Episodes of Afib

Hi everyone
I am new to this forum, so please forgive me if I am repeating a question that you have already covered- I can’t seem to find an answer anywhere.
I had my first episode of Afib just over a year ago. I was in hospital for a couple of days while they tried to stabilised things and then sent home with the usual mix of meds. My rhythm was all over the place for 6 days and then suddenly reverted to normal. Over the next couple of weeks the doctors reduced my meds and now I am only on Apixaban as a precaution. I found the whole episode devastating as I had considered myself fairly fit and healthy. Having said that, and with hindsight I am convinced the Afib was brought on by too much alcohol, caffeine and stress. I haven’t had any alcohol or caffeine at all since the episode, and have tried to reduce stress. My weight, BMI, blood pressure are all good and I get plenty of exercise. My question is this….. When I was in Afib it was very obvious (very rapid, very irregular heart beat). I have not had another episode like that, but I do get little heart flutters lasting a few seconds, quite often during the day. Is this Afib? I am hoping I have got the situation under control, but maybe I am kidding myself and these little episodes are still Afib. Can anyone shed any light? Thank you

Welcome!

First suggestion is to change your handle or userid and not use your email address. As these posts are public, a bot is likely to scrape off your email address and you'll get no end of spam.

Alcohol in excess is a common trigger known as "Holiday Heart." In more modest quantities, it can also be a trigger, but this is more individual.

Exercise is a two edged sword. For a sedentary person, adding in modest amounts of exercise can be beneficial. For those who are very fit and have a predisposition to afib, exercise, especially long duration higher intensity can be a trigger. Many times this is a vagal (parasympathetic) trigger that is delayed until you are relaxed. See vagal and adrenergic here: [www.afibbers.org] Chronic fitness was my path to afib 17 year ago. Reading the posts in this thread will give you a perspective on this. I've got a number in this thread and explain my approach [www.afibbers.org] My simple approach is to always breathe through my nose on any long duration activity. If I have to breathe through my mouth, I slow down and use my breathing as an intensity limit.

What you may be feeling are runs of "ectopic" beats, which could be either premature atrial contractions (PAC's) or premature ventricular contractions (PVC's), or short runs of either. They are generally benign. You can get a Kardia device to capture ECG's on your smartphone and see them: [store.kardia.com]

In my experience, if I get my electrolytes balanced, ectopic beats and afib are much less. I personally take magnesium to just below bowel tolerance (starting low dose and slowly working up). I put about 2 tsp of potassium citrate powder (about 4 g potassium) in a liter of water with 1/2 to 1 tsp of salt (NaCl) and sip it over the day. My version of timed release as a bolus dose of potassium will be excreted by healthy kidneys. I limit calcium - no supplements and minimize it in food. I consume 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of taurine powder a day. Excess electrolytes will be excreted by healthy kidneys. If you have any kidney issues, ignore this paragraph.

Mouth breathing at night can predispose one to sleep apnea, a potential trigger. To avoid this I tape my mouth at night. See this thread: [www.afibbers.org]

A possible item for discussion with your doc is the use of an on-demand med to convert you if you go out of rhythm. See this post: [www.afibbers.org]

Afib is an electrical issue. For a doc, an electrophysiologist (EP) will generally give better answers than a cardiologist who is more a "plumber."

Thank you for your reply which is very interesting. The Kardia device looks very good, but I have just ordered myself the latest Apple Watch with Afib detector. Do you think the Kardia might be better? I might be able to cancel my Apple order. To be clear, does an episode have to be a certain minimum length to be Afib? And can the Kardia tell the difference between Afib and PACs/PVCs? I am keeping a regular eye on my magnesium and potassium levels and they seem fine at the moment.
Finally, I have obviously set my self up incorrectly on this site - how do I change it to avoid spam?
Many thanks
Chris

I use both. The IWatch can give me an instant strip. It takes a second to press your finger to the watch. You get two leads. It records 24/7 as long as the watch is charged. After 30 minutes in afib you get an af alert. It’s in the settings. Also the same applies to high or low heart rate…so you know how your heart is doing while you sleep or silent afib during the day.

