What came 1st? Sleep apnea or A-Fib?

[Chuck Connors]

Have you ever wondered which came first, sleep apnea or A-Fib? Any opinions out there, factual or otherwise?

[tooter]

[quote="Chuck Connors"]Have you ever wondered which came first, sleep apnea or A-Fib? Any opinions out there, factual or otherwise?[/quote]


NO

[Roger2]

I was first diagnosed with OSA in 2004 after a sleep study at National Jewish which at that time was relatively minor. I also had several EKG's that same year with no sign of afib. During a routine annual check up in 2008 my doctor heard something unusual about my heart beat and sent me to a cardiologist for a work-up. That was the first time anyone noticed my Atrial Fibrillation problem so they put me on a portable monitor for the next month and determined that it was an afib problem but an intermittent one. They treated the problem with blood thinners and I have been on them since.

When they hospitalized me last May for pneumonia the afib problem became a chronic one. Besides the blood thinners, they put me on another medication to help control the afib. The blood thinners simply prevent the blood in the atrium from clotting when it is fibrilating. The cardiologist recommended another sleep study and at that time found the OSA to be a much greater problem and so I ended up on a cpap machine.

At least in my own case the OSA came first.

[Bons]

Have you ever wondered which came first, sleep apnea or A-Fib? Any opinions out there, factual or otherwise?

In my husband's case, the sleep apnea came first. Unfortunately, the a-fib has not gone away since starting apap (or treatment for the a-fib....). Some people have gotten rid of the heart problem by treating the apnea.

[mellanie]

Sleep apnea came 1st, and it triggers the afib.

A study done by Dr. Susan Redline at Case Western, which was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, showed that the odds (risks) of having an abnormal heartbeat were 18 times higher immediately after an apnea episode compared to during normal sleep breathing. And sleep-disordered breathing (apnea or hypopnea) did not have to be severe to raise AF risk. In the study's discussion section, the authors say: "...neither the severity of SDB (sleep-disordered breathing) nor the severity of individual respiratory disturbances needs to be extreme to increase the risk of arrhythmia." [Disclaimer: I hold the copyright, so it's OK for me to quote/paraphrase from this article. Source: http://www.stopafib.org/newsitem.cfm/NEWSID/211]

For those who have sleep apnea, treating it promptly and consistently is critical in order to decrease the risk of developing atrial fibrillation. Even though I have been afib-free for 6 1/2 years (thanks to a surgical procedure), I treat my sleep apnea religiously to prevent afib from recurring.

Mellanie True Hills

[Chuck Connors]

3 for 3. Sleep apnea 1st - A-Fib 2nd. Interesting. Makes sense. Thank you for the insight!! -Chuck-

[jimnsc]

For me - sleep apnea came first. I had sleep apnea years before I knew what it was. I go to the hospital this coming Wednesday for three days to be placed on Tikosyn (I assume one needs to be in the hospital due to the reactions one could have to the drug). I have been electrically cardioverted 4 times - the last time was week before last and it lasted 2 days before I went back into A. Fib. Should the Tikosyn not prove to work for me then I suppose I'm looking at having mini-Maze surgery. Trying meds first due to my age (almost 71).

An aside - I get outstanding treatment from auto CPAP and good results and that proved to me, in my particular case, that my treatment did not prevent another onset of A. Fib.

[Rich B.]

I can only say this. My afib started one day after a half marathon. I began to have problems from time to time, but wrote it off to too much coffee or something. Then about 3 months later I began to have very severe a fib problems especially after vigorous exercise.

To make a long story short the cardiologist recommended a sleep study. The test showed that I had slept through the night, but stopped breathing 25 time per hour. I never ever suspected it and originally thought that it would not be worth it. Me sleeping with a mask.

There were about 2 or 3 months where I was not on CPAP, but was on minimal medication - no a fib, but I felt awful. I did very little exercise and was not myself.

After the CPAP I began to feel great and exercise was fun again. The effect was almost immediate.

