Sleep / Afib

Sleep/Atrial Fibrillation

by Gemita - 2022-12-16 05:49:43

Hello Hearty,

I am sure you are not the only one going through the problems you are experiencing with AF (Atrial Fibrillation), although it is surprising that your pacemaker/defibrillator wasn’t able to intervene in some way and you found yourself needing ER support.

Defibrillator sensitivity settings are set by your EP/Cardiologist to shock you when you have a significant, dangerous arrhythmia.  However nasty AF is, it is not regarded as a dangerous arrhythmia in the same way as say  a sustained ventricular arrhythmia like VT or VF, both of which would be life threatening.  

It is important that you report that you needed to attend ER to get some relief from your AF, although I would imagine with a defibrillator this has already been done and your defibrillator has been checked to make sure that it is functioning as it should?  Perhaps your doctors will consider changing any meds you are on to help reduce the heart rate when you are in AF, so that you will hopefully feel better and not need emergency support or that any fast AF episode will not ultimately push your ventricles too fast and trigger a shock.  Clearly it didn’t on this occasion which might suggest that the AF/ventricular rate didn’t reach a high enough level to trigger a defibrillator shock? 

I would suggest you get your settings checked by your clinic to see whether they are appropriately set for you and to get that AF under better control.  I note that since 2016, the defibrillator hasn’t ever gone off which tells me that your arrhythmias (apart from the latest episode of AF) are well controlled.

Being able to feel and hear my heart beating at night is very comforting because I know that I still have a heart and whether it is regular or irregular (as in AF).  Sometimes I focus on my breath until I drop off to sleep.  However, when I am aware of uncomfortable, irregular palpitations either from benign ectopics or from other more significant arrhythmias, it is difficult to get a peaceful night’s sleep and perhaps this is what is happening to you and keeping you awake?  

What do you do when you cannot get back to sleep or to fall asleep?  Sometimes I can stop palpitations by changing position in bed, sitting up for a brief moment, or even walking around.  Dehydration can cause palpitations for me, so I take regular sips of water if I wake at night.  I sometimes take an extra small dose of my beta blocker (on doctor’s recommendation) to help calm my heart when it feels distressed and I am usually able to return to sleep. I hope things improve for you

BiV or ICD?

by AgentX86 - 2022-12-16 15:37:33

As Gemita said, ICDs guard against ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation. These are deadly so the extrordinary steps are taken to shock you back to a Normal Sinus Rhythm. Afib is completely different.  It's not deadly at all.  The AV node is slow so protects the ventricals so atrial tachycardia isn't an issue.

Now, my question.  You said that you have a BiV pacemaker. ICDs have the cardioversion capability (in your case it would be a CRT-D) not a pacemaker (CRT-P).

Anxiety

by Lavender - 2022-12-17 08:22:05

I'm like Gemita in that noticing my heartbeat brings comfort. It's beating. I'm alive. It's doing what it's supposed to do. In fact if I feel anxious, sometimes I feel my wrist pulse or neck and let the rhythmic beat remind me that my heart does indeed go on. 
Sorry to hear of your difficulties sleeping. I'm normally a good sleeper but since November, I am waking up too early and getting perhaps six hours of sleep when it was normally nine. In speaking with others my age, they report the same. 
I would normally advise you to listen w headphones to meditation tapes available on youtube by Michael Sealey. There're a lot of choices he has to self hypnotize and relax to sleep. Just music isn't enough. His voice soothes and gives suggestions which relax. 

Sleep / Atrial Fibrillation

by Barney dmb - 2022-12-20 14:44:11

Check this out,.......isbn 978-0-7499-5308-9

Best

BB

Sleeping problems

by Veritas - 2022-12-21 22:56:17

Try counting the heartbeats, that puts me to sleep.

But ... I sleep well anyway,

All the best

Responses

by hearty1 - 2023-01-05 00:03:27

@Gemita

I have an appointment with my cardiologist this month and I will ask why didn't my defribillator go off when I was in AFIB. i was placed on amiodarone after the incident. I haven't went into AFIB since then, although this was the only incident that I can say that happened on its own.  My device was checked prior to me leaving the hospital the next day. I don't have any palpitations, I just lay there and anxiously listen to my heart beat. Recently I was given Ativan and it has helped me get a good nights sleep. Thanks for responding. 

@AgentX86

I have a BiV/ICD  Thanks for responding.

@Lavender

Thanks for the suggestion. On one of my off days I'll give him a listen and see if it helps. Right now the Ativan is helping me get between 6-7 hours of solid sleep, for which I am grateful. Thanks for responding.

@Barney dmb Thanks for responding and thanks for the suggestion.

@Veritas Thanks for the suggestion and thanks for responding