Sleep position

I have to sleep on my right side with the head of my bed elevated.

If I lie on my back, my chest feels weird. Hard to explain, not a pressure or a squeezing but not unlike a pressure or squeezing too. On a scale of 1-10 the discomfort is like a 0.5 or less. Just an odd feeling.

Also if I lie on my left side, I get thumps.

And it depends on how well I feel generally and how rested up I am etc.

Anybody have anything to say about this?

I don't have much to say about it, other than I have that same experience. It is kind of a weird pressure or squeeze. I sleep the same way (elevated on right). Will be curious to hear from others.

I use a wedge pillow to elevate my chest and head and sleep on my right side. If I sleep on my left side, my PVCs get worse and I can feel the palpitations more strongly.

IT is widely reported, even only anecdotally, that sleeping on one's left side is worse for AF than the other three positions (supine, right side, prone). I established that limitation for myself several times. I would have had a wobbly day AF-wise, go to bed, and almost always lie supine until the first 'jerk', and then turn onto my right side to bring on the bliss. While lying still supine, my heart would be a bit thumpy, not bad, but as soon as I was alert from the first jerk, my heart would be in NSR...without fail. One-hundred point zero, zero, one percent. I can't explain it, but I was so grateful for this consistency. If I ever turned over onto my left side, within a minute I would get a palpitation or a series of them, at which I'd have to turn over. It wasn't 100%, but so often that it ruined sleeping that way until I got my second ablation.

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gloaming
It wasn't 100%, but so often that it ruined sleeping that way until I got my second ablation.

So no more limitations after your 2nd ablation?

My second went like the first, but I have had no other arrhythmia since then...20 months now. When he came bedside after I was alert, the EP said they were re-ablating the third of the four pulmonary veins when my heart started beating normally. They monitored for a few minutes (he didn't say they challenged my heart with isoproterenol or adenosine to be sure...) and then released me to recovery. He said he didn't even bother to cardiovert me, which is his normal practice prior to sending his patients out of the cath lab. Something about my heart's reversion to NSR was so compelling, maybe on the scopes, that they shrugged and sent me out. I'm so grateful...you have no idea...well, maybe you do.

My suggestion is to try and see if this is acid reflux related. I had the same issue long ago, fixing my diet solved it. A quick test would be to not eat after 6pm and take some H2 blockers like famotidine and see how it goes over 2-3 days, if it helps it then you most likely have silent acid reflux issues triggering vagal nerve, which is irritating your heart.

I suddenly last month developed PVCs. My former EP experimented in 2019 after treating pvcs with tenormin and they stopped cold turkey. Same after my 2020 ablation-pvcs stopped cold turkey.

Currently I have 100% burden. I can stop them with Atenolol for hours (10) but the moment I lay down in bed they return at 100%. I take Prilosec and I don’t lay down after eating small meals.

Like you, sleep position triggers this. I use a sleep apnea mask and machine. I tried last night to sleep sitting up on my couch. I woke up in palpitations because I had slumped in my sleep. This positional sleeping is new to me. My discomfort is disabling.

I've tried famotidine a couple of times with no changes. I had a lot of uncomfortable beats last night, so I used a couple of regular antacids and that seemed to help. I don't know if I will be able to repeat that, but I hope so.

I hope you get a handle on this. What you are going through sounds awful.

Falling asleep sitting up can crunch the major blood vessels in your neck too when your head falls forward, I heard. That is not good. I know pressure on the neck vessels as with an ill fitting scuba wetsuit that is too tight around the neck can throw your heart off even if you are young.

Cannot sleep on my left side... BIG problem for causing my heart to miss beats, or even into afib! Been like this for me for 30 years now.

I have experienced an onset of AF when sleeping on my left side especially if I detect acid reflux or indigestion. I have noticed these conditions can trigger an AF episode. I used to take probiotics for many years but stopped about 6 months ago due to bloating. I still get AF about every 4-6 weeks and it lasts for 1-4 hours and I take 50mg of metroprolol. Sleeping on my right side or supine position makes a difference. I strongly believe that there is a gastrointestinal connection to AF.

I can perform magic temporarily to get to NSR but the second I lay down on either side or on my back, I’m a racehorse with PVCs. I don’t know why. I tried sleeping on a wedge to see if it was GERD and I’m taking Prilosec.