Now it is nine months since the CPAP and I can honestly say that I have not felt better in years - even before the a fib started. I run 8 or 9 miles, with not even a hint of a fib, shortness of breath etc. I sleep soundly for 7 hours. By B/P is down 25%. I am still on my minimal dose of meds. It will be interesting to see if he takes me off of them at the next visit.

If you have lone a fib have a sleep study. Demand one. Take it from a disbeliever.

[Chuck Connors]

Nice success story, Rich B!

I thought it was interesting, but not surprising, that the cardiologist recommended a sleep study. There seems to be more awareness about sleep apnea in general. Typically, the cardiologist would have you wear a Holter monitor for 24 hours, check those results and then recommend a course of action.

-Chuck-

[Rich B.]

Well he was going to but I went into a fib during a stress test. Not needed.

[MaxDarkside]

For me, sleep apnea likely came first, then V-FIB !! OMG! I died... spontaneously recovered by FIGHTING IT WITH ALL MY EARTHLY MIGHT (massive self-induced adrenalin jolt). Then V-Fib got me in to the Dr =>sleep-study -> TREATMENT! I'm still wondering if I'll keel over again, but hey, ya never know when anyway, so LIVE LIFE !

P.S. Dying by v-fib is rather nice. I'd like to do it a few times, if I knew I would come back... ultimate HIGH.

[GumbyCT]

To make a long story short the cardiologist recommended a sleep study.

Any worthwhile heart doc would screen ALL their patients then recommend a PSG for each just to rule out any sleep disordered breathing.

I never ever suspected it and originally thought that it would not be worth it.

That is all of us, well ok then it was me.

[Bons]

My husband had cardioversion this morning. Third jolt worked. Hopefully now that he's using apap he can stay in rhythm, as he'd been in afib since October and only started apap in January.

We lucked out with the zapping. Yesterday during his pre-op testing his IRL was 1.9 and needs to be at least 2.0 in order to do the cardioversion. This morning they decided to repeat the bloodwork and he tested at 2.02 so it was a go. And I was feeling guilty about snagging a clergy parking space (close to the hospital and it was pouring rain), but then one of my members came in for surgery and I kept her family company in the waiting room

[DreamStalker]

Have you ever wondered which came first, sleep apnea or A-Fib? Any opinions out there, factual or otherwise?

If you are looking for a correlation:

OSA may or may not cause A-Fib

however,

I do not see any possible way that A-Fib can cause OSA.

OSA can cause chronic high blood pressure and rapid heart rate while asleep and this in turn may cause an enlarged heart which may result in abnormal nerve growth within the heart or pulmonary vein that may then cause A-Fib.

So "IF" there is a relationship, OSA would cause A-Fib and not the other way around.

I was diagnosed with OSA in July 2006 although I suspect I had it for over 20 years prior (I was known to snore loudly in my early 20's). I had my first A-Fib attack in January of 2011 and several more during 2011. For some reason which I have not been able to figure out, I've not had a single A-Fib in several months now.

[Chuck Connors]

Have you ever wondered which came first, sleep apnea or A-Fib? Any opinions out there, factual or otherwise?

If you are looking for a correlation:

OSA may or may not cause A-Fib

however,

I do not see any possible way that A-Fib can cause OSA.

OSA can cause chronic high blood pressure and rapid heart rate while asleep and this in turn may cause an enlarged heart which may result in abnormal nerve growth within the heart or pulmonary vein that may then cause A-Fib.

So "IF" there is a relationship, OSA would cause A-Fib and not the other way around.

I was diagnosed with OSA in July 2006 although I suspect I had it for over 20 years prior (I was known to snore loudly in my early 20's). I had my first A-Fib attack in January of 2011 and several more during 2011. For some reason which I have not been able to figure out, I've not had a single A-Fib in several months now.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

I asked the same question just recently of 2 prominent sleep doctors at 2 different hospitals here in the Northwest. One doc felt that OSA can contribute to afib, but stated that there isn't any hard data or studies to prove it. The other doc stated that each condition can contribute to the other condition, but didn't provide any hard data to demonstrate that's the case. Just FYI. -Chuck-