Comments on: Does Alcohol Put You At Risk for Atrial Fibrillation?

By: mstudzinski

mstudzinski — Thu, 10 May 2012 02:11:51 +0000

I am a 64 year old male who was athletic my whole life. I went into A Fib before a colonoscopy procedure and after the prep the night before. I suspect the Fleets laxative caused it. I was in A Fib and needed to be cardioverted to get out. Lasted for 7 years. It reoccured and I needed to be cardioverted 4 more times withn a year and half. I was then having problems with fatigue and accelerated heartbeat. The whole time I was taking different meds to try to control it. My cardiologist told me I was a candidate for ablation which was a shock because he had told me a year earlier that ablation needed to be refined.
I had the ablation procedure done and even though I was on the table for 8 hours it was succesful. I will be in rythm with no signs of A Fib for 1 year in July. I have heard of some others having a reoccurance but hears hoping.
Oh, I almost forgot 3 months later I went in for a checkup and told them I had heartburn whenever I exerted myself. 2 stents later I feel I am very lucky.
If anyone has not seen “Forks over knives” make it a priority. It’s on Netflix and for heart patients it will be a game changer.

By: janspacher

janspacher — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:38:17 +0000

@MichaelHeaven
Michael,
I went into afib last October while cycling. Like you, I am heavily into cycling, however I am older, 60, but since they zapped me out of afib, I make sure to not drink alcohol the night before a big ride. I also shed some pounds. Since then, I have increased my milage, especially hill work and am faster than I have been in years. I use a HR monitor to keep tabs and carry a beta blocker with me on rides just in case. I am off of all the drugs.

By: MichaelHeaven

MichaelHeaven — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 23:04:23 +0000

Hi Guys
I am a fit and healthy 32 year who has been suffering from high blood pressure since i was 24 and now struggling with Afib since christmas. The Afib was triggered by alchohol but i am not a big drinker and i save myself for special occassions. I am obviously very concerned and i am due to be cardiverted in March 2012.
I am big into my sport especially cycling and i do enjoy the occassional drink with friends and it is an important part of staying in touch with friends and my social life.
I am concerned that i will not be the same person ever again especially when it comes to sport, exercise and being able to have fun with friends over a drink.

Once you have had Afib once is this a clear sign of a weak heart or is it a one off?
I dont want spend the rest of my life worried i am going to die every time i have more than one drink.
I am very scared and i just want to be normal.

By: William T

William T — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:47:09 +0000

I’m a 67 year old man, about 225 pounds, 5′-10″, have been athletic most of my life. Last year or so not so much. I have a blood pressure problem, or did and started taking Lisinopril, 20 mg, which mitigated the BP problem effectively. I’ve experimented with reduced doses and am cutting the tablets into ~ 5mg doses and the BP is still withing reason. I’m a long time blood dona-tor ( 8 gallons now) and my vitals are always good. I take a low dose aspirin every day as a precaution and suspend all medication when giving blood obviously. I used to be a heavy drinker and have moderated my consumption somewhat lately. Non-smoker life long. The past year or perhaps year and a half I developed a fibrillation problem where my heart flutters usually briefly but occasionally for a period of a few seconds. Normally I get a momentary skip and all’s well but I have increasing incidents where the longer events occur. Up until I reduced alcohol consumption, for half the night in bed my heart would race, beating much faster than usual. My usual beat is between 48-54 per minute at rest. I’m an outdoors person and go to remote locations frequently. I’m still working also and that requires some remote travel as well. What should be considered to mitigate my risk?

By: Can Avoiding Dehydration Prevent Atrial Fibrillation "Holiday Heart Syndrome"?

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 20:11:33 +0000

[...] culprits they are portrayed to be in causing atrial fibrillation? You can read those articles at Does Alcohol Put You at Risk for Atrial Fibrillation? and The Role of Coffee in Atrial [...]

By: Mellanie

Mellanie — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:04:39 +0000

Clive,

It sounds like you really have it figured out. Congrats!

Mellanie

By: Mellanie

Mellanie — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 03:01:20 +0000

Chris,

Thanks for your kind comments about the site.

I wish we knew the answers to your questions, but everyone is different and what happens with one may not happen with another. Generally, afib gets worse (is progressive), but it’s possible that there are exceptions. You may be able to do something to make it better, especially if you focus on avoiding dehydration, and take supplements such as magnesium and potassium (being careful with doses–Hans Larsen’s Lone Afib Forum, which is listed in our resources, has lots of good info on supplements).

Good luck.

Mellanie

By: Lawrence Crosthwaite

Lawrence Crosthwaite — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 20:16:28 +0000

I have had chronic Afib for at least 5 years. Before that I had an episode and had a cardioversion which lasted for 2 years.Now my doctors tell me just to stay on Warfarin for the prevention of clots and get my INR done every 2 weeks am 79 years old, and had two blocked arteries. This happened after I went into the chronic AFib . My heart rhythm is constantly irregular . I have low blood pressure and apart from arthritis I feel pretty good and am active. Anybody else with chronic AFIB?

By: Gerry

Gerry — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 16:09:30 +0000

64 year old male. Drank 1-2 drinks per day, more on weekends. Get stressed out.
Wake up once or twice every night. Diagnosed with afib couple of months ago. Under went successful cardioversion. No alcohol or caffein in the 2 weeks since cardioversion, have tried to manage stress better, and I still seem to be in sinus rhythm. I would like to get back to at least having the occasional drink, but my cardiologist won’t hear of it. Thinking of getting a second opinion. Priorities are to stay in sinus rhythm, get off coumadin, and maybe get back to drinking but much more moderately.
Appreciate the website.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 01:00:36 +0000

First, let me say what a great site this is. I have found more information here than I have been able to elicit from Dr’s. It always frustrated me that everything was so vague about this condition but it seems that research is ongoing and it is, as Seinfeld says ” a riddle wrapped in a coundrum”. My first episode took me by surprise after a full on morning working in the sun and after mowing the lawn. I went to A&E and overnight in ICU and then went through the usual stuff most others have written about. First I was told I had AF then next episode I was told it wasn’t AF originally but A/Flutter then eventually when I saw the Cardiologist he told me I had BOTH!
What I would specifically like to know is:

1. After being diagnosed with both, is it both every time or is it AF only?

2. I have had 6 episodes in 6 months but they are getting further apart the longer it goes. Do I have AF, A/Flutter for life or is it possible to modify your lifestyle to prevent further attacks, thus avoiding an ablation.

From what I can self diagnose my findings are similar to most of the other comments, stress and Alcohol/dehydration. I had a stressful job and I used to come home from work and pop a bottle of red practically every night, not necessarily drinking it all, but it became a habit. I believe (all self diagnosed and no advise from medical prpoffession) it became a cumulative process and I was a time bomb waiting to go off. I have since retired and cut down my alcohol intake to a max af two standard drinks a day but often 3 or 4 alcohol free days a week. I feel terrific for it and not having any stress I don’t feel the need to drink as I used to. I’m now on half a metoprolol twice daily but I sleep like a baby however I still have the same lingering doubts and anxious moments descibed in previous letters, it’s a horrible feeling but at least I know that other people are in the same frame of mind. When I asked the Cardiologist the Q’s above he looked at his feet without commenting. No one ever told me to ward of dehydration by drinking plenty of water, which I do. Will it just go away?? Who knows, and no one seems to. All comments gratefully welcomed. Thanks everyone.