r/AFIB

Hello! I (m58) had 2 afib episodes back in January. As a result my EP raised my flecainide to 150mg twice daily. I take 25mg of Metoprolol in the evening and 5mg of Eliquis twice a day.

To say I feel lethargic is an understatement. I can sleep for 7 hours and wake up feeling exhausted. I'll "get going" for a while and then a wave of fatigue will sweep over me late morning/early afternoon.

Definitely feeling somewhat depressed too... things I like to do are no longer holding my interest.

I'm thinking I need a serious chat with my EP about another ablation. I've had 2. The first lasted about 4 years, the 2nd was about 18 months.

The meds are working well on my afib but boy this is tough to live with.

Looking for any hacks/things that may have worked for folks in a similar situation.

Thanks!

31 male I had an ablation about a year and a half ago. I would do it all over again, I definitely feel like I got my life back.

But last night for the first time since before my procedure I had an episode of tachycardia for probably two or three seconds and it was enough to make me jump up in terror again. I don't mean to get on here and complain I know people have it worse and I definitely feel blessed that my ablation has worked and maybe still is just don't know where else to go with people that might understand.

Last time around this is about how it started and then it starts to take off from here gradually getting more and more episodes along with PACs and PVCs.

How does one deal with the anxiety that comes along with it? Because honestly it made me feel like a shell of a person and it made it extremely difficult to be present with family. I don't want to get back to that but currently that's all I can think about.

What exactly do ED do ? I read cardioversion or medicine ?

Thats my first 12 hour long episode. I m a bit upset that episodes increasing in length and more frequent. Looks like time to start going to ED.

Around 3 year mark and recently diagnosed with afib , 36yo m.

EDit: Thanks everyone for sharing their side of things.

Hello, 33 year old Male here. I have obesity, wieght oriented high blood pressure (average 14/9) and on meds for 5 years. Since 3 months my doses were very lowered since cardiologist told me that at this point its not important if you take meds or not you're good. He also said that you have tiny early beats and some unimportant SVT's that are below our limits that we should care for.

2 weeks ago I experienced an acute AFib. When I got up and lying in the bed my heart rate was normal (50-65 bpm). Then I figured I was late to work and jummped out of bed. Then my beat started climbing. Normally it climbs up to 110 and drops back. At this one, it climbed very fast, unsusually and when I checked it from my watch ECG, I saw 186 bpm yet the normal bpm counter was unable to show. Anyways the anxiety kicked in, I did some breath works, valsalva moves but nothing worked and I immediately went to hospital. My rate was like 170 and hemoglobin was 18.8 at the hospital. They made me wait for 4 hours there with only diazem. Then took me to another hospital for ICU. They started 24 hour amiodarone and several IV medications. My rythm came back to normal 4 hours after they took me to the ICU and spent the day there. after a week my cardiologist called me and did 24h blood pressure and ECG Holter. Everything is clear as he said.

Before this, for 3 months I was very stressed, drinking alcohol (4-5 beers on average) roughly 3-4 days per week. If I was hungover after a night, I had to rest otherwise I had higher heart rates and anxiety attacks.

Last 10 days I was drinking 8-12 beers a night and some mornings i was waking up unrested. After the last day on alcohol I slept normally, went to work, drank 1 coffee, mineral water and about 2L water. That night I went to bed early yet I struggled to sleep. Then when I woke up this event happened. After ICU I checked my watch and saw that my deep sleep ratio was %6 and REM sleep was also something there for a 7 hours of sleep. That means just 1 hour of that sleep was efficient and rest was trash.

I wonder if this AFib most likely triggered by poor sleep or by alcohol? Should I drop alscohol for a lifetime? I dont know but I reduced every consumption, started taking magnesium before sleep and probably won't drink any alcohol like 6 months or further. I don't know if I should ever drink in moderation or not, my neurologist friend (didnt see any of my reports) says its a risk and I should not take it and drop alcohol for life.

For about two weeks now, I’ve been having AFib episodes almost every evening. During the day I feel completely fine, no symptoms at all. But when I sit down to relax and especially when I’m drifting off to sleep, it often kicks in.

