Has anyone figured out what technique works best to stop AFib episodes

@zeke2u
I just had my ICD/Pacemaker check come back and say I had a couple of AFIB epsisode last 8-10 seonds with a thereshold of 1%.

I was advised by one of my cardiologist there were many ways to help stop episodes but quite frankly don't remember exactly what they are so don't want to even state those.

I do not that anxiety and stress can lead to AFIB. I just read on WEB MD (you can go on that site and the latest information does address AFIB and things you can do to reduce the episode). One was deep stomach breathing relaxation. But again go to WEB MD for exactly how to do them.

I have found for ME and express again for me that dealing with stress and anxiety greatly reduces the incidents of them happening. What I do is participate in exercise every day. I do fun things that bring a smile to my face. Water aerobics, biking, swiming while listening to music, walking dog who loves the walks.

Not just exercising find a hoppy that you really like and it can help you mentally and physically. I posted some time back I read a biograply about FDR and the tremendous strain he was under in WW2. What was reported was he would set aside time to work on his stamp collection as it brought him so much fun and satisfaction.

You could probably do a search on Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, WEBB MD and read the some of the ways to help reduce onset of AFIB and help reduce stress when having them. I wish I could post them but unless I could duplicate the exact directions it would be best not to even try.
Good luck!

I’m 78 and have had A-fib for nearly 30 years. Flecainide has always prevented episodes. About 15 years ago a cardiologist told me flecainide wouldn’t work forever. Maybe I’m just blessed.

Wow! Tks
I was just reading about Flecainide. Gotta do more research on it!

Some find that the Valsalva technique works for them. Avoiding sleeping on one's left side also helps.

Some attempt to restore Vagus nerve tonality using various techniques, of which the Valsalva is one. Others including plucking the tragus on the ear (the small cartilaginous lump above the earlobe) repeatedly.

Magnesium supplements may help. Start with 100 mg per day, and try rising to 400 mg. Note that I am NOT a nutritionist, nor am I a physician/expert. I'm just relating what others report having worked for them, and often merely adding magnesium (malate, taurate, citrate variety, take yer pick...) helps. Your kidneys, if healthy (this is important!!) will typically eliminate what your body doesn't need, so you shouldn't worry about 'overdosing', although going crazy with magnesium would be a problem ere long. Ask your doctor for his/her agreement before embarking on such a regimen.

I found that my worst episodes of AF happened when I was carrying too much visceral fat...internal and around the organs, not the 'spare tire' kind. The problem is the strain on one's innards, as well as the accompanying rise in blood pressure, when bending over and when lifting heavier items. That will trigger AF...in me and in some others.

I take 600mg magnesium and 850-1250mg potassium via low sodium V-8 daily. Never eat after 6pm and lie on my right side. I take Gas X to help avoid an episode triggered by GI gas. Lifting in front of me is another trigger.

We are all different. Last time I had an episode I experimented with the Vasalva maneuver, walking around, cold water and trying to relax. One time I aborted an episode by sitting up straight.

Hope you can figure out triggers and ways to deal with them. I am still working on it!

@gloaming
Great and helpful information.
I gained a lot of weight when I came down with COVID back in June. It evolved into serious sinus infection and then into serous bronchial infection. I was down about 3 months and gained 20 lbs.

You mentioned the visceral fat. I noticed that pressure but had no idea about the impact on my body until you mentioned it and then I did notice I did have pressure from it.

I was told about teh Valsalva and also my EP did asked me to take 400 mg of magnesium which has helped. But I think I just need to find a way to get visceral fat off as I asked my EP if weight gain can affect AFIB and VFIB. Answer Yes.

I sleep on my right side, wear my Apple Watch to alert me of abnormal rhythms, take magnesium, and follow the guidelines in the books “Afib Cure” and “ Eat to Beat Disease”. I take Flecainide if I have an Afib episode.

You may want to consider getting a sleep study to check for sleep apnea and overnight drops in your oxygen level (hypoxia). I have sleep apnea and after covid and the shots, my nightime oxygen was dropping to dangerously low level level if 72%! I was placed in oxygen overnight, but I have recovered and I am now off oxygen. I wear a continuous oximeter overnight to alert me of oxygen drops.

Losing extra weight and exercising is also helpful. I slowly increased my indoor walking to 5 miles daily. I cannot get my heart rate over 120 or I go into Afib, but I also have heart failure and pulmonary hypertension. I have not had an Afib episode in over a year. I feel well with normal daily activities and I am not on any prescription heart medications.

@janet123 glad you are also benefitting from "The Afib Cure"! My last episode was 4/24. I usually go a year at least but in 2023 I had a few in a cluster due to stress. Hoping to make it to April! We are fortunate.

I'm on Flecainide but only started last February. I didn't know it had a work/life span.

Cardiac arrhythmias tend to progress, or to evolve into something less manageable. I use the term 'intractable', meaning the same thing, not easily controlled or dealt with. Because they tend to progress, especially atrial fibrillation (AF), it is always best to deal with it firmly and early. You either are willing to take anti-arrhythmic...AND....rate control medication when in AF in order to keep the rate at or below 100 BPM ideally, or you take a mechanical remediation (NOT a CURE!!, just a control measure that is done electrically, not by medication), which is catheter ablation. There are several ways to perform the ablative procedure, and they're improving on them all the time.

If you control the progression of fibrosis (which is a changing structure inside the atrium endothelial lining and below that into the muscle itself), which begets 'remodeling' of the substrate of the myocardium, you can take drugs for a very long time...in some cases. Many patients find, though, that they eventually need an upped dosage of the same drug, or that they quickly lose ground and must be placed on another drug, often a more potent drug like amiodarone (which you should only take when all else fails and you still want to live for as long as possible. You can do your own googling of 'amiodarone' and read up on it for yourself. In case you become dismayed, I was on it for ten weeks two years ago out of necessity. I'm still here..., and so are scores of others who have been on it for years. Every patient is an individual case, and that includes tolerance to flecainide, Tikosyn, Multaq, Sotalol, propafenone, and the various beta and calcium channel blockers.

So, that's a long way of addressing your question, and it can be summed up like this: many, most, cases of cardiac arrythmia, but especially when unmanaged, will tend to get worse over time. This can come about even with pretty solid control using drugs. Happened to me, and it has happened to thousands of others. I finally realized that only an ablation was going to rid me of the accursed AF and its awful symptoms. Unfortunately, even ablations can lose ground to the heart which is always looking to effect the electrical disorder somewhere else from where the ablation lesions were made during the last ablation. IOW, even ablations might need to be touched up in time, maybe six months, maybe six years. Some never have to have another ablation. I'm just past two years free of arrhythmia, but it took two ablations to rid me of it.

I have said a lot. I can get windy, sorry, but if you need further information, please do consider doing a google search with 'atrial fibrillation and management' or something like that. Or, 'anti-arrhythmic drugs and side effects', or even 'duration of efficacy of various anti-arrhythmic drugs'.