Afib is different for everyone. When I say I have an episode I most definitely can tell that my heart is beating out of sync.
It starts with a quick sensation in my chest, like a delayed heartbeat and then I get very strong pounding palpations and my heart beats at 160 beats plus. I get dizzy and have to lie down. In the past I had chest pains, broke out in a sweat and had breathing problems. Twice I nearly fainted and these were the times I went to the ER with a heart rate of 195.
My episodes come on very strong and I feel absolutely lousy, but thank goodness they never lasted more than 4 hours.
I'm sure others might give you a different description of how their Afib episodes feel like, because Afib is so different for all of us.

Hope i could answer your question. May we all be blessed with NSR. Best wishes Heide

Sorry, forgot to answer part of your question.
I don't take any precautions, because t have never identified any triggers.. For some it is coffee or alcohol, big meals or certain foods. Stress might be a trigger for all of us. My heart beats faster in stressful situations, but it does not always trigger Afib.
I don't let Afib rule my life and I try not to think about it. I've learned a lot since I was diagnosed in 2009 and it does not scare me anymore.
Basically what I'm trying to say is. I live my life and do the things I enjoy and 99% of the time I feel just fine

Episodes are when your heart get out of rhythm. Mine prior to my ablation felt like a fish flopping in my chest. I felt it mainly on my left side. They would last from 30 minutes to 3 hrs when I was on medication. Off medication lonhest 8 hrs. My triggers were brownies, sushi, dehydration. Simetimes I could have them just watching television at home. One night I went in and out of it like every 5 minutes. Tha t went on gor about 1 hr. Now after my ablation the sensations aee different. I have palpitations around 195bpm. But I don't have the fish flopping sensations just the palpitations. I feel these more in the center of my chest. I have to have another ablation to correct it. When u live alone afib is very scary. You are always on the edge. I've found that antianxiety medication helps tremendously with this.

An episode refers to paroxsymal a fib. The heart suddenly leaves NSR and goes into a fib. Sanibels description is very similar to what happens to me also. An episode has an end. I self convert after a variable length of time, usually a few hours. And when you convert back to NSR ithappens just as quickly as it started.
I try to avoid triggers, get enough sleep, and avoid stressful situations. And I take aspirin as an anticoagulant.
When an episode hits I really can't function very well. I stay very quiet, meditative....and take An extra flecainide and an ativan.

And wait and pray for it to stop

HI I treat my episodes the same way as marikay does. Fortunately Flecainide and Metoprolol keep my episodes few, short and far between. When I do have an episode I am short of breath and feel lousy. I could not walk very hard without being out of breath. My heart does not beat very fast but it is very irregular. I take coumadin every day and have developed a diet that enables me to eat anything without affecting my INR ( a measure of coumadin's effect)

~~~ sort of what Steve and marikay said........
actually I had my first massive sinus arrythmia pre a fib episode yesterday AM in a LONG LONG time....and to that I say ugh. I woke up to get ready for work and said to my husband I think Im going out of rhythm and YES I really can say it like that now *L* cause I know I will be ok and it happens so seldom.....you can actually see my heart pounding in my chest at a rate of about 115 its so loud in my head I dont hear much else.....I took all my meds , in order and never flipped into a fib , went into work and did indeed work like a shake zombie for the AM hours.....I have learned to not give in and call in sick though I would have stayed home if an episode had evolved. For me......the horrible sensation and visual beating of the chest and the deafening sounds has always been my only sensation except for the fatigue which I think is more from stress and fear when its over, I never get dizzy or short of breath just the pounding and the flopping .......my drugs are Flecainide and Atenolol and Xanax and I dont take anything except ASA as an anti coag.......hoping I am back in another nice long stretch of calm SR
jan

As Heidi puts it an episode for me is when "my heart is beating out of sync."
98% of the time I'll go into AF around 1:30-2:30AM. I wake up and then go back to sleep with frequent visits to the loo. I wake up in the morning feeling tired and dehydrated, down 1-2 pounds. My episodes last between 6-24 hours. Aside from warfarin I'm not now or ever have been on any other meds for AF. I have bradycardia, normal rate 40's and 50's. In AF my HR is between 65-95. I hesitate to take a PIP to bring my rate down too low.
My only symptoms during the episode are fatigue and an irregular HB.
I'll feel a flash of lightheadedness when I self convert. i'm able to carry on with my normal activities. I'm retired so that makes it a lot easier.

My triggers are alcohol and at times late meals. On special occasions I will ignore the triggers and usually but not always go into AF in the AM following. If I have important plans or am ushering the next evening I do not drink

I experienced light headedness when on BP pills. My PCP took me off them since my BP was in the normal range. For me "less is more."

Annette

I am in more or less chronic afib, my heart is always off rhythm. However I rarely have real symptoms. If I exert myself too much or drink coffee and or alcohol (more than one cup) I feel a bit out of breath and dizzy. But the rest of the time, I never notice it. I was diagnosed on a routine EKG and never even knew I had afib, which I suspect was present for over a year.

I had an ablation, which lasted 2 years, then I went back to afib. But since I don;t really have symptoms, I'm OK and just see my MD every few months to monitor, etc.

I usually wake up in the middle of the night early mornings, I know im in Af because I have the feeling that my heart is flopping around in my chest..i then notice that I have a very rapid heart rate and that it is irregular...

I also usually have to go to the loo to urinate every 20m minutes or so while im in AF..i usually revert within 6-9 hours with flecanide...

I am super super anxious during these episodes and I cant seem to calm down no matter what I take...

For me an episode can be triggered by exercise, wine, and/or stress, but sometimes it starts for no reason at all. I can really feel my heart pounding (it has been recorded up to 220 bpm), and I feel dizzy, nauseaus, anxious, and generally lowsy. I have had one unsuccessful ablation and have my name down for a second one, however, right now the flecainide seems to be controlling the episodes (which last anywhere from a couple of hours to 24 hours). I try not to worry about an episode starting because I think this may actually increase the incidence of episodes, but I have to admit this is easier said than done.

Until just recently I discovered that I must have had Atrial Fibrillation all of my life, I remember the episodes vividly and what age I was and what I was doing (ie: at age 14, while playing tennis, my heart started beating so fast, I was exhausted ... it lasted 20 minutes then went into normal sinus rhythm, then at 18 same thing ... I remember that in 2009 I was in Afib for 3 1/2 hours ) and all along, after I got diagnosed in 2005 of having MVP Mitral Valve Prolapse, I 'assumed' it was MVP that I had all my life? but this Support forum has educated me so much, that I believe I had Afib all my life.

My heart rate goes up into the 80s (from 40-50s) after returning from the bathroom, during the night, and getting back into bed. This occasionally leads to an AF episode. When in AF I feel a heaviness or pressure in my chest and can feel an irregular heartbeat. Triggers for me are being too full or late night caffeine. I self convert, usually after 1-8 hours. Sometime doing some mild exercise or immersing my face or wrists in ice water will cause self conversion.