Hi Bana,
Welcome to this site ( that always sounds strange to me since none of us really wants to be here). You will find people here to be very helpful and to have lots of experience.

As to your question I have tried both calmness and mild exercise. Neither was any better at reducing the time in afib. In my case I had to end up trying different medical approaches and have been very happy for the last 5+ years taking an antiarrhythmatic, beta blocker and coumadin.

The increase in HR that one gets in a stress test never induced afib in me. So I think your mild exercise may not be a problem as far as afib goes, but will help with other properties of your heart.

By the way with a little discipline in your dietary life coumadin is piece of cake to manage and you can eat whatever you want as long as you balance an INR reducer with an INR increaser and establish a regular diet - that is where the discipline come in.

It is interesting that you are not the worrier type. I think most afibbers tend to the anxious side, but I have not done a scientifically valid poll.

Your next task as your dr probably told you is to look for afib triggers.

Steve

thanks for your reply steve. you've raised my awareness for two things.. to find a trigger which my dr did not tell me that. could it be inactivity as it happens when i'm sitting or sleeping? i don't exercise as such but do a lot of gardening for physical activity.

and second is the diet thing. i've been very Vit K conscious and trying to be regular with that. what does INR reducer/increaser mean? guess i could google that. its how i got here in the first place... googling about exercise with afib.

bana

Welcome Bana! Glad you found us. I find if my symptoms are bothersome, I try to rest but honestly I have gotten so used to the irregular beats and on and off fast/slow heartbeats that I just keep doing what I am doing unless I get lightheaded. I feel like I have built up a tolerance to the irregularity :)

Hi Steve: I would like to hear more about INR increaser/reducers too. I am hoping to find a way to balance things out alittle on my own as I learn to navigate the warfarin waters :)

thanks for the encouragement, CLane. good to know i can keep doing things and i don't have to treat myself like an invalid.

i too am on warfarin and learning to stay balanced with it and Vit. k. i make myself a green drink every day. apple juice, kale, ginger, lemon and a bit of honey. i used to love avocado in it but since i don't always have ripe avocado on hand, i decided to eliminate it. it's not as thick and creamy without it, but it still tastes good to me.

the anticoag. clinic told me to not use ginger. when i mentioned liking it in my green drink every day, they said as long as i was already using it to keep doing so.

how has your (or anyone elses) diet been impacted?

Consistency is the key to keeping INR stable. I think what Steve means is that if he eats a food high in vit k, which decreases INR, he also adds something that will increase INR. Not sure what he uses though.....alcohol will increase it, aspirin, ibuprofen....what do you use Steve?
I also think most a fibbers are the anxious type but maybe the a fib causes alot of that anxiety.

Welcome Bana. I would monitor my heart rate when exercising. 130 is enough. The diltiazem lowers your heartrate a little. Bottom line: ask your doctor. Have they given you a stress test? Was it while you were in afib? I'm always in afib and I am asymptomatic. The Bystolic I take keeps my heart at 130 or below while exercising. Beta blockers are good at that. petey

Welcome Bana,
You've come to the right place!

My history is similar to yours but over a longer timeline.

My AF was diagnosed in ER July 2010. Now I know I had had episodes earlier. I agreed to Warfarin but no other medication.
It's worked for me. I self -convert

My AF happens usually in bed at night. It generally last 8-24hours. My symptoms are minimal. Like Carrie I'm aware of the irregular HB's but they're not bothersome. Since discontinuing BP pills I no longer get lightheaded. In AF though I feel a a little fatigued I continue on with my usual activities, grocery shopping, laundry, volunteer ushering etc.
Like Steve and for the same reasons, for me Warfarin is a "piece of cake" I have a large salad with avocado at dinner daily.

I'm fortunate to know my AF triggers; Alcohol and heavy meals 98% of the time. At times and at special occasions I ignore my triggers. AF follows but not always?

Re: AF I'm not a worrier. Maybe because my mother had AF and a pacemaker and didn't seem to concerned.

Annette

Marikay: My compliments to your patient education skills. You explained the effects of Vit K very well . LOL, I wish I could use alcohol to increase my INR. Unfortunately it is a sensitive trigger for me, really sensitive and very persuasive. So I can have little or no alcohol each week. What I use instead are tomatoes ( whole with seeds), dried fruit such as raisins, prunes or figs( but only Greek, what can I say :) I am a fig snob), ginger(my fav spice), almost any fruit, nuts ( almonds and walnuts) as well as la pice de rsistance ... Dark Chocolate. I also eat the taboo cranberries ( but only one tablespoon per day).

Bana:
I really like your green Tea recipe. I also drink green Tea every day and to offset the INR reducing effect of green tea I take a bit of dark chocolate. :) By the way being regular with your Vitamin K intake is going to make it easy for you to get in and stay in the INR therapeutic range of 2 - 3. I am guess that when you go for you INR test you may be a bit low. Just add some INR increasers to your diet gradually until you are in range.

Steve

I have a very nice list of foods that increase INR and foods that decrease it. Does anyone know if there is a way to post a scanned version of this list here?

Steve

Hi Bana, Nice to have you Join with us!

