Happy New Year all.

[ruskin10]

Just back from hospital, been there since 10.30am today. Went into AF 5.30am New Years day. Waited

hoping it would right itself but this morning 30 hours later, I had to go to A and E. Had ECG - irregular but had slowed down a lot, had bloods done etc, i hour later it righted itself. I could tell straightaway, Docs said I should have come yesterday, but was lucky it righted itself. Still now sure ... dont feel completely stable but hey-ho I home. I have 2 glasses of wine New years Eve, not a regular drinker jut hols and special days but it could have been the trigger I suppose

New thought my life would sought of revolve around my heart rate, had a few health issues in my life but this is rather like migraine you take lots of precautions but it still jumps up and bites you. But...Im thankful and hope it settles down.

Bye for now

[Rellim296]

Hi Ruskin, - Happy New Year to you too. How tedious for you to start the year like that - but every time you have a session you learn a bit more about AF and become wiser and more knowledgeable about your own brand of it. Let's hope you have a decent spell of good behaviour from your heart now.

[ruskin10 in reply to Rellim296]

you are so right

[rosyG]

glad you are home now= stay safe in 2015

[ruskin10 in reply to rosyG]

thank you

[Bernie13]

Hi, glad to hear that you are safe and well, hope your "ticker" behaves from now on x

[ruskin10 in reply to Bernie13]

thank you

[iris1205]

To a happier and less eventful new year! For the wine..... I tested once with one glass - same wine.... once I had Afib, the other not. It can be a number of things, so I hope you at least enjoyed them! I cut it out once I no longer wanted to take the risk. ... Most of the time! I am learning not to have anything if I am tired!

Take care

[ruskin10 in reply to iris1205]

I know what you mean, better on the side of caution ...... thats me form now on

[Thomps95]

Sorry about your episode. When I plan to have a drink or two, I take two tablets in advance: A (quarter) beta blocker (atenolol: racing heart is a trigger for me) and Nexium to prevent stomach acidity (also a trigger). I've never had any episodes of AFib after wine using this strategy - whereas without these prophylaxes wine tends to be a trigger for me.

[Hidden in reply to Thomps95]

Interesting Tom, I think I need to look at stomach acidity a bit closer…..I like eating meat but my sixth sense is telling me to cut down and I have long since been unable to face a sirloin steak. I will increase salad with olive oil dressing.

Happy New Year!

[Barry123 in reply to Hidden]

Red meat increases BP

[ruskin10 in reply to Thomps95]

did you decide to do that yourself or on docs advice

[Thomps95 in reply to ruskin10]

I had to go on nexium to address a stomach problem, and noticed during that treatment that it helped with food and alcohol related fibrillation triggers. The atenolol was prescribed for AFib but I only take it as prophylaxis. Using the two in combination before a potential major trigger (a party w lots of food and alcohol, or strenuous exercise) was something I discovered not a doctor, and it may relate to my individual circumstance.

[MickN in reply to Thomps95]

My GP has advised me to cut out any form of alcohol which shocked me slightly as I presumed in small amounts would be ok, I did cut out wine some months ago but still would drink acouple bottles f lager over the weekend whilst out or after golf

Not sure how I will cope particularly on holidays, what a bummer.

What is nexium??

[Thomps95 in reply to MickN]

It's sensible to remove all potential triggers initially until you get a handle on your condition. I initially stopped all alcohol too. Now that I have my AFib mainly under control (reduced acidity in my diet; reduced workload and stress; lost a lot of weight; go to bed early and stick to a sleep routine; high daily magnesium intake; avoiding sugar; daily flecenaide) I can have a glass of red wine after dinner 3-4 times per week, or if I'm out with friends I might have a beer or other drink (gin & tonic). It probably does lower my threshold for AFib, so if I have 2-3 drinks (rare!) then I might take a quarter beta blocker before bed as a PIP to make sure everything stays quiet. But white wine, sweet wines, and champagne are triggers for my AFib, so I avoid them. Nexium is the brand name for esomeprazole, a proton pump inhibitor used to control stomach acid. For me, stomach acidity seems to be a trigger so I also take nexium as needed.

[MickN in reply to Thomps95]

Cheers thoms95

It really is a learning curve, I have a good diet minimal alcohol, no caffeine chocolates or biscuits and cakes

only just started on magnesium supplement but conscious I eat foods high in magnesium

Just literally came off flecainide did not seem to help me at all.

Have you had an ablation?

[Thomps95 in reply to MickN]

No, I haven't had an ablation. Maybe down the road. At the moment 50 mg flecenaide twice a day does the trick. If that stops working I'll increase the dose to 50 mg 3 times a day. If that stops working I might combine with a beta blocker. If that stops working I'll look at ablation. I know some go for ablation immediately and it's usually effective, but I'm waiting. Ablation strategies and technologies, as well as skill levels of ablation specialists, are good now, but they'll inevitably improve even further as time goes on - and for me there is no urgency. As soon as AFib starts affecting my quality of life significantly, I won't hesitate.

[MickN in reply to Thomps95]

Thanks, all advise appreciated but flecainide defo not working for me been off it two days and feel better already, just betablocker now and magnesium/taurine supplements.

My EP has suggested going on a research program which will bring my ablation forward appointment is Monday 19th Jan

Good luck with yours as you seem to still have good QOL

[Hidden]

Hope you have a good day today. Totally agree with Rellim that the silver lining to episodes is that you learn each time.

I declined many goodies during Christmas through gritted teeth as AF is very fickle and even a small change in consumption can affect things……I am also chicken about going into hospital over Christmas/NY! I only slipped up once when I decided to have Christmas cake (includes some alcohol) as part of my breakfast on Boxing Day and I got some early signs of the AF trying to get the better of the Flecainide so rested and it passed thankfully.

[ruskin10 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, feel washed out but heart rate steady, which is what really matters. Is Flecainide similar to a beta blocker? Still learning every day

[iris1205 in reply to ruskin10]

The beta-blocker will help slow the heart down (deals with rate), the flecainide is sodium channel blocker which helps the high rates and the irregular heart beat. They are often prescribed together. I needed both to have an effect, though such is not the case for all.

[ruskin10 in reply to iris1205]

Im on Pradaxa (anticoag) and Biosoporal. Some days have bad headaches. GP tried me without Biosop for 10 days but still had headaches on and off, so changed me from Apixaban to Pradaxa, still getting the heads though, going back to GP this week, if I can get in that is!!!

[iris1205 in reply to ruskin10]

Ouf, HOping you can get some answers. Keep us posted.

[cbsrbpm]

Everyone is different re triggers I think. I drank a whole bottle of red wine (8% proof) at a New Year party this year (I know, I know I was pushing my luck) and no A Fib but I can just turn over in bed and off it will go so there is no rhyme or reason to this condition, we are all different. I sometimes wonder if we should just give up trying to control it as it obviously has the upper hand! I am just doing my best to get through the episodes without panic which only makes them worse. Happy New Year to you and hope you stay in SR.

[ruskin10 in reply to cbsrbpm]

You are so brave with the wine but yes, life has to be lived and we try not let it control everything we eat, drink, do. Its a blessing to know I`m not the only one, my friends and most of the family have never heard of AF but then I hadnt until it `visited` me

[iris1205 in reply to ruskin10]

Well, you have a second home now! Everyone hear understands, hope things improve for you. Understanding your situation helps, so get the answers you need!

[Lucybod]

I had an AF at New Year as well, I wonder if it was the excitement that triggered it. May be adrenaline plays a part in it!

[dedeottie]

I did too! X