What does Atrial fibrillation feel like?

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Duff Man

Duff Man

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Pretty simple thread :D What's Afib feel like?

Why am I asking? I've been feeling a fine vibration in my chest. I know what a PVC/PAC feels like; it feels like a trout flopping around in your chest... very coarse and forceful. Just wondering if afib is any different. :)
 
It is different for everyone and mine was not the same every time ? Sometimes my rate was not high but the beats were very irregular, sometimes the rate was through the roof with the beat being irregular as well ?. It made me feel ?off center?, if you know what I mean ? I could feel it coming on and I could tell when I converted into normal sinus rhythm ? I can see my pulse in my wrist and it was weird to see it bounce around ? When it first happened I converted on my own but as time went by I needed medication and was shocked back to rhythm the last time it happened ? I was ablated during AVR and have not been in a-fib since I healed?. Hope that helps.
 
My Dr's tell me im in constant afib and will have to be

dealt with the sinus rythum when i have my surgery and

guessing cus i constantly in afib :eek: not sure if this is

a really bad thing but i couldn,t explain what it really feels like

i'd imagine its so normal for me always there.

zipper2 (DEB)
 
Duff, I had an experience on Tuesday night that I had dismissed, but it had occurred to me that it may have been afib (or some such arrythmia, which I've never had before but both parents have). I had fallen asleep in my recliner and was awakened by a full body vibration (like the old coin op beds ) that continued for a minute or so and then subsided by the time I knocked the cobwebs from my sleepy head. Does this sound afib-ish to people in the know?
 
So it wasn't like a cell phone vibrating in your chest Cooker?


I felt reluctant to make the thread because people can manifest symptoms through anxiety and just the power of suggestion, but I figure it's better to know than not. I wonder how many people will read my posts and be anxious that they're having what I describe...
 
Duff Man said:
So it wasn't like a cell phone vibrating in your chest Cooker?


I felt reluctant to make the thread because people can manifest symptoms through anxiety and just the power of suggestion, but I figure it's better to know than not. I wonder how many people will read my posts and be anxious that they're having what I describe...
Click to expand...


Duff ... it was more like I could feel "strange" beats ... they seemed "harder" ... it is hard to describe... I guess when our hearts are beating normal we don't notice them ... when they get out of sync it's a different story ... do you think you are having a-fib ... if so get it checked ... my understanding is that is NOT life threatening but it is a big aggravation and always made me feel pretty washed out.
 
if that's what it feels like then this is nothing. I'd still love to read what other people think it feels like just for the sake of the thread and future readers/searchers.
 
Duff Man said:
if that's what it feels like then this is nothing. I'd still love to read what other people think it feels like just for the sake of the thread and future readers/searchers.
Click to expand...


Maybe Gina will post to this thread ... I think she and a few others live in constant a-fib.... it is a good thread ... a common problem and needs to be addressed often....
 
At the end of July 2005, I noticed a kind of flutter, but since I had been having palpitations (PVC's & PAC's) for years, I didn't think that much of it at that point. I had an appointment for an echo on August 2. Walking from the car, I noticed the incline I had to walk seemed much harder than usual. It was during the echo that I found out I had better see my cardio for an ECG because the cardio that looked at the echo said he thought I was in A-Fib. My cardio confirmed this with an ECG and a holter monitor. Towards the middle of August, I started having fluid in my lungs and my ankles started to swell (beginning of CHF) because my atrium which was generally able to give that extra push despite the regurgitation from my mitral valve, could no longer give that push.

Anyhow, the rest is history, and I feel great!!!!:D
 
A-flutter

A-flutter

My husband and I are both on warfarin because of A-fib but I have also had times when I was in a-flutter. On an EKG it looks like the tiny teeth on a hand saw, rather than an irregular beat as in A-fib. And it did feel like a bird fluttering it's wings in my chest instead of a good strong heartbeat.

Why don't you google "a-flutter"? Here is one site to lookk at:
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/TOPIC47.HTM

It's not giving a good strong beat, makes you feel tired, like you're not cooking on all burners.
 
When I first went into A-fib,it didnt feel anything like that Duff. My heart rate was 150 and very irregular.There was no flutter,,more like a band playing playing in my chest. It lasted until they gave me meds to control it in the ER. They got me out of it through cardioversion. A year later I went back into it and have been in rate controlled A-Fib for about 3 years. The doctors have tried several times to get me back in sinus,but my heart is happy this way. Through the meds and the bi-ventricular ICD that paces me most of the time, my heart rate stays in the 70's. Now,with the new valve,I hope to hang out for years to come.
 
Duff,

I used to have episodes of a-fib that varied from very fast rate but somewhat regular beats to very irregular beats but normal rate. Both caused me to feel lightheaded and breathless.

Those went away when I started on Verapamil and later on digoxin. After my third OHS, the afib went away altogether for a few years.

In 2004, I went into chronic a-fib and have been ever since. Interestingly enough, I usually do not feel it unless I do heavy type excercise. If I check my pulse I can feel the irregular beats and, of course, they show up on EKGs but it really doesn't affect me under normal circumstances.

I bring all this up to show that a-fib can manifest in many ways and only a test can tell for sure.
 
For me, very fast heart rate accompanied by a God awful feeling of doom and something being really really wrong. It was unsettling to say the least.
 
Duff Man said:
I felt reluctant to make the thread because people can manifest symptoms through anxiety and just the power of suggestion, but I figure it's better to know than not. I wonder how many people will read my posts and be anxious that they're having what I describe...
Click to expand...

I think it's a great thread Duff and it's something I've wondered about myself. I'm getting hundreds/thousands of PVCs and non-sustained v-tach, but I wouldn't know the difference between those and A-fib.... or if it's a likely issue (I think sustained v-tach is probably what I need to be on the lookout for).

I like your "trout" description though - very apt! :)


A : )
 
Heart rate very high = 140+ bpm.

Irregular heart beat - very forceful, feels like a cageload of mice scurrying around inside your chest.

Dizziness, exhaustion, very low blood pressure....


Those symptoms describe MY experiences of AF.

Someone else, Cooker I think, said they always knew when they had gone back into sinus rhythm. Well, that was my experience also.

Hope this helps.

Bridgette
 
One of the things I would offer for A-fib was to know what your pulse feels like in normal sinus rhythm - count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 to get your pulse/minute. Know what is typical for you - then we you feel "weird" check your pulse - I also used heart monitor - my heart beats for me would fluctuate from 140-190 very erratic and that also confirmed. Bottom line I could not live in A-fib the first two times I had to be cardioverted the second time they hospitalized me, did a TEE, put me on coumadin - as this could cause a stroke if you have blood pooling because of the irregularity. The third time they hospitalized me too - to put me on amiodiorne - they did a TEE and once I was admitted before the TEE which is when they scheduled to cardiovert - I went into sinus rhythm on my own.

The key is to call your cardiologist and confirm that you are in A-fib as it will cause a series of events that will require additional meds or care. I will send good thoughts your way and prayers that you can figure out what is going on.
 
Jim,
Actually not everyone can sense when they are in A-fib. One of the first questions that most nurses and doctors ask you when they learn that you are in A-fib is "Can you tell when you are in A-fib?" I couldn't tell when it happened to me in the hospital after surgery and the only way I knew I was out was when my roommate pointed out that my heart rate was regular on the monitor. I did know later when I was in A-flutter because my heart rate was high and I had absolutely no tolerance for activity.
John
 
Duff, yes I've had the heart vibrate thing. I seem to get it when I first lie down at night and my BP is low from taking my meds. It's a real creepy feeling. I hate it. I also get the strong beats, delayed beats (pvc), etc.
 
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