Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your outlook on AFib the increasing greater ability to detect an episode of AFib puts some folks in a grey area of having AFib.

As in your case you definitely have ongoing AFib issues and yet there are others such as myself who had a episode at one time in our past and still have a label of AFib in our medical history. From my limited medical knowledge you really only have AFib when your activity having an episode. So the use of say Eliqus is needed for a certain period during and after the episode to prevent the forming of clots. Similar to a person who had cancer and has gone into remission doesn't take a tiny dose of chemo daily to prevent a reoccurrence.
I haven't had a reoccurring episode of AFib in 5 years and nolonger take Eliqus for it.