Afib clusters...true?

A question for anyone, really. I have been hearing a lot about afib episodes "clustering" from doctors, is this true? It certainly seems to be the case with me, but from what I've read on this board, it seems like most (if not all) of you afib like clockwork.

Does anyone else get a cluster of episodes, then a long period of nothing, only to cluster again? If so, are you using the "cocktail" approach to medication? Constant supply? Or, no meds at all? For me it certainly seems that high stress situations are the key trigger...

thanks,
sm

Hi Seth -

I don't know if my episodes can be described as clustering, exaactly, but they definitely don't occur like clockwork. I can get a few months where they'll occur anywhere from one week to a month apart, and then go 4 or 5 months without any at all, and so on. They almost always last under an hour so I just take atenolol (12.5mg) on demand to keep my heart rate down a bit. That's the only way I've done it over the two years I've had afib.

I, too, feel that it is due to stress - which I don't handle well in general. But the episodes don't come at the time I'm being stressed, but hours or even days after, so I feel it's an accumulation of stress which brings it on. I'm very careful about what I eat and other possible triggers (although I've never actually identified a trigger) so the only change in pattern in my life is the stress, which "disrupts" my system, and which is pretty hard to prevent. I therefore realize that if it's unpreventable, I must learn to manage it to keep on an even keel and hopefully reduce the afib.

Sorry Seth - I pressed "post" before signed my name.

Lorraine

If you mean 2 to 3 times a week clustering, I suppose I'm clustering. Some bad enough for ER and some not so bad. I do take Betapace regularly though.

Glenn Camp

I guess 'clustering' is as good a word as any to describe what I experience. About 3 weeks ago I was fighting ectopics and on the verge of AF a lot of the time. It was a continous battle to keep out of AF.

For the last week or so I have hardly though about it. I'm sure the cycle will repeat soon enough.

I take Norpace on demand.

Chris P

Since first attack in 1994, my Afib has gone through quiet periods of over a year and then every couple of months and then quiet again. My main trigger is stress but more importantly how I handle it. If I can catch it in time I can do some deep breathing and calm things down. My doc says many afib patients go through long quiet periods then afib pops back, he doesn't know why. My afib has been very noisy this past year so I have been using flecainide on demand when I feel things getting out of control.
Scott