Welcome.....seems like anxiety and a-fib go hand in hand and it takes time to come to terms with it all and calm down. The symptoms you mentioned.....I've had them all. I fight off anxiety daily.

Welcome to the club:
Here you will find many of us who experience AFIB in many different ways, but we are all still here and each managing in our unique ways. I have many of the symptoms that you describe. So do many of us. The anxiety is common among newbies (and even on occasion for us oldbies). As you learn how to take more control of this condition, your anxiety will subside. That doesn't mean it will go away completely, but at least you will get a sense of control and reduce it considerably.
I suggest you find a good cardiologist and see him/her on a regular basis so you can get a sense of the condition over time. AFIB can have an impact on your life, but with proper management, the impact can be minimized. It won't kill you. The first line treatments for AFIB are anti coagulants (you don't want a stroke, unfortunately the risk of stroke among AFIBERS is higher than the general population). And, a beta blocker (often metoprolol or atenolol). The beta blockers might be taken daily, or when you have an event (what we call Pill-In-The-Pocket). The beta blocker will slow down your heart rate. For some of us, the beta blocker actually converses us to sinus rhythm, but it is not a rhythm control drug. It might take some experimentation to find the proper dose for you. You don't want to slow your heart rate too much.
There are rhythm control drugs, unfortunately, many of these have side effects and don't work for all people, there needs to be a lot of experimenting to find what works. Then of course there surgery, from the mild (pulmonary vein ablation) to the more intrusive.
Since you are young (and I assume relatively healthy in other ways), the least radical approaches would probably be most appropriate.
Read the threads here, there's a wealth of knowledge in the group, when you have a specific question ask. When the anxiety gets to you, come to us, its a support group.

Welcome to the unfun club.....and paul is correct. Anxiety. Will become less as you get more info on your situation. Many great ppl here can help with suggestions. And good luck to you my friend

BITB,
Ugh! I HATE reading these cases of people so young coming down with this terrible affliction! I was ticked at 56, so I KNOW you are upset at 38..and oh yes, our old friend anxiety! THAT is the killer. Many here have read my story, how I got so freaked out at one point that I had a full blown anxiety attack. I pray that you never experience such an event. Fortunately for me it was a one time event, and my wife was there to help me through it. My EP just doubled my dose of metoprolol for a short period, until the awful anxiety passed. You are so young, I would think ablation would be a piece of cake for you. Of course that is a major decision to make, but it looks like you understand the need for much research. And there have been so many advances in ablation over the past few years. I got the laser balloon ablation, which they have been using en France for over a decade. I was in the John's Hopkins study, but have yet to hear any results of that study...geez, now that I am talking about it, I need to email the EP nurse to see if they have published those yet.

All of us here will say a prayer for you...hang in there, and we look forward to hearing more of your story.

Bill

I already suffer from anxiety so it was hard the first few weeks. I was reading all I could trying to educate myself and made matters worse, then I stumbled into this group. They all seem educated about managing symptoms, they are definitely smarter than me. It has helped me to read how others manage.

I am so sorry you are facing this so young, but from what I have learned it is manageable. I don't know much as I only entered this world in September.

laurab

Sorry to hear about your afib, but as the others have said this condition is manageable! I don't have afib , but my husband was diagnosed over 2 years ago at 48. Anxiety was terrible at first until we found this great support group and started trying to find causes and triggers for Chris's afib. Sleep apnea and afib go hand in hand. My husband is a heavy snorer and also has a neck over 18 inches in diameter . He's an ex football player, so he's a big guy. He did a sleep study after afib diagnosis and had over 60 interruptions in his breathing in an hour. Since diagnosis he has had a cardiac ablation and wears a CPAP nightly which has given him a calm and normal heart rate. The CPAP actually makes him feel rested! You might want to consider a sleep study and have your thyroid checked. Also, an electrophysiologist can help guide you as afib is an electrical problem in the heart. I hope this helps! Try to stay calm you are going to be fine!

Sorry to hear about your afib, but as the others have said this condition is manageable! I don't have afib , but my husband was diagnosed over 2 years ago at 48. Anxiety was terrible at first until we found this great support group and started trying to find causes and triggers for Chris's afib. Sleep apnea and afib go hand in hand. My husband is a heavy snorer and also has a neck over 18 inches in diameter . He's an ex football player, so he's a big guy. He did a sleep study after afib diagnosis and had over 60 interruptions in his breathing in an hour. Since diagnosis he has had a cardiac ablation and wears a CPAP nightly which has given him a calm and normal heart rate. The CPAP actually makes him feel rested! You might want to consider a sleep study and have your thyroid checked. Also, an electrophysiologist can help guide you as afib is an electrical problem in the heart. I hope this helps! Try to stay calm you are going to be fine!

