In this article, we will talk about the nocturnal symptoms of atrial fibrillation. If you or your relatives have heart arrhythmias, it is recommended reading this text.
In order to survive, our body needs the heart to contract regularly and with a normal rhythm and to pump blood into the body’s arteries. Any abnormality in the contraction of the heart muscle is called an arrhythmia.
In atrial fibrillation, which is one of the most common cardiac arrhythmias, the two upper chambers of the heart (the two atria) contract without coordination, causing the heart to deviate normally and create certain conditions. Although it is not fatal alone, it increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and sometimes require urgent emergency action.
What we will focus on in this article is the symptoms of this arrhythmia, especially the nocturnal symptoms of atrial fibrillation, but before describing the nocturnal symptoms of Af, it is better to get acquainted with the characteristics, causes and complications of atrial fibrillation:
what you will read next :
What is atrial fibrillation?
When the two upper chambers of the heart, called the atrium or atria, contract with uncoordinated signals, the result of these irregularities will be a series of rapid and uncoordinated heartbeats.
The normal heart rate is in the range of sixty to one hundred beats per minute, which in atrial fibrillation arrhythmias reaches one hundred to one hundred and seventy beats per minute.
Causes of atrial fibrillation
These causes are:
- Congenital abnormal structure of the heart
- Heart injury
- Hereditary problems
- Cardiovascular problems
- High blood pressure
- Heart valve problems
- Heart attacks
- Sleep apnea
- Hyperthyroidism
Predisposing factors for atrial fibrillation
These factors include the following:
- Age: Increasing age increases your risk of developing this heart arrhythmia.
- Cardiovascular problems and diseases and a history of previous heart surgery
- High blood pressure
- alcohol consumption
- Obesity and metabolic problems
Complications of atrial fibrillation
If left untreated, this disease can lead to the following complications:
- Increased chance of blood clots
- Increased incidence of heart attacks and strokes
- Heart failure
Symptoms of atrial fibrillation
Sometimes people with atrial fibrillation arrhythmias have no symptoms and only occasionally experience symptoms during increased physical activity.
Symptoms of atrial fibrillation include:
- The most common symptom of atrial fibrillation is a tingling?? (trembling) sensation when the heart is beating
- Fast heart rate (between one hundred and one hundred and seventy beats per minute) (according to the American Heart Association, the maximum number of beats is 175)
- Irregular heartbeat
- Feeling of throbbing or trembling in the chest
- Feeling confused
- Weakness
- Feeling of general fatigue
- Lightness of the head
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain
- Fainting
- Excessive sweating
- Feeling of pressure on the chest
- Fatigue during physical activity
- Anxiety
Attention:
If you have chest pain or shortness of breath, or if you feel heaviness and pressure on your chest, you should call the emergency room right away because you are at risk for a heart attack.
Also, due to the increased risk of heart attack in people with atrial fibrillation, if you suddenly have weakness in the limbs, facial changes or severe visual and speech disorders, immediate emergency contact is necessary.
Types of atrial fibrillation
There are three types of atrial fibrillation:
- Paroxysmal type:
In this type of atrial fibrillation, symptoms sometimes appear and last from a few minutes to a few hours and disappear on their own.
- Continuous type (persistent):
In this type, the person’s heart rhythm will not return to normal without medical intervention (shock or medication).
- Continuous and long-term type: (Long Standing President):
The symptoms last for a long time and for more than twelve months.
- Permanent type:
Heart rhythm does not return to normal and is irreversible, and you need medication to improve your heart rhythm.
What are the nocturnal symptoms of atrial fibrillation?
If a person has paroxysmal atrial fibrillation and the arrhythmia occurs while the person is asleep at night, the following symptoms will occur:
- The person wakes up with pain, discomfort or pressure on the chest and will feel short of breath.
- Some people wake up with sweating and palpitations and anxiety.
- Rapid and vibrating?? (Trembling) beats in the chest can wake the person up.
- Poor quality sleep is one of the cases that is not important but is reported following paroxysmal atrial fibrillation attacks at night.
Concluding remarks
We emphasize that if you wake up at night with a feeling of shortness of breath, pain and discomfort, and a feeling of heaviness and pressure in your chest, and you feel your heart beating fast, call the emergency room immediately.