Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

carol-funny you mention this-I am going in for a consultation for sleep apnea tomorrow--thanks

good luck!!! i also want to mention I am on blood pressure pills so just before i go to bed at night i monitor it and if its high the doctor has prescribed for me another pill just for that.(that was my idea, im being cautious). but its all working for me. take care carol

I just got my machine 3 weeks ago. Last night I realized my mask had slipped so I truned off the machine and fixed my mask. Unknow to me I thought that I had turned on the machine..I did not and this am I went into a-fib for about 4 hours. I did put the machine on and it did help. My machine is so quite and the air is not that fast coming in. Now I know that I have to watch it closer. I will be haing ablasion next week. Am happy about that.

I see an electrocardiologist in about 5 weeks -- no instant appts with specialists over here in the UK, unless it is immediately life - threatening. :(

Anyway,all but my 3 (very first AF episode, one at 11 pm when I was VERY relaxed, and the other today at 7 pm!) have been overnight -- either my heart thumps and I am then awakened aware of it, or I get up for my one-nightly "wee break" -- I was, several years ago, disgnosed with very very mild sleep apnea. And after researching more on the Net, I am wondering if this is a (major) contributory factor in my AF episodes.

Further, the docs have me on beta blockers, and I have a naturally low BP (on a high day it's 105 over 65 or 70) -- so I am also wondering if my body is reacting to the low BP and resting heart rate (also low) by trying to speed and "catch" up and I end up in AF.

Does this make sense to any one?

I am afraid of ablation, but have also read it can work very well. I'll learn more about my options in September I guess. Some things are not open to me, as I had an aortic valve replacement -- tissue valve -- in January 2007.

Debb, in central England

hello debb, sorry you have to wait. i really dont know how much my b p was related, but i can say absolutely it is sleep related. sometime i would wake in the night , check my pulse as i always do and i would feel the irregularity of a fib. the full on feeling of palpitations would have been felt later in the day if i hadnt been checking my pulse upon waking.

i was diagnosed after a sleep study with moderate sleep apnea and until my cpap was received i used a saline solution and nasal strips to keep my airways open. good luck to you and keep in touch carol

Deb, in answer to your statement about having to wait a while for an appointment with your EP, that was my experience here in the U.S. as well. I waited for several weeks for the initial consultation and then two months before I could get on the surgery schedule for an ablation. It may be different in other parts of the country. Anyway, I am feeling great! The ablation worked for me. I go in for my six months check up some time this month. Good luck!

I just want to make sure i made my condition clear. i have what is called "lone" atrial fibrilation which means there is no underlying medicalreasons for it. i had an echo and a nucleur tredmill test.
and they found no underlying causesfor it.

i always take my pulse upon waking and i discovered a-fib. the palpitations had yet not started. if i waited until later in the day and had not checked my pulse i would have felt palpitations and not have related this to sleep apnea

I also have lone a-fib.

I had "lone" a-fib also. When I was diagnoised, one of the first things my EP had me do was a sleep study test. As it turned out, yes I did have sleep apnea.

Yes, I also have sleep apnea and use a bipap machine at night and in the day also if I feel AF coming on. I have no health problems for AF to have occured on me. I did have HBP it rus on my mothers side of the family. but I did exercise to much the same day it occured?