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.
I just got back from my appointment from my pulminologist/ sleep doctor and thought I would share as it may help some of you. Here is what I learned...
I have mild to moderate sleep apnea and wasn't concerned. It's twice as bad on my back than it is on my side... Classified as "mild to moderate."
BUT.. He said ANY apnea can trigger afib.. Even one apnea in a single night. You don't have to have severe sleep apnea to have an afib event. Even mild sleep apnea needs to be treated.
Sleep apnea is often inherited. Being overweight will make it worse, but isn't normally the cause. My father had severe sleep apnea, so mine was likely inherited.
Sleep apnea causes weight gain. You're too tired to want to exercise, and when you're tired, your body craves carbohydrates and sugar. You gain weight, your apnea gets worse, so you eat more.. and it's a vicious cycle.
Treating sleep apnea can sometimes stop afib. He is optimistic that treating mine will stop the afib since I usually wake up in a fib.
You don't always have to get a Darth Vader mask. The new Cpap masks are smaller. There are even nose pillow types similar to a cannula.
In my case, he says I'm a very good candidate for a dental device which pushes your jaw forward and keeps the airway open. He says that in the right person, there is a 90 percent success rate with the dental device. He feels I'm that right person.
The new dental devices are different. I have to go to a dentist who is certified in this. He will make a mold, and I have to go to a sleep lab with the preliminary device. At the sleeplab, the will be able to adjust it as I sleep, while monitoring my heart, breathing, etc to see if the device works for me.
If it does, the mold/device is sent to a lab where it is made according to the calibrations at the sleep lab. It it doesn't, then we go to plan B, which is a Cpap.
I'm so excited to get this going and to see if it will stop my afib! I also can't wait to stop being tired, and have some energy again!
Tell me about your sleep apnea...
I have mild to moderate sleep apnea and wasn't concerned. It's twice as bad on my back than it is on my side... Classified as "mild to moderate."
BUT.. He said ANY apnea can trigger afib.. Even one apnea in a single night. You don't have to have severe sleep apnea to have an afib event. Even mild sleep apnea needs to be treated.
Sleep apnea is often inherited. Being overweight will make it worse, but isn't normally the cause. My father had severe sleep apnea, so mine was likely inherited.
Sleep apnea causes weight gain. You're too tired to want to exercise, and when you're tired, your body craves carbohydrates and sugar. You gain weight, your apnea gets worse, so you eat more.. and it's a vicious cycle.
Treating sleep apnea can sometimes stop afib. He is optimistic that treating mine will stop the afib since I usually wake up in a fib.
You don't always have to get a Darth Vader mask. The new Cpap masks are smaller. There are even nose pillow types similar to a cannula.
In my case, he says I'm a very good candidate for a dental device which pushes your jaw forward and keeps the airway open. He says that in the right person, there is a 90 percent success rate with the dental device. He feels I'm that right person.
The new dental devices are different. I have to go to a dentist who is certified in this. He will make a mold, and I have to go to a sleep lab with the preliminary device. At the sleeplab, the will be able to adjust it as I sleep, while monitoring my heart, breathing, etc to see if the device works for me.
If it does, the mold/device is sent to a lab where it is made according to the calibrations at the sleep lab. It it doesn't, then we go to plan B, which is a Cpap.
I'm so excited to get this going and to see if it will stop my afib! I also can't wait to stop being tired, and have some energy again!
Tell me about your sleep apnea...
Hate to be the nearer of bad news, however:
1: I started using a oral appliance like you describe, shortly before my first ablation. About a week after the ablation and less than one month after I started using the oral appliance, I got a severe tooth/gum infection. Seem the appliance stops saliva from washing out the bacteria in a gum pocket that had had for over 20 years. Guess the oral appliance was not a good idea for me.
2: The oral appliance costs about $3000.00, if you go to a dentist. If you are like most people, you would have to front the entire cost. However, if you go to an ENT guy, he can make the mold and the appliance and it would probably be covered by your insurance.
Now I'm one of the worlds great cynics, keep in mind, they are all trying to sell you something. On the other hand good luck. Don't listen to me, I'm going for ablation #2.
https://somnomed.com/patients/somnodent-product-information-for-patients/
It's covered by insurance because it's being prescribed by a pulminologist. The dentist will fit me for it.. It will be tested for effectiveness in a sleep lab by me, and if it works for me, they will make the device.
I went to a dentist and all was covered as it was for a medical reason.
https://www.sleepassociation.org/list-oral-appliances-treating-sleep-apnea/
However, as of today I still have AFIB.
Paul, my doctor.. Who is a sleep specialist.. Tells me that sleep apnea is hereditary in most cases. My father was a slim man, and had it. However, extra weight makes sleep apnea much worse.
Also.. sleep apnea can be the cause of afib... Or not. In your case, you had afib and sleep apnea.. But the two weren't related. That doesn't mean someone else's afib isn't caused by sleep apnea.
Time will tell if mine is. I'm hoping it is, because it's an easier fix.
I am totally exhausted all the time, and don't wake up feeling refreshed. I often wake up with a headache. I'm so tired, I just can't drag myself to the gym or the pool. Just a few years ago, I was a gym rat and avid swimmer. Now, I am fatigued all day. Im hoping, like my sister in law, that this will be the answer. We will see...
Hope all are having a great NSR weekend,
sautee
Even without afib I would find my cpap to be a godsend. I was not sleeping much and believe me it wears on you. Dreaming again and sleeping through entire rem cycles has made a big difference.
I probably have some mild sleep apnea, because I know that I snore. I've even woke myself up snoring - that's a strange feeling. Recently I picked up a device at the grocery store that rests on the nasal septum and mechanically keeps the nasal passages open. I've only been using it for a few nights, but my sleep quality has improved 100%. And I only spent $3.99!
I think the next step for me will probably be a home sleep test. I've had insomnia for as long as I can remember, so getting to sleep in a clinical setting is something I doubt I'd ever be able to do.
So I treated the sleep apnea with a cpap machine, but the afib kept getting worse (a few times a month, to once a week, to weekly, to 3 or 4 times a week).
In many ways I'm glad the afib forced me to do the sleep study because I think if I went another 10 years or so with it, it could have really caused other major issues.
If you get a CPAP, be forewarned that it takes a while to get used to air being blown into you constantly. I'd say it took me 3 months before I felt like it didn't affect me sleeping. I have a full face mask because I couldn't keep my mouth shut with the nose pillows.
I don't think sleep apnea is made up, but I often joke that if would be easy to make up. You may not have any symptoms, it happens when you sleep, so you go in for a test while you sleep and they wire you up and then say you have it based on some numbers being spit out. In my case I was hoping for a drastic difference after I started using my cpap, but I can't say that it happened. My AHI is under 5 now so I suspect it's working but I don't jump out of bed full of energy as others do.
Turns out that I was waking up something like 40 times an hour. I wasn't aware of it--mostly you're not--but it sure was depriving me of sleep. Moreover--and this is important--since apnea deprives you of oxygen, you often have an adrenaline arousal which jolts you awake so that you can breathe again. This shot of adrenaline causes your heart to race. Not a good thing for afibbers.
I hate sleeping without my cpap machine, as weird as that sounds. I hate not having a true rem sleep.