The emotional side of "treated" afib has a far worse "burden" (love that word) than the actual condition (notice I didn't say "disease"). thorncrown4, I was going to bring this topic up anyway... so I am glad you posted.

When I was a young kid, sometimes I would lie on my left side and hear my heart beat at night. It caused me anxiety and my Dad told me that heartbeat is good... so is the noise. He also told me we all have skipped beats because we are "machines". It turns out that is what they say now and my Dad was right. My Dad was a plumber and they know about these things.

My young daughter had the same reaction to her heart and I was ready to reassure her because of what my Dad, the plumber, told me. I attribute my readiness to listening to my Dad and working with him on plumbing jobs, not all my degrees or my profession. Plumber's helpers are pretty smart too.

So now my motto is an irregular heartbeat is better than no heartbeat at all. The flatline looks really "clean" (no fibrillations), but it makes you dead. That's what we fear with afib. We want control and no-one has control. So you have to give it all up to a higher power. We will all die some day and we have to live in the present.

You know, I am writing a screenplay. The main character never smiles. When asked why that is, he replies... "I used to smile, but when bad things started to happen, I felt so bad at how it felt to stop smiling, I decided I never wanted to feel that way again...so I stopped smiling." Autobiographical? probably. Today I laugh and joke and try to deal with things head on... (insert serenity prayer here)... make the most of my relationships, my time,how I act... and create meaning in my life. They say meaning doesn't happen to you, you create it. Give up the control. Stop the "what ifs" and the "then this might happen and then..."

If none of that works, many people told me Xanax is a temporary solution.

If anyone steals anything from my screenplay, I will sue you. :-)

petey

Petey, I promise I won't steal your screenplay, but some Zanax or Lorazepam would very nice. THX.

;)

Thomas (Surfrat)

I think there's lots of emotional sides, from being angry/annoyed to fearful to hassled. There are general emotional attitudes and then specific stress in the moment, like when feeling an irregular heartbeat.

In the immediate moment, slow breathing with some actual sound (like slow blowing) on exhaling helps.

A yoga technique I learned was to imagine sitting on the beach hearing and seeing the waves. Each time a waves "comes" in (in your imagination) inhale briefly, hold the breath and the "put your worries" in the "ocean" and let the (imagined) waves take them out to sea and you exhale.

Works for me.

However, you might seek out a professional who does "health psychology" and has many more techniques of coping with meidcal conditions. Good luck.

Forgive me for my ignorance, but this "pre-atrial contractions (PAC's)" stuff that has been metioned, I'm really not the familiar with this term/description/phenom.

I just did a Wilki-pedia and read it. Is this sensation similar to a flip-flopp or esophagus twitching or is it something else entirely that one can only detect via personal monitors?

EDIT; In my earlier post to Petey; "I promise I won't steal your screenplay, but some Zanax or Lorazepam would "BE" very nice."

THX.

;-)

Thomas (Surfrat)

BTW: For what it's worth I think NYNM's suggestion is a good one, although I've not tried it. As for my own personal experiences with this obnoxious condition. I think that over thinking some of this stuff can surely be detrimental and stress-full. We obviously need to know as much as we can to deal with it and hopefully we are in good hands (Dr./ER etc.). But, I've found that trying to try to keep busy thinking about the stuff that you love to do and have a passion for can be therapeutic and ease alot of the potential stress related to the "what ifs" syndromes - in and of itself. ;)

I just read this quote this AM about something Michael J Fox's wife said, "Michael says there's no point in worrying because if something (bad) does happen, then you've liveed it twice."

I do think afib is an emotional condition. I was anxious and depressed for the first 3 mos. I went to dr. in my 9th hr. of afib, when I got there I had converted on my own. My dr. told me Not to come in, I was not going to die, as long as I was on stroke prevention. I laughed to myself and said, OK,I can handle this. I take a metoprolol when my afib starts, and my pulse rate goes down, and I do the best I can, til it passes. Usually about 9 hrs. I usually get mine at night, and depending on how I feel, I arrange my day. I do use profanity when it starts, then I deep breathe and then pray. One Day at a time, or one episode at a time..You will be just fine, You are not alone!!!!! Hugs and Blessings

Petey and Yogacat, very good advice.

Dee

Surfrat... I don't know why, but every so often I think about your comments about the Xanax and Lorazepam and start cracking up. I just went online and read your post again and busted out laughing... again!

When I was first diagnosed with afib, I was in constant afib for about 2 months. It was about 2 weeks after being in afib that I saw a cardiologist. I remember him walking in after the EKG was done and he said to me, " I am sorry to have to tell you this but you are in afib". I sat there and took in everything he was telling me. I felt numb. I mean, I kind of knew I was in afib, but being in the medical field, I just put off seeing a DR until one of my fellow nurses checked my BP and told me I had an irregular heart rate. Thought it go away on its own.... Anyway My appt was during my lunch break. I handled the appt well. After my appt I went back to work. I was fine until a fellow nurse asked me how my appt went. I broke down. I started crying. I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that I had afib at my age. I exercised, ate right, was not taking any regular meds except for a multi-vitamin. Talk about emotions... For the first 4-5 months I went from being mad to being worried, felt anxiety. Didn't want to do anything...But then I realized that there are so many people out there that are so much worse off than I was. Working in healthcare, I see a lot of sick people. I agree with Yoga..when I feel a flutter or when I feel my heart skips beats, I take deep breaths and pray. This was the hand I was delt and I was not going to let it run/ruin my life. I know GOD was not going to give me anything that I cannot handle.
Enjoy your good days! Dont let this steal your joy. Try not to dwell on it, stress is so bad for you. Sorry for the long story :)
Take care!!

Worry is the elongation of fear.

That can't be good.

Surfrat, Lorezapam can't come close to Xanax for anxiety. I pop one metoprolol and one Xanax and the world becomes a better place within minutes....and once again I can cope. Yes, it's addictive, but sometimes the addiction is a good trade for the problem.

Tomorrowsdream, good advice and my Doc goes along with it.

I am much calmer now that I now I can block the afib off at the pass,
at least for me. I feel I have some control over my body.

Dee

I remember advice better if it's a word picture. Someone once said that you cannot stop the birds from flying over your head, but you CAN keep them from building a nest in your hair. I try to remember that when the anxiety kicks in, and remind myself that the worst of it only lasts a few days. I also try to remind myself that I have more choices than I think when it comes to emotional reactions to things I cannot control. I've gotten better at shaping my emotions towards more a more positive frame of reference, and it really is less stressful to choose to breathe deeply and remember what's truly important (such as was already stated: we won't live forever)

And this from a world class life-long Worrier. :)