To answer your quick question....when I have an episode ( I have paroxysmal afib, so I don't have it all the time) I do have a shortness of breath, not a lot, but a definite change.

I think the only chest pain I have had is from heart burn...and never in afib.

Anxiety gives me a very panicky feeling...and I shake.

My most common symptoms when I have an afib episode are pounding irregular heart beat, lightheaded and a "something is not right" feeling.

So sorry you had to join out club but welcome, Lots of great people here! I do not think I would have stayed sane without this group! The anxiety is a killer, especially for those who are prone to it to begin with, the afib only makes it worse. Anxiety begets afib and afib begets anxiety. It is tough to deal will but eventually you will get some kind of a handle on it. I do not think it ever goes away but it does get easier. I think we all have our moments. It is very frustrating. i have reached a point where it just makes me really mad when it hits and can make me feel depressed. You have to put on your big girl or guy shorts whichever the case may be and do your best to suck it up and move on, Some of us take a xanax or something to help with the anxiety, for me it was a God send. Get your tests done, check your thyroid and adrenals, stay away from any kinds of processed foods, msg, aspartame, etc both of those are know to cause afb for some people who are sensitive. Learn some deep breathing techniques, see a counselor to teach you some tools to help with the blow of having afib. Most importantly get anti coagulated ASAP as Paul says our stroke risk is high. Good luck!

Hi, sorry you have to be here. I share your anxiety probs as I was just recently diagnosed too. Especially in the evening ,I feel this terrible depression and anxiety because that's the time I get most of my episodes. Also, I'm not really down with taking blood thinners yet. They actually terrify me. So every evening as the sun goes down, I get all tight and don't want to eat dinner, just want to close out the world. I'm going to start therapy in Dec., meantime I come here and gets lots of good info and support. Hope you will do the same and it helps you as well.

Thank you all so much! Today is a better day. Not sure if it's because I read all of your responses this morning but I'll take it! Anyone here in therapy for the anxiety and live in NYC and can recommend a therapist? I'm looking for someone who can help me cope with it all. I'd rather not get on any drugs for the anxiety.

Welcome to the forum. The symptoms that you've described are typical both with anxiety and AFIB. I would expect that you've been given a 'scrip fro med.s at this time by your Dr., but you have not mentioned this. I would suggest seeing an EP/Cardio and also trying to get some Xanax from a PCP just in the event that you need to take the edge off with anxiety. All the best moving forward. - Tom

I'm the same age as you (38), sounds like we were diagnosed at about the same time as well, though I've been dealing with arrhythmia since my early 20s. Sorry to say, welcome to the club.

First off, just try to remember that afib in and of itself is not life threatening! Also try to remember that worrying never helped anyone with anything, ever. I know that's not easy to do when your heart is flopping around like a phone book in a dryer, but it's true.

You have to be able to access your mental happy-place when you start to feel those physical symptoms associated with anxiety. Otherwise, afib begets anxiety, which begets more afib, which begets more anxiety, and it just gets progressively worse.

Boyinthebush-
Your life is certainly NOT over! I suppose its just taken a new, unexpected twist.
Sometimes doctors dont have enough time to really spell out what all this is about. They play it down because it is not life-threatening (although it feels like it is!). Symptoms can range from I dont feel a thing to I cant function which is a pretty wide range. Hopefully with time it will not be debilitating for you and you will be able to function and perhaps even rid yourself of it!

How often and long do you have a-fib?

You said that you were feeling better thats good, I hope it stays that way!

Take care,
atp (acrossthepond)

If you end up having a panic attack at some point, you will be very happy to have some anxiety med on hand. A panic attack is worse than a-fib symptoms......which are pretty bad for me. You won't become addicted to them if you take them occasionally and not every day.You can try deep breathing, or music, or have some one around first maybe, but once a panic attack kicks in, you'll want it gone ASAP! Just think about it and of course do what's right for you. If you have never experienced a panic attack, there's no way you can understand yet how bad it can feel.