Doc takes me off a pill, I starby Darla Shehadeh - AFIBBERS FORUM
Since I woke up on average every 1 to 1 and a half hours getting the irregular beats that it feels like an a-fib attack and then it does not go into afib I came home from work sick drank v8 X2 plus topral even popped an anti anxiety and still this bastard won't leave me alone. Menatlly i am not in a good place any suggestions. Scheduled for an ablate Dec 19th cannot wait!by Pete a Yank in Toronto - AFIBBERS FORUM
John - In the Conference Room - see the top box and click ... there is a discussion on MVP Session #25 that may be helpful to you. Look to magnesium deficiency first. You might consider taking supplemental magnesium if you can locate a source where you are. Spend some time in the Conference Room as it provides a wealth of information on the many considerations of what causes afib. It can be dby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
I have reason for celebration today. It was June 12 when I had my last afib, which lasted 6 hours. I have really been working hard on identifying my triggers, making sure I am consistent with my supplements, eating properly and staying away from stress as much as humanly possible. I believe there were a couple of times during these six months when I was weak and ate something I shouldn't,by Sharon - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sam, I just looked up Buteyko breathing at www.pe2000.com/butyko.htm and I realized that many of things that I have discovered on my own through trial and error that seem to help with anxiety and afib were features of "Buteyko breathing." I have always found relief through shallow breathing (rather than Yogic breathing) , and relaxing the muscles, especially the shoulders, tension iby Carol A. - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz, I think a lot of us have dealt with panic or anxiety at one time or another while dealing with afib. I hated traveling or going out because I never knew when it would occur. I stayed with my young grandchildren alot and used to worry that something might happen. Then a wise person asked me if I knew I was probably having panic attacks. Then I found this site and it helped educate me soby Barb - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello all. I afibbed 2 1/2 years ago. And it brought back an anxiety disorder I thought was long gone. But...I do not have anxiety attacks very much, about 5 times a year. Although, I have a constant fear of going back into afib. And my fear grows on how many ectopics I have for the day. Some days I have none for weeks at a time, then bam, I'll have 20-30 for a couple weeks, then go riby Arnold - AFIBBERS FORUM
Liz, I think all of us who have afib have come face-to-face with panic or anxiety related to afib. I know when I was first diagnosed, I was afraid to even leave the house. I would go to the store and rush through. I was always one to attend plays, long days of shopping etc. I used to get in my car and drive anywhere with no fear. I wouldn't go anywhere. Since I have learned so much about aby Sharon - AFIBBERS FORUM
I believe the technical term for this is called a "sleep jerk". I get them to, more often now than before afib. Right before falling asleep. But I'm new to this, and could be combination of alot of things for me, new meds, no booze in my system when going to sleep, anxiety, etc...but sleep jerk I believe is the term. brianby Brian - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello all. Met with Cardiologist EP for initial visit and they did another EKG, Blood work, and Echo, and he said that my echo is fine. Had a long talk with him, and went through alot of emotional/anxiety/worry concerns with him about being 30 and at a loss for why this is happening to me. He said my heart is normal, looks good, and no issues. No structural damage or anything. Blood labs areby Brian - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello all. I haven't posted anything really or responded because I've been really having a tough time with this emotionally. My anxiety level has consumed me and having trouble sleeping at night afraid to wake up again with afib. Can't eat, but what I do force down is mainly healthy veggies and protein. Try not to eat after 7. Quit smoking permanently and drinking until for noby Brian - AFIBBERS FORUM
Waking up sweating is a sure sign of a hypoglycemic attack. The calming drugs will help reduce the anxiety but will do nothing to correct the basic imbalance of your blood sugar handling process which comes from improper food consumption compounded by alcohol you mention. These drugs will just add another dimension to two the two other addictions or dependencies so keep that in mind. Good luby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM
Thanks so much for all the neat responses. I had no idea I could get a support structure like this for what happened. Thanks for writing. I still a bit traumatized I suppose since it's still fresh in my head and it completely threw me for a loop, had no idea, but I honestly feel much better after spending time on this site and reading responses. I have started Lexapro and have Xanax to curbby Brian - AFIBBERS FORUM
