Islandluvr, I believe there is a cheaper test for sleep apnea.
My Afib always occurs during the day, but after my ablation I had 2 episodes at night. My EP wondered if it could be caused by sleep apnea, so he had a medical device company bring be a oximeter like device. I put it on my finger when i went to sleep and it was attached to a recorder. The next day they picked up the device again, analyzed the data and reported it to my doctor. It turned out that I did not have sleep apnea, but if i had, the next step would have been a sleep study test in the hospital.
Maybe this would be something for you.

Thanks, Sanibel. We're still appealing it. We get two more appeals levels.. but that's so good to know. I need to do something soon.

I find putting 1/2 tablespoon of pico magnesium under my tongue will stop afib from happening. Or if I'm in afib, doing that will help me get back out of it quicker with the Rythmol I take.

http://drcarolyndean.com/2012/09/pico-ionic-magnesium/

Over the years my Afib became "positional" in nature. Laying down became a certain way to induce an episode. When laying down we also feel minor episodes of Afib or Aflutter that might go undetected while standing. I began to suspect Apnea but never did get a sleep study. I had reached a point where I could manage to fall asleep, with the help of sheer exhaustion. I would normally sleep a short time and then awaken again and most times I couldn't fall back to sleep since my heart rate was elevated. Some nights falling asleep at all was impossible. Eventually I was sleeping between 20 and 30 hours a week. This went on for many years and I managed to maintain my job, marriage and homeowner responsibilities but it was tough. If it wren't for aging I'd probably still be able to tolerate it. Toleration both friend and foe.

Afib starts out terrifying us, settles in and annoys us, then we begin to tolerate it. Lastly we accept it as the lesser of the evils when having to choose aggressive treatment. It's the last stage that I refer to as befriending the beast. This was my experience and obviously yours may vary. It's seems logical however that the longer we live with something like this, the more tolerant we become due to conditioning. For me there was this weird mindset that developed, kind of like If I could just toughen up my knees the fall won't hurt so bad . . . turns out the fall still hurts REALLY bad.

Getting back to your original question. I spent a lot of time early on in diagnosis trying to find triggers and ways to ward off an episode. Stress and sleep deprivation were the only triggers that I was able to identify. Speed walking or jogging helped in the beginning to stop my episodes. My obsessive search for answers was increasing my stress level in itself so eventually I had to accept the fact that there was no rhyme or reason to my triggers and no way to stop the episodes from starting. I'm extremely happy for anyone that finds successful ways to stop or ward off an episode, there just didn't seem to be any for me. Good luck with what works for you and I hope that you find other ways to help you better cope as well.

Oh, and while my ablation might not be a long-term cure it did confirm that sleep apnea was not a player. I sleep like I did when I was in my 20s since the procedure, maybe even better since I don't drink now.

"Afib starts out terrifying us, settles in and annoys us, then we begin to tolerate it. Lastly we accept it as the lesser of the evils when having to choose aggressive treatment. It's the last stage that I refer to as befriending the beast. This was my experience and obviously yours may vary. It's seems logical however that the longer we live with something like this, the more tolerant we become due to conditioning." - Steveinnsr

Articulate, thoughtful and spot on comments Steve. Thanks for sharing. Reading some of the moments people share here on DS is indeed humbling.

Thanks Thomas, it's my pleasure to participate here.

I did some looking around yesterday at the other support sections of Daily Strength. I was surprised to see such low participation/activity in some very common medical condition forums. The kindness, knowledge and pure compassion found here in the Afib section of DS is very special. This is really a unique place to have available for support and valuable information. I only wish that I had joined many years ago.

Yes we are one of the best sites on DS. I am proud to belong to such
a compassionate group.
I find a lot of my answers just reading others posts.