It usually starts with some palpitations and a slightly more forceful heartbeat, and then suddenly it flips into AFib. The timing is very consistent, almost always in that “in-between” phase when I’m falling asleep.

I won’t be able to see a cardiologist for another three weeks, and in the meantime I’m trying to understand my options. I’ve been reading about Flecainide and wondering if it could help stop these episodes.

So I have a couple of questions: • What are your experiences with Flecainide for stopping AFib episodes, especially when they occur like this (mostly at night)? • What side effects should I realistically expect?

And a second concern: • My stroke risk score is around 0–1 (only mildly elevated blood pressure, otherwise healthy), so I haven’t been prescribed blood thinners. But now that these episodes are happening every night, does that significantly increase my risk? • Should I still push to discuss anticoagulation with my doctor despite the low score?

Thanks a lot for any insights or personal experiences.

I'm 38 and just got discharged from an overnight stay at the ER from my first major afib episode. Hr jumped up to 230bpm...around 8am. They were able to get it down to the 170s and it bounced around for a bit, they were planning on doing a cardio version in the morning but luckily around 830pm I flipped. Felt completely better. Sent home on meds and everything is overall back to normal. The doctors and nurses were wonderful, very informative and reassuring. I already have follow ups scheduled.

But OMG this anxiety! I understand this wasn't a small thing, that I'm in for a lot of lifestyle changes and consistent monitoring. Making sure I stay on top of everything and I'm prepared for that. But this anxiety is an absolute wall right now. Obviously I need to focus on optimal sleep and things like that but I'm just generally really anxious right now. Even though I'm on meds, I was cleared of risk. It was over in less than 24hrs, I flipped on my own, I'm feeling good on the meds. I'm ready to be healthy and manage this but the anxiety, the intrusive thoughts are making it hard to get into next steps.

Obviously this literally just happened so my body is coming down from everything.... Did anyone have bad anxiety after an episode? What did you do or do you still do to manage it so you can get on track? Or is it just something that will take time?

My EP wont ablate me and waiting on a referral from chop gonna get another cardioversion and now need 50 mg more flec

I’m not sure how I’m gonna like. Live my life. I’m not even like discouraged at this point. I just don’t know what I’m gonna do.

Thank you to the group for recommending this book. What a great and inspiring guide to dealing with AF. I read it on a plane ride. Laid out a good gameplan to start with. One will never know for sure how things will progress but great starting point as really the physicians don’t give you this in any detail.

Couple comments :
I thought the same eating plan lacked much protein and there were no eggs in the meal plan. This seemed odd to me. For those who workout and lift weight, high protein diets are recommended these days.

I liked the idea of tracking all the BLAST items. Is there anyone who has spreadsheets for this already made or a place to access such spreadsheets. This would be greatly appreciated so thank you. 🙏🏽

Why does there seem to be a lack of understanding in what causes afib?

As well as, the treatment - ablations seem so archaic.

I have a feeling a few years from now dr and researchers are going to find the root cause and think how did we ever let them scar the inside of their heart.

Edit* food for thought.

Hello everyone, I (25M) was recently diagnosed with Afib after having an episode at work. Lifestyle wasn’t great beforehand, using lots of snus (nicotine pouches), poor sleep, dehydration and stress. Just concerned as it’s lasted more than 7 days as this is my first episode (symptomatic) and I’m waiting for an echocardiogram and cardio version. How did everyone’s Afib behave after cardio version? I’m just worried it’ll come back and I’m scared tbh. I know I’ll need to managed my trigger going forwards, it’s just surprised me that it’s happened :(

I had my first afib episode that I had to be cardioverted from when I was 26, I was on 50 mg meteprolol for about a year but the side effects were so bad. I slowly weened off them, and ever since last May I’ve been off them completely. I kept asking my cardiologist for an ablation but they said I was young and for one episode is not worth the risk of an ablation.

Last month I had my second afib episode I had to be cardioverted from, almost 3 years after my first one. I’m 29 now, ever since my first episode my fitness journey has been completely thrown away. I’ve gained 20 pounds and am rather inactive, previously to the first episode I ran a 5K in 30 min and was the healthiest I’ve ever been.

