Can Atrial Fibrilation Result from Too Much CPAP Air Pressure

I monitor myself for A-Fib and noticed that ever since I upped my air pressure to around 16cm that I am more consistently in a state of A-Fib. I'm just wondering if I'm pushing my air pressure too much or too fast. Anyone have experience with this ? Thanks !

I have no experience with it, and I am not a medical professional. My understanding of the A-Fib and Apnea relationship is that apnea can initiate A-Fib. That would suggest that the higher the frequency of apnea events, the more you could expect to have A-Fib events too. That in turn might suggest if a higher pressure initiates more apnea events then A-Fib would go up too. Higher pressure tends to reduce obstructive apnea events, but it can increase central apnea events. Have you seen any correlation between your periodic breathing (CSR) events and A-Fib? This is just my non professional thinking, but I wonder if A-Fib can also work the opposite way in that they cause periodic breathing? Central apnea is certainly associated with reduced blood flow.

In any case here is something I found on a quick look.

Atrial Fibrillation and Sleep Apnea

I have had AFIB in the past, but I can't say that increasing my air pressure ever put me into it. On the contrary, after my AFIB ablation my sleep doctor recommended treating my sleep apnea as a way to keep my AFIB from coming back.

I have been recently diagnosed with AFib so this is an interesting question. My pressure hasn't changed so I can't give you help on that part. When I am having AFib issues I don't sleep as well.

How do you monitor your AFib? I was diagnosed over 10 yrs ago and do no home monitoring. Probably should now that I'm 12 days into BIPAP living. My doc sent me to cardiologist to have EKG tested before undergoing general anesthesia procedure. His EKG passed me for anesthesia OK, but he said I should get a sleep test! I thought that odd, but now understand. He didn't recommend home tracking for Afib. But I'm calling him today to get his thoughts, and tell him I'm BIPAPing.

Thanks for article Sierra. I wonder if insurance would cover monitors with prescription?

Many blood pressure monitors will identify AF while monitoring your heartbeat. Devices are starting to appear on the market that can take an ECG, and I have been testing one (Kardia) to see how well it monitors my heart rhythm. Seems like a straight forward measure that a simple device could make. I'm not sure how accurate my Kardia is for assessing other typical ECG measures like P-wave QRS, or T-wave. Also, I believe that Apple has a watch that can do some ECG measures.

I checked into Kardia and while the app was free, the machine was more than I could afford. Anything more you can tell me about it would be appreciated.

I have seen no correlation between my cpap and afib. My afib is controlled nicely with meds.

My AFIB was controlled with ablation and I no longer take any meds. It has been 7 years since I've had AFIB, but I use either CPAP or oral device to help keep it from coming back. I couldn't stand the rate and rhythm control drugs for AFIB. They controlled it for a while, but it kept getting worse.

How can you measure AFIB while you're sleeping with CPAP? Devices I've found online require hands-on while awake. Then you'd have connect it to CPAP time hack for an "event". How do you know your AFIB is controlled "lugnut"?