Possible Afib & Cpap????

[kaiya2465]

I will find out the results of my heart tests Friday, but the dr thinks I possibly suffer from Afib. What I would like to know is how will that effect the use of Cpap????

Thanks in advance....

[avi123]

If you enter "atrial fibrilation" in the search box above you'll see about 20 prior discussions on it.

[kaiya2465]

Did that, but did not find an answer to my question....But thank you.

[LSAT]

I have occasional afib and irregular heartrate......it has not affected my CPAP use at all.

[kaiya2465]

Thank you Lsat, that is what I was/am wondering. My apologies if I did not word my post right.

[Roger2]

I will find out the results of my heart tests Friday, but the dr thinks I possibly suffer from Afib. What I would like to know is how will that effect the use of Cpap????

kaiya

Sleep apnea and afib are usually interrelated. My afib is the ONLY reason I am on a cpap now and that was at the insistence of my cardiologist. He made it sound very dire and something that needed to be done asap if not sooner. My sleep doctor and internist also agreed that the relationship does exist as far as afib being connected to the sleep apnea but I am not sure if the converse is true. Although I can find many rationalizations for being on cpap it is not a fun situation, especially when it comes to traveling. In any case, be guided by your physicians on this matter because if you do have afib, not being on a cpap or something similar can cost you years of life expectancy.

pax

Roger

[kaiya2465]

Oh my goodness, I was not told that, I will be asking the Cardio & my RT about this. I want to be as armed with questions as I can be. I only am able to get 2 hrs on the machine but am working on it. This info just makes me want to fight harder. Thank you so very much!

Sorry about not highlighting part of your post, still have not figured that out....

Best Wishes.

[mellanie]

Sleep apnea is a frequent cause of atrial fibrillation, and some folks find that they have less afib once they start treating their sleep apnea with CPAP (or APAP or BiPAP).

Mellanie True Hills

[jimnsc]

I had A. Fib. and cpap did not affect my treatment one way or the other. I can't imagine what tests you might be waiting to hear from as a simple EKG will show if you are or aren't. I always knew when I went into it as I could feel it in my chest (fight or flight feeling). My cardio also referred me for my sleep study. I had osa before I ever knew what it was and do know it preceded A. Fib.

I don't have A. Fib now and haven't since I was put on Tikosyn. I was electrically cardioverted 5 times previously. If Tikosyn doesn't continue to work I have another option and that is surgery - the Maze (sp) procedure. My doc is trying Tikosyn first as I am almost 71.

[avi123]

http://www.stopafib.org/surgical-ablati ... 0procedure

[Slinky]

I had A. Fib. and cpap did not affect my treatment one way or the other. I can't imagine what tests you might be waiting to hear from as a simple EKG will show if you are or aren't. I always knew when I went into it as I could feel it in my chest (fight or flight feeling). My cardio also referred me for my sleep study. I had osa before I ever knew what it was and do know it preceded A. Fib.

I don't have A. Fib now and haven't since I was put on Tikosyn. I was electrically cardioverted 5 times previously. If Tikosyn doesn't continue to work I have another option and that is surgery - the Maze (sp) procedure. My doc is trying Tikosyn first as I am almost 71.

A simple EKG will NOT NECESSARILY reveal A fib (atrial fibrillation). It will only detect and report A fib IF an event occurs during the EKG. Even a Holter monitor will NOT report A fib if an event doesn't occur during the wearing of the Holter monitor.

And there are those who can experience asymptomatic A fib. Some respond well to medication(s) for A fib to either regulate their heart rate or their heart rhythm or both. Some require various procedures to control, reduce, stop their A fib. There is A fib due to heart valve or other cardiac problems and there is paroxysmal A fib of unknown cause.

It HAS been established that there is a relationship between OSA and A fib.

[Roger2]

Oh my goodness, I was not told that, I will be asking the Cardio & my RT about this.

Although most cardiologists will order and EKG to confirm how serious a person’s afib is, they can usually hear the irregularity through a stethoscope. It can be serious but if you follow your doctor’s recommendation, it is something that you can live with. One of the usual treatments seems to be prescribing a blood thinner. The problems usually arise when your blood is thicker and clots in your atrium causing a stroke. The blood thinners prevent that but they do have their undesirable affects. If you should sustain an internal injury, it is difficult to stop the bleeding as I found out a couple of years ago when a piece of wood came out of my table saw and hit me in the chest. It lacerated my spleen and they had a great deal of difficulty stopping the bleeding. Because I was already in serious shock when the ambulance got me into the hospital so surgery was out of the question. I don’t really want to get into the details of that afternoon but it was extremely serious. You need to take the precautions your physician will probably give you.

I would not suggest however that you not be too concerned at this juncture until they find out for sure what the problem is and go from there, just don’t take it too lightly.

[mellanie]

jimnsc,

Sleep apnea is a major reason that cardioversions fail. Once someone is treating their sleep apnea, they have a greater chance of cardioversions being a success. In addition, treating sleep apnea can help afib medications work because the sleep apnea is not negating the effect of the medications. Hopefully the Tikosyn will keep you out of afib.

All,

Mayo Clinic research shows that at least half of those with afib also have sleep apnea, and we know that the sleep apnea is what triggers the afib. One possible implication for those with sleep apnea who don't have afib is that treating their sleep apnea religiously could help them avoid having to deal with afib, too.

Mellanie True Hills

[mellanie]

It's appropriate to mention that there are different types of afib. If someone is in afib all the time (persistent), an EKG will detect it. However, most people start out going in and out of afib (paroxysmal), so unless you're in afib while in the doctor's office, it won't be detected. Research has shown that it can take an average of 1.7 to 2.6 years to be diagnosed after you start having symptoms because it may not be happening when you're at the doctor's office. And about one-third of those with afib have no detectable symptoms.

It might be useful to know the different types of afib:
* Paroxysmal, or intermittent — episodes that come and go, but resolve themselves within 7 days
* Persistent — episodes that last beyond seven days or require intervention to terminate, such as medication or electrical cardioversion
* Longstanding persistent — continuous afib that lasts longer than one year
* Permanent — persistent or long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation in which a decision has been made not to try to restore normal sinus rhythm by any means, including catheter or surgical ablation
[Source: http://stopafib.org/progresses.cfm]

Mellanie True Hills

[Sir NoddinOff]

This is totally anecdotal: but I had some minor episodes of AF during some very strenuous physical exercise (mt biking) just before starting XPAP this Spring and tho the episodes weren't too drastic and went away quickly, I felt worried. A heartbeat dropped here and there can be distressing. Since starting XPAP two months ago I've not had one episode. I suspect my improved sleep condition has helped sort out my AF issues.