Hi, a few things first. I'm a 39 year old male. I have A-fib and have been on meds for about 3 years to correct it. It mostly has, but 10 days ago (November 28th) I had an ablation. There has been a few episodes of a-fib that were just as bad or worse than before the procedure, but nothing has happened for few days...fingers crossed.
Here is my problem:
This has happened once in a blue moon over the years, but now it happens every night since my ablation and it is really frightening. As soon as I fall asleep I awaken with my heartrate going a million miles an hour, but the feeling is totally different to my A-fib fast heartrate. It feels like it is pulsating through my whole body. It feels like I am going to die. My chest feels weird, but it doesn't hurt. It feels sort of hard to breath. My brain goes into panic mode. It only lasts for a minute or so after I wake up. I have no idea what it is. I also, had this happen a few days ago when I was awake and walking out my front door. I had the same pulsating feeling when I was completely awake. I was afraid to leave my house and wanted to go to the hospital. It only lasted 30 seconds though.
I mentioned that it happened very rarely through the years and it never became a problem until now. I'm too petrified to go to sleep so I stay up until about 5 am and then wake at 7:30 to gets the kids off to school and I go to work. Even in that 2 hours or so that I do sleep I still wake up in my sleep and I always think "thank god that weird feeling isn't happening" and then I feel at peace and keep sleeping.
I wish I knew what it was because it's all I can think about. I try to sleep to my favorite music which is what I have always done. It doesn't help. I had a sleep study done 5 years ago and they said it was only a mild sleep apnea. I'm not over weight at all.
The only things that have changed recently are that I have quit smoking 3 weeks ago and I haven't had any drinks since the ablation. I would usually have 3 or 4 a night 5 nights a week. I don't feel like I'm having withdrawl and neither one is bothering me so I don't know what the problem is. I just feel helpless.
Thanks and sorry for the long post.
