When a patient suffers from atrial fibrillation, the heart’s pumping function will not work efficiently. This means that there is less energy entering the body than usual. Patients will typically notice that they feel short of breath, and get tired more quickly, some also feel a restless heart beat. It is also not uncommon to need to urinate more frequently during an onset of atrial fibrillation and many people have difficulty concentrating.
Symptoms vary from patient to patient and may be more or less present in an individual. Some patients have symptoms so mild that they do not even notice that they have atrial fibrillation. In these cases the diagnosis is often as a result of a routine check at their doctor, or due to a consultation for a different ailment entirely.