Can anyone else "feel" afibs lurking?

Hey all,

Quick recap: Vagal afibber, usually had episodes at night or early morning. Often triggered by rolling over at the wrong time / bending over / "waking up" in afib.. Severe stress is (I think) what caused episodes to be more frequent.

I've learned to control them (for now) because I can feel this condition in my stomach/chest area which feels like "anxiety tightness", but usually is some kind of indigestion related thing. If I feel this condition and get up and move around, or stay where I am, I won't go into an afib state. If I feel this way and I move from my side to back, or bend over, or slouch over, BOOM, I would slip into afib.

Has anyone else had this? Where they can kind of feel "conditions are right" for an afib?

Erich

Yes def I can tell. sometimes I think (maybe not possible), but I think I can stop them just by
thinking no dont do it or moving, get up walk, etc.
Other times it just hits me off guard.
The bending over or if I am working on the ground and get up quickly can usually get me also.

Hello friends,

Oh me too- mine are usually vagal but lately stress is a big issue. I also have to be very careful of the heat and humidity.
It feels like something buidling up and needs to be released for 12 or 24 hours and then settles down for awhile.

Lisa

Thanks all for confirming I'm not crazy

Erich, your description matches my experience very well - same thing - rolling over is main trigger and I can often feel it coming - it is a sensation in my solar plexus area. One thing that has helped to varying degrees is physically pushing down my stomach. I'm starting to do that when I roll over (means being awake to do it of course) and it seems to be working. I think stress is one of the things that is a precursor, but not always. Maybe potassium -sodium levels, maybe other things.

Have you been tested for sleep apnea? My afib episodes often came on like those you described. Several months after I started using CPAP, my episodes ceased. I wake up in the morning and "just know" I won't be going into afib. So great!