7 Responses to “Does Alcohol Put You At Risk for Atrial Fibrillation?”

1. howardcovitz // Dec 12, 2008 at 5:23 am

   Have had experience with alcohol as trigger but gluten seems to predispose me to a-fibs, as well. Others experiences. Howard Covitz

2. Steve Ingram // Dec 23, 2008 at 3:37 pm

   Alcohol and Afib do NOT mix - I found out the hard way that even a few beers can be enough to cause a bought of Atrial Fibrillation. There ARE many triggers but alcohol is easy to control - JUST DON’T DRINK the stuff. One emergency room visit and a quick Cardioversion(ZAP!) and you’ll think again at that party and your Holiday Heart. I started my own Afib site just to vent about this pain in the XXX disorder.

   Take a look at: http://afibtreatment.com

3. Mellanie // Jan 8, 2009 at 4:35 am

   Howard and Steve,

   Thanks for sharing your experiences and what triggers you have.

   Mellanie

4. Brenda Wilcox // May 17, 2009 at 5:27 pm

   March 16, 2009

   While at work, I just had this very unusual feeling in my chest. Just a funny feeling..kind of like a bubble machine. I knew the feeling was odd, but no pain so I just said to my colleagues “if you see me stretched out on the floor, get me some help.” They immediately got me a ride to the ER. In the ER they asked me if I had ever been told that I had an irregular heart beat. Answer was No. I was admitted to hospital with A-Fib diagnosis. It took 6 hours to convert me with medication. This was the first I have ever heard of A-Fib. I did tell them that I had self diagnosed PAT’s during sleep. No one seemed to care. When I went to my cardiologist for a follow-up after 24 hour hospital stay and echocardiogram, I mentioned that I had talked to my internist about a Holter monitor because of the rapid heartrate history that I had. That was 2 years ago. He (the internist) sent me to go get one but at the same time my husband received a cancer diagnosis and my time then went into curing him. No Holter. Forgot about it. Husband died last year and still I forgot about that monitor till this hospitalization for A-Fib. Now all of a sudden everything is starting to make sense to me. However, Dr.s just don’t seem to get it. I believe I have sleep apnea which leads to A-Fib. However, with my monitor (cardiologist OK’d it) I sent in 4 episodes(that’s all that fits on it) per night till I was afraid to even go to sleep. I slept sitting up in a chair and ditched the monitor. When I went to find out what the monitor revealed my cardiologist said every thing was normal….nothing wrong. However, my heart rate did go up on those occassions to 100 bpm. Not so bad but why from 65bpm to 100bpm at least 4 times per night. I told him I wanted a Sleep Study. He looked at me like I had 4 heads, but said he would mention it to my internist. I will be getting my sleep study within the next couple of weeks. I had just learned to live with light-headedness and ADD and everything else that goes with Sleep Apnea. Doctors don’t want a cause to be found for anything….they just want to treat a symptom with a drug. Thanks for listening. I hope I don’t have A-Fib at night but it sure feels like it. I did go to the ER another time and they said nothing was wrong. I fully believe Sleep apnea is the culprit…I mean no Oxygen to your brain dozens of time per night. I will let you know. Again, thank you for listening.

5. John Santangelo // Jun 27, 2009 at 4:49 pm

   Brenda,

   I was very intrigued after reading your story since I too have experienced the same issues after suffering my first A-fib episode (at least the first one that was properly diagnosed). It happened during labor day 2008 weekend after a long day of golf, drinking too much coffee and having a couple of drinks at the pool. My A-fib episode was very stressful since my heart rate and blood pressure spiked and the whole thing (ride in ambulance etc.) was very traumatic. They got it under control after about 14 hours with Cardiazem and sent me home with the diagnosis of “holiday heart”, telling me that this was just a one time episode. About a month later I had my second episide while on a business trip and spent another night in the hospital. This is when my sleep problems began. I would wake in the middle of the night with heart palpitations, cold sweats etc. They put me on metropolol which exacerbated my sleep problems and made my heart palpitations even worse. Since then I have had about five or six A-Fib episodes. I too thought this was related to sleep apnea and had a sleep study done, but the results were negative. After switching my medication to Diltiazem my sleep improved a litttle but then got so bad that I was getting depressed with increased anxiety, whcih of course increased my risk of a-fib. It was not until my doctor prescribed remeron, which is an antidepressant that I was ablt to get better sleep. Now my doctor has prescribed to me a drug called Zoloft, which is a selective seratonin uptake inhibitor and almost immediately my sleep improved and coincidentally my afib episodes have also subsided. By the way, I also had a heart monitor put on me when my sleep problems occured and they were also negative. I personally believe that my Afib issues are related to stress and I have been doing a lot of things to change my life style that has been effective. I drink less coffee, do yoga, eat smaller meals, avoid alcohol and just try not to overdo things. I usually feel an episode comng on when I have done too much and/or do not get enough sleep.

   Having said all this, I definitely believe I am suscepitble to Afib and no matter what I do I can succumb to an episode. It is for this reason I am strongly considering a catheter ablation procedure.

   I hope you find relief no matter what your origine of afib. I can honestly say that not sleeping (i used to sleep upright too) is a very dibilitating problem and you are doing the right thing by doing a sleep study. i would also check into other treatments as I have done if you find that apnea is not the culprit.

   Regards,

   John

6. Chris // Aug 27, 2009 at 3:14 pm

   I have had afib since 2000 due to a flu bug that attacked my heart and almost killed me. Luckily I recovered completely but I had some afib episodes…6 over 8 years. During that time I gave up caffeine but in my 30s I enjoyed beer with friends and wine with dinners. It never caused any problems and never caused afib, even when I went overboard. That is just me. Funny thing is that I had ablation in 2008 and they pierced my heart and almost killed me. It didn’t fix the afib and it actually comes once a month now. Yet alcohol, my decaf and exercise has yet to cause it. In fact it is when I’m not drinking and going to bed

7. Keith // Dec 20, 2009 at 8:45 pm

   Diagnosed 2.5 years ago. Also have sleep apnea, but use C-Pap religiously. Have had difficult time getting it under control. Initially, tried 2 cardioversions…last only a few hours at best. Follow by 2 ablations. First only last a bout a month. Second one last 1 year with Tykosin treatment. Dr said alcohol in moderation wasn’t a factor, but I don’t buy it. Went off Tykosin good until July 09 had 3-4 drinks two days in a row and bam a-fib. Converted in 8 hours after a 300mg dose of Flecanide. Just went back into A-Fib Wednesday. Wife had major surgery, when I knew she was doing great had dinner and 2 drinks with some friends and I back in A-Fib. Flecanide hasn’t worked, so I’m going in to be zapped tomorrow. So, I think the alcohol, stress, and the sleep apnea all may play a roll. There may well be many other individual triggers that may exist.