Atrial Fibrillation (AFib) Support Group

Atrial fibrillation (AF or afib) is an abnormal heart rhythm (cardiac arrhythmia) which involves the two small, upper heart chambers (the atria). Heart beats in a normal heart begin after electricity generated in the atria by the sinoatrial node spread through the heart and cause contraction of the heart muscle and pumping of blood.

760 Members

3,682 Posts

0 Online

bana 09/02/2015

In about 6 years (just guessing) I've gone from Afib twice a year... to every couple months... to 2-3 timea s month... to almost daily. July was 15 of 31 days and August was 21 of 31 days.

I reported this to my cardiologist who said he could put me on an anti-arrhythmic if it was becoming intolerable. i researched the ones he suggested and said NO to the drugs. I don't want to open that Pandora's Box.

I also asked him if i could do mild exercise when in Afib.. example: gently walking 'laps' in the YMCA pool. He said no to that, but yes to driving if i felt well enough to do it.

Now that its more frequent, i don't have as many spells where i feel totally wiped out, so I go about my normal stuff. I just don't do anything strenuous.

Any thoughts? Or similar situations? Thanks.

bana 09/02/2015

P.S. I'm especially interested in hearing if anyone has frequent Afib and does exercise. Thanks.

lalab707 09/02/2015

My afib is treated with Eliquis and Verapamil and I still get afib every few weeks, it is just less drastic. If I go off the verapamil they are daily and often too drastic to do anything but wait till NSR returns. That is unless I have too much sodium then nothing helps, so I mainly eat only what I cook! boring sometimes.

I just go about my day the best I can on afib days. I casually walk my dogs, do pilates, yoga or ride my stationary bike. If I get winded I stop.

laurab

nannette76 09/02/2015

Hi,
I have afib all the time. I walk, lift weights, do yoga, tai chi and anything else I want to do. I don't do things like rock climbing because I'm on the blood thinner Xarelto. Everyone will have a different situation. I just go about my life and try to forget afib. It's hard at first to get your head around it.

bana 09/02/2015

that helps, lalab and nannette. i'm going to use my best judgement about exercise and do some walking for starters. i can't just sit around doing nothing. i think we know when we are active and its time to stop and rest. i use a walker so can sit anytime i need to on my walks. thanks for your input. btw, i am on Diltiazem and Warfarin.

keepumping 09/02/2015

Yes I have a fib all the time, as long as I can control the rate I do whatever I want from skiing to hiking to biking and so forth

ohioafib 09/02/2015

Yes.. went from every couple weeks to a few times a week to almost daily in 9 months. it was never too symptomatic and with metoprolol was really more of an annoyance. I wasnt exercising but my cardiologist said I had no restrictions.

However...twice the Afib came and didnt leave that day. The second time I went on Rythmol (antiarrythmic). I had a few afib episodes on rythmol so they scheduled an ablation. I actually had no afib on rythmol the three months lesding up to the ablation and havent had any in the three months since the ablation.

Most of the afib literature Ive seen indicates it gets progressively worse. You dont want to wait until its persistent because ablations won work as well. Some of the antiarrythmia drugs have strong side effects. Rythmol didnt seem to affect me too much.

Back to exercise...you may have other reasons he said no to afib and my dr said yes for me. If you want to exercise id ask your dr why he said no mild exercise.

marikay234 09/02/2015

My afib episodes were much the same as yours, becoming more and more frequent til it was happening at least 2-3 times a week. I thought ablation was in my future, but my EP suggested flecainide first. It was like a magic pill...I felt like I had my life back. I haven't had any noticeable side effects from it and it has been a long time (years) since I have had an episode. Antiarrythmics do sound scary but they work well for many of us.
As far as exercise during afib....I was/am very symptomatic and baically can do nothing during an episode except be very quiet, keep breathing, and wait it out.

Join the Conversation