Naturally low blood pressure and afib

Dear friends...new to the site but have had “lone” afib for 15 years. I am 64 and in otherwise excellent health. It seems possible that my afib was brought on by decades of high level competition in Nordic skiing. This link with extreme exercise has been established in Scandinavian countries. Because of all the years training, I have a naturally low heart rate and low blood pressure. The fact that I am a plant based eater might also contribute to low blood pressure. My question for the members is: are other people experiencing afib after getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom? My afib began years ago when my heart rate was near the anaerobic threshold. I stopped this type of exercise more than 10 years ago. Lately in the last year or so, I have found that I go into afib after getting up at night. Just like I have been fishing for the food/nutrient triggers for years, I am now wondering about the link with low blood pressure...could it be a trigger? (No ablutions or cardiversions to date, and I am on Xarelto).

Thank in advance for any insight...richard

If your AF is vagal, which I’m sure it is given what you describe, then you are probably going into AF at night while asleep and the ANP (atrial natriuretic peptide) that is elevated during AF is making you have to pee.

I doubt blood pressure has much to do with it. Low blood pressure is just a side-effect of chronic fitness, as is AF.

Quote
RichardLP
My afib began years ago when my heart rate was near the anaerobic threshold.

So you got afib during exercise at the anaerobic threshold? That would indicate an adrenergic trigger at that point. Though I concur with what wolfpack said about being vagal and ANP. Are you sure you don't have afib before you pee, or do you just realize you have it after?

Any possibility of apnea?

So how carby is your plant based diet? Some folks can get insulin/glucose disregulation on a high carb plant based diet (I did). Fasting numbers aren't a very reliable indicator. Have you had an A1C?

George

Urinating itself is a 2 way trigger for me at night also.....esp. when i go into afib....i can convert out around half the time simply by urinating....as long as i do it inside of about the 1st 2 min. of the start of the ARR. also a big drink of cold water down the hatch all at once converts me also pretty much and i have TRIGGERED myself INTO afib by urinating also in the middle of night when 95% of my ARR. hit.
Urinating stimulates the vagas nerve....sometimes good sometimes bad.....as a matter of fact with me if i am feeling ok but a little wonky in the heart sense at 3am i may only pee for 15 seconds or so not to stimulate our largest nerve too much cause the longer i pee the more stimulated it gets and on the other hand if i just have gotten the dreaded ARR. i pee slow and as long as possible to convert out.

The golden shower is a powerful factor in my afib world....sounds like yours also...well GL.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/15/2018 10:02PM by vanlith.

Thanks to all for commenting...George...a medium to low carb diet...lots of veggies and some fruit, legumes, nuts and seeds. I really do not eat bread, seldom potatoes or rice, although sweet potatoes frequently...virtually no processed carbs...my sleep is otherwise fine and I do not show symptoms of apnea, except the night time urination, which I have been doing since I was a boy! Again, thanks for responding.

Thanks for the response, Wolfpack. My night time urination is every night...even when I have gone months without an afib episode...

Forgot...no A1C... is that a good idea?