You will get some false positives results unless you can read the strip and interpret it yourself. It’s convenient on the go. I can be driving and pull over or at a red light take a reading to click how fast my heart goes if it’s really fast.

The Kardia 6L (six lead) is superior but it takes time to unlock your phone, launch the app, pull up your pants leg, place the leads on either above your knee or ankle, best results to wet the area to avoid artifact and take a reading. I found less artifact using Kardia. You can get a 30 day pdf printout, if you pay for the service, you get a once a month or two free cardiologist diagnosis of your strip.

The Kardia 6L has advance determination which detects more than the iWatch:
See diagnosis’s Kardia determines:
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I mentioned I use both. Really just a few seconds the watch to determine out of curiosity what’s going on. My tachycardia now has self converted within minutes and then self converts..so it’s faster if I’m curious.

The O2 feature is faulty. It barely works and inaccurate. I called up tech support and was told the same. A cheap oximeter is better.

Both provide sharing pdf functions. I recommend the 6L over the regular because it’s easier to take a reading. Your phone doesn’t have to be that close and you can take a reading watching tv/sounds without issues.it’s convenient and not much more than tge 2 lead model. I found my doctor benefits from the extra leads.

You can save $ by taking your pulse. I find both provide peace of mind.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2021 11:52AM by susan.d.

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To be clear, does an episode have to be a certain minimum length to be Afib? And can the Kardia tell the difference between Afib and PACs/PVCs?

Generally runs of PAC's and PVC's have one or more normal beats in between the ectopic beats. PVC's have a different morphology or shape on the ECG than PAC's. There are several hallmarks of afib. One is that the beat lengths are irregularly irregular. If you look at heart rate vs time, it looks like a seismogram during an earthquake. The Kardia can usually tell the difference, and you can learn to look at the ECG and tell the difference also.

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I am keeping a regular eye on my magnesium and potassium levels and they seem fine at the moment.

Serum magnesium is a poor indicator of sufficiency. Exatest is best (harder to find a doc to order), RBC Magnesium (easy to come by) is 2nd. Want RBC>6. Serum potassium can change rapidly over the day, most afibbers find that keeping their levels >4 all the time is best.

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Finally, I have obviously set my self up incorrectly on this site - how do I change it to avoid spam?

I don't see an obvious way to change. I've pinged Carey, the Moderator, to help you.

That’s really helpful. Thank you. I will go ahead and get my watch then and maybe consider investing in the Kardia as well. With best wishes Chris

Many thanks for that!

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[email protected]
Finally, I have obviously set my self up incorrectly on this site - how do I change it to avoid spam?

Check your email. I'll fix it for you but I want to make sure I can communicate your new user name to you before I do.

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susan.d
I use both. The IWatch can give me an instant strip. It takes a second to press your finger to the watch. You get two leads. It records 24/7 as long as the watch is charged. After 30 minutes in afib you get an af alert. It’s in the settings. Also the same applies to high or low heart rate…so you know how your heart is doing while you sleep or silent afib during the day.
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Can you turn OFF the afib warning on the apple watch? I keep thinking of getting one. But I don't want it constantly going off on me right now LOL! Beep Beep Beep,,

It vibrates if you set it. I don’t remember it ever beeping. You need to turn on this alert in settings to even get a notification. You won’t get any afib notifications unless you set it up. I’m more of a fan of it’s high (>150 hr) and low HR alerts.

Swipe up in your watch and set it to theater mode and bedtime and you won’t get any vibrations of email, text, notifications at all…just phone calls. It has an icon of a phone in case you misplaced your phone. It makes your phone ring to easily find it.

I love my IWatch. I’m a fan of talking to my watch (“talk to my hand (wrist)”. haha) instead of rummaging for my iPhone when someone calls and talking on my phone. I use its flashlight feature. I ask my watch the temperature, what time it is if I wake up during the night, listening to music, etc. Siri is not the sharpest tool tho…it can’t find my keys.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/2021 07:22PM by susan.d.

Thanks Susan