I had an apt with an electrophysiologist and he said an ablation is certainly on the table, or I could stay on the meds - which I really don’t want to be. I have the ablation scheduled for mid July. After asking for one for 3 years I’m now worried if I’m making the right decision. Has anyone regretted having an ablation after only a couple episodes that they had to be cardioverted from? I just want my life back, I feel like my life has been on pause ever since the first episode. I don’t smoke or drink (at least not in the last 3 years), I weigh 210 at 6 ft tall. I keep an Apple Watch on and it’s never caught another episode, however I’ll have random PVC’s daily and just walking up the stairs at my house will leave me winded and with a higher heart rate.

Any advice or personal stories would be greatly appreciated, thank you in advance.

ICD implanted two years ago in resonse to my AFIB/CHF condition....Apparently my AFIB is no longer being controlled with meds.....EP mentioned Watchman and ablation as solutions. Would like to appear opinions as to best solution to eliminate/control AFIB. TIA

I’m emotional right now because he is having this procedure in another state and I can’t be there with him. I’m feeling frustrated that the other ablations didn’t take and that he has to keep getting them. He has restrictive cardiomyopathy and an AICD.

I want to know what I can do to help him after he gets home. He has become less active lately because of back pain. I want to try to help him be more active, walk more, and have a healthier diet. He barely eats because he wants to lose weight and he doesn’t go on walks anymore because of his pain. He’s only 53.

What are some important lifestyle changes someone in his position should make to help the success of the surgery and work to prevent negative outcomes? I’m guessing weight and cholesterol management, activity, sleep apnea management, hydration, and activity. I care so much about him and he gets depressed and starts to let his health go.

Thanks in advance.

Hey all. 34M, recently diagnosed with paroxysmal Afib. Long story short, was in the hospital in afib with tachy and going to get a cardioversion but spontaneously transitioned back to NSR. I was prescribed 25mg metoprolol succinate per day, made me feel awful tho.

I went two weeks and BP/heart rate stayed at good levels so cardiologist told me I can start weaning off by doing 12.5 mg/day for a week then 12.5mg/every other day for a week. Instructed me to then keep the Metoprolol Succinate as a pocket pill to use “as needed” if I go into afib. Anyone else use this PRN? Spoke with my pharmacist and even they were surprised the cardiologist said I could use this PRN.

Anyone else also get any side effects weaning off this stuff? I’ve had some head pressure, adrenaline dumps in the evening, sweating at night.

I just came to the realization this week that I’ve got PACs and never realized it before. I always skipped over those conversations because I assumed I never had them, just Afib. I had an ablation in early 2026 and had a couple small Afib episodes last year but none in the last 9 months.

This week I was pretty stressed out one night and my heart felt kind of funny. I took my pulse in my neck like I normally do and could tell it wasn’t afib but I could feel skipped beats. In the past I always felt when I couldn’t “feel” a beat at a given moment it because I was at the end of my breath and I couldn’t feel that beat. I used my Kardia and confirmed no afib, but as I watched it I could see and tell when the PAC was firing the beat off early followed by the “missed beat”. That of course made me more anxious and stressed. It calmed down and the next day on the Kardia sometimes it was no PACs and sometimes 1 or 2 in the 30 seconds.

I then remembered when I saw my EP in December I looked at the notes on MyChart later and he said I had palpitations. I remember thinking he must have made a mistake as I didn’t and have and haven’t ever had any palpitations. I then looked through some earlier Kardia recordings this year and found PACs on some of them.

So I guess I’ve had PACs all along. I never really feel or notice them unless I’m actually checking my pulse or if I’m having frequent ones. I’m assuming / hoping it’s not a big deal since my EP didn’t even tell me he found palpitations/PACs, he just mentioned it in the notes. For those with PACs have your doctors been concerned about them?

(I’m 99% sure these are PACs and not PVCs because it looks identical on an EKG to a normal beat except it’s shortened up.)

FYI, some 25gm Metoprolol tablet lot recalled.

Ordered an Aptofit smart watch. Got a confirmation email from a Fitsenso and am now questioning my purchase. Should I have gone with a Kardia?

Looking for an ecg and a pulse tracker or taker. blood pressure monitor would be nice. trying to spend around $100.