@ktgirl I am just another afib patient but would think it is possible that the compression vest could be a trigger. Can you ask your doctor? My experience is that positioning, lifting. large meal (and my spinal fractures) compress my "innards" and can trigger afib, and compression from the vest you describe sounds like it might cause the same kind of internal pressure I have from those things. It could also affect the vagal nerve, which has been discussed here.

Can massage help your fibrosis or any other way to approach it?

How many hours was your episode? Did your heart rate go way up? Do you know your CHADS score (age, high bp, diabetes, F gender etc.)?

After my first episode I declined blood thinners and metoprolol (I have low bp and my CHADS was a 2). We are all different so not saying you should decline! I discussed meds at length with my doctor so he knew what I was doing and not doing.

Ten years later with one episode per year, I am still not on meds but have diltiazem and Eliquis "pill in a pocket" if I ever need them. I have an EP who agrees with me not taking meds daily finally. Again, you may be different/

Usually I go to ER with an episode due to low bp. My heart rate goes up close to 200.

It sounds like you have maybe found one trigger. I have slowly learned some of mine. As I implied above, a large meal later in the day, and reclining, is one of my main triggers so I don't eat large meals and I don't eat after 5 or 6pm. I sit straight after eating.

Other things I do: magnesium 600mg every night and low sodium V-8 for potassium every day.

Last year I bought "The Afib Cure" by John Day MD and another cardiologist. Day also has a website. You might want to grab a copy or order it in the library. There are things we can do to mitigate our situation if not "cure" it.

Sounds like a tough dilemma with the need for the vest but also the possibility it is a trigger. Also, is your pulmonary fibrosis related at all to the afib in terms of cause and effect?