Brian, I think also you want to fine the best EP you can find where u are. You will definitely have a tough time ridding yourself of some of the habits you have but I am encouraging you. YOU CAN DO IT. When i first had my afib attack i have lots of anxiety also and even saw a psychologist. He helped a lot and i also keep some xanex around and use it when the anxiety gets very severe. I dontby steve Daley - AFIBBERS FORUM
Hello. Thought maybe I could get a little advice. I have been doing alot of research lately and am new to the Afib sites. I am 30 yrs. old, and 1 week ago today normal routine alarm clock goes off start to get out of bed for work and my heart is going crazy. When arriving at the E.R., they tell me I'm in a-fib, and about 6 hrs. later after a few different types of anti-arrithmythias (sp?by Brian - AFIBBERS FORUM
I had my catheter ablation last Dec. 22 at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, NY. Ten months have passed and I am "cured"! No afib bouts and no meds! I need to thank Dr. Burr Hall for the successfull operation. The procedure lasted over four hours. I stayed over night and came home the next day. I am back to playing basketball, drinking beer, drinking coffee and can have ice wby Doug - AFIBBERS FORUM
Mark, I agree,everyone is different and we have to remember that above all. I react to almost every medication in a negative manner. Everything from pain killers to antibiotics. My doctor said one time that if I ever got seriously ill, he wouldn't know what to do with me. It is not because I have built up a resistance to them because when I was young we didn't get a lot of antibiotics,by Sharon - AFIBBERS FORUM
We all do react differently. It is amazing to see the different effects on people when a single drop of a pupil dilating drop is instilled. Some people dilate in 10 mins and others are hardly dilated after 50 mins. There are many reasons for this that i won't go into but it is still truely amazing. Markby Mark Robinson - AFIBBERS FORUM
Sue, you are sooo right about us all being different it never fails to amaze me how something will affect one person and not another, it seems to be trial and error, I have friends on Sotalol for various reasons and they are all fine on it, but it didn't suit me. I was thrilled to read that you are down to half your dose, I was only wondering about that yesterday, well done you. Heatherby Heather - AFIBBERS FORUM
Steve, It really is yet another case of everybody being different and no one drug suiting us all. Over the years since I was diagnosed I have been put on - and taken off - all the available antiarrythmics such as Flecanide, Amiodarone etc., with horrible results which hospitalised me. The only drug which suited me was Sotalol and I know it does not suit a lot of people on this board, but I hadby Sue Bowden - AFIBBERS FORUM
It's a question of what comes first . We are all different. I had anxiety attacks long before diagnosis of AF. Xanax was a big help. Having AF can make one anxious. Even in quiet times we are sub-consciously wondering when the other shoe will drop. Talk to your doctor. Half a 5 mg table twice a day helps me with anxiety. Anxiety attacks can be almost as scary as an AF attack. During a partiby Darla Shehadeh - AFIBBERS FORUM
Steve, what you describe is very similar to what I felt on Sotalol, I hated the drug, I felt spaced out and suffered from panic attacks, also legs that showed no desire to climb stairs, when I told the specialist he changed me onto flec., this improved a lot of things, the panic attacks stopped and I was able to do stairs without discomfort, of course the flec brings it's own problems and, lby Heather - AFIBBERS FORUM
Strange visual disturbances are common with the anti-arhythmics. In my case (Flecainide) everything was fine so long as I was looking straight ahead. But, if I rotated my eyeballs left or right the eyes could not coordinate and produced a double image. The distortion was so bad for large deflections that I had to learn to close one eye whenever my eyes rotated so I could tell where things actuaby Wil Schuemann - AFIBBERS FORUM
i have been doing well staying in nsr with sotolol 80mg morning and 80 in evening but i have days of anxiety internal nervous feeling and another symptom seems to be a little bit of out of clarity focus not dizzy where room spins or stuff just not totally on the beam. Has anyone experienced this with their drugs or is it just anxiety created by my thinking or doing.by steve Daley - AFIBBERS FORUM
jb You asked your EPs nurse for an "absolute" answer (success rates), and she gave you a "relative" answer (rates are better if you ... etc.) You should press her (or your EP) for an answer to this question:, "What is Dr ___'s success rate (and complication rate) for patients with my type of AF?" Then you have a basis for comparison with other EP/proceduby Dick - AFIBBERS FORUM
Heres a little collection of input from Pete (from the previous BB before this one) during the time he was suffering from and investigating side effects of amiodarone. This is only a few; there are many more but gives an idea of what can happen if your biochemistry is incompatible with amiodarone. Just gives some insight to why people need to proceed with caution when taking this drug. Jacby Jackie - AFIBBERS FORUM