For me, I do what I can while in afib. Sometimes I function well, sometimes not so well. Sometimes, I can get things done around the house, sometimes, I read or watch tv....or log on here.

It is good you are not a worrier!

Steve, If no one has a better way, you could put it on your photo page. I think folks would be interested in this list.

Hope everyone is Safe and Sound.......and in NSR~

Welcome----but sorry you had to join our club. This is a good site to share information. I've learned so much from other people's stories. It's also a good place to vent when you're having a bad day----and we've all had those kind of days.
It's good that you don't worry too much. A Fib can really get to you if you over think about it!
Have you seen an EP dr. yet? They are the specialists for this strange condition.
D.

Welcome Bana. Good group here with some great advice. Best of luck moving forward. :)

thank you everyone for such a warm welcome. i've had a busy couple days and didn't have time to check back in till now. i've gotten some good advice in a short period of time. plus it helps to know others are going thru this too.. and getting along just fine in spite of it.

i'd be interested in your list, steve, as would all of us. is it too big to put here as a photo?

hi marikay.. i interpreted 'consistency' from the clinic as doing the exact same thing every day & did not know i could eat a minus something and compensate with a plus something. am guessing that refers to steve's list.

hi petey.. no stress test. pardon my ignorance.. but did you mean you are always in afib but are asymptomatic. does that mean you feel no symptoms? i just may be joining you in the always in afib part. have been a week to ten days apart until this week = afib sat/sunday, a short one on monday, then another tuesday afternoon till now. i was on a beta blocker.. metropolol.. before ER when my doctor knew about the spells, attacks, or whatever you call them. she put me on the met and i hated it. i felt so lethargic all the time and told her 'get me off this stuff'. she did start to wean me off and then came the trip to ER. so what did they put me on? yep.. metropolol. 3 doses didn't do any good so they switched me to a channel blocker. that didn't do a whole lot either. it just takes its own sweet time.

hi annette.. what do you mean 'self-convert'? are you on something for BP? they took me off Lisinopril and put me on Diltiazem.. along with Warfarin. my afibs last 15-16 hours and an afib class i went to gave me the impression that is unusual to be so long. but i guess not.

hi yogacat.. thanks for making me feel that this new 'normal' is no big deal. i can keep on keeping on! i was totally resting during afib which didn't make it any shorter and wasted a whole lot of time.

hi D... pardon my ignorance again but what is an EP doctor? obviously i am not seeing one. so far i'm working with my primary doctor. i asked her if i should see a cardiologist and she didn't think so at this point. she's a wonderful doctor. when there is a problem she gets right to addressing it. she doesn't mess around and i have full faith in her. at the same time, i am pro-active and not always taking her word w/o questioning it when need be.

i'll wind down now but wanted to greet all who were so kind to reply. i'm going now to see how to navigate around this site.

blessings all,
bana aka helen

hi surfrat.. didn't realize there is already a page 2. sounds from your name that you know how to have fun. and i see you are at the beach in your pic. way to go!

steve.. about my green drink, there is no tea in it. but thanks for the idea. i use a Vitamix machine which is why i have to add some kind of liquid. and i just might try your green tea suggestion. i have a Champion juicer but rarely use it. hate to waste the pulp and thats why i got the Vitamix. the Champion makes dy-no-mite carrot juice tho. and banana 'ice cream'. i peel the banana and freeze the fruit along with the juicer parts. then i puree the banana using a solid plate where the juice would normally come out. it ejects at the pulp end and you would swear you were eating ice cream. for anyone out there who has a Champion.. do try the 'banana ice cream'.

Hi Helen,

Re: self -convert - After 8-24 hrs. My heart returns to NSR (normal sinus rhythm) on it's own without my being on any medication. My cardiologist offered antiarrhythmic meds but I declined. On his strong recommendation I agreed to Warfarin.
I'm not taking anything for BP. BP normal
I was on Lisinopril. It apparently was causing the lightheadedness I experienced in AF episodes.
For me "less is more" re:medications.
Keep the questions coming.

Annette

Hi, Helen.
Welcome to the site - it saved my life when I was diagnosed with afib - I felt so alone. It was great getting on here and finding others with my condition. One of the ladies that was on this site when I arrived (Apr-2012) actually lives in Tulsa. We met for lunch once and I really enjoyed the one-on-one. I'm on two BP meds, Pradaxa, metropolol and matzim (I think that's a generic of Diltiazem) so my rate stays low. I started taking magnesium (Calm) twice a week based on a suggestion on this site and my occurences went WAY down - from several a week to once every month or two. When I first started, I was able to identify my triggers (caffeine, mostly) but not anymore. I feel that you have to do what feels right to you 0 everyone is different. I've exercised while in afib when I felt like it and rested when I felt tired. I was having a lot of trouble with lethargy and panting until about a month ago and it went away - I'm never sure if symptoms like that are from the meds or the afib. I feel more comfortable with the whole diagnosis since I got on the Pradaxa (blood thinner) since the biggest threat I know of is having a stroke when I go back into normal sinus rhythm.
Good luck and keep coming back - such wonderful people here!
Terry