Have been going SO well with keeping my AF in check through eating healthier and using magnesium (and other) supplements and as requested by my cardio months ago I finally halved my anti-arrhythmic meds about 3 weeks ago because I have been feeling so great.
I read somewhere the other day that one cup of coffee a day is not going to push someone into AF so I decided to test my luck and had a cup of real coffee this morning.
3 hours later I dropped into AF for the first time in months. Stupid coffee! Stupid me!! LOL
Took an extra dose of my meds and its starting to settle - hopefully it will blow over in an hour or two.
Whinge ends here!
Written by
Dave1961
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Oh no, coffee gives me palpatations, so have started drinking deccafeinated, which is probably worse for me due to the chemicals, but still gives me the coffee experience. Hope your heart settles soon.
ARR sorry to hear that, if you can't whinge here mind then where can you? I got totally sick of telling some people how I felt, no one understands unless they are experiencing it, hopefully it will settle down.
I don't think that coffee affects me but I did experiment with various brands of decaf. Some of them were horrid. Following a recommendation I tried Lidl Gold Blend Decaf and found that it tasted exactly the same as Nescafé Gold Blend. Aldi's equivalent is not to my liking at all.
I'm going to stick my neck out here. I think halving Amiodarone may have something to do with it. I know it has a long half life in the body, but it's an extremely powerful drug and in my opinion needs to be reduced very slowly. The body becomes used to it, so it needs to be gradual.
The cardiologist has said my husband can come off beta blockers and Amiodarone, but we have a pill cutter and for the last three weeks has been taking three quarters or 150mg. The cardiologist wasn't particularly interested in how we were doing it. We decided that after a month on 150mg he would go down to 100mg and stay on that for a month and see how we go.
I absolutely loathe drugs of any sort but have a healthy respect for them. In my opinion halving the dose does seem too drastic and you're not the first person I've heard of that this has happened to after halving their Amiodarone dosage.
Coffee isn't great for AF, but it may be a bit of a red herring.
Incidentally, these are only my thoughts and observations so feel free to ignore me.
It was 12 months ago when my cardio told me she wanted me to stop taking Amiodarone but offered no alternative. She told me this just as we were finishing my checkup and was quite offhand about it. I refused to and we agreed on halving it and seeing how that went.
I did that and 3 weeks later was in hospital with a terrible AF attack and from then I went straight back up to 200 mg.
Since then I have lost a little weight, have been vigilantly restocking my magnesium, am eating much healthier and most importantly have given up smoking. I thought this factor alone could mean I could be free of Amiodarone.
3 weeks ago to the day I halved my Amiodarone and today had a mildish attack which is just about finished now - just the odd stray rebellious heartbeat kicking in occasionally.
I am also getting a cold which started to kick in yesterday - first one I have had in years - and I figured maybe the combo of feeling pretty drab and the coffee and getting quite stressed over something this morning may have done it but maybe the halving the Amiodarone may have had an impact as well.
I think I'll take your advice and go to 150 mg for a couple weeks. I am seeing my cardio May 22nd so its worth discussing with her...that being said she is the one who just told me to stop the Amio so I am not exactly trusting of her...
we're still unsure how long my husband is going to stay on the 150mg, it's been nearly three weeks. Amiodarone has a half life of about 58 days, that's eight weeks, but I think the body reacts quite quickly to the falling levels. His resting heart rate went up within a few days of the reduction, then stabilised.
When he had his echocardiogram the doctor told us how sensitive the heart is, especially electrically. It's delicate, especially when it's been in AF and needs time to heal and the drugs are like crutches. I guess the heart needs to slowly get accustomed to being on its own again.
You are doing ok, Dave, keep up with the nutrition. It seems to be working for us.
Still on the subject of Amiodarone (just to be boring), the general consensus of opinion is that it can be stopped dead because of the long half life. I keep meticulous daily notes and within two days of reducing the drug to 150mg there was a rise in his resting heart rate which has continued. Amiodarone does act like a beta blocker but with such a modest reduction and an eight week half life, this, according to everything I've read, shouldn't have happened.
Interesting analysis and comment on stopping it dead. I have never been convinced that its half life is enough to slowly get you off this drug.
And its such a toxic drug to be on long term. When it was first prescribed for me I remember the nurse telling me that it was a nasty drug and to not become complacent about it.
I guess a positive is that after so long without any AF symptoms I can now show that I am still experiencing AF and hopefully an ablation will become a reality.
I have two cups of strong coffee every day. If anything, it seems to help make my heart rhythm steady and somehow more reliable. But I do know it doesn't work for everyone. Very very dark roasted beans are best as they have less caffeine. So-called "mild" tasting coffee has the most caffeine. Melitta coffee - available in most grocery stores - has a "low caffeine" brand which has 40% less caffeine and still tastes good. I wouldn't give up coffee just yet, but perhaps start with a low caffeine brew ...
I found a great decaf that I have been using at home - problem is I threw out the packaging and am using an Illy tin in the freezer to store it. Thanks for tips re: caffeine content - very useful!
I am you you Thomps, I have a couple of half cups of coffee a day, I tend to not finish a whole mug. And have not found any difference in my ramping up of symptoms. My AF moments are of a night generally and I do not drink anything after 3 in the afternoon,. If I am going to keel over, it is going to be my way enjoying a few small things in life. My red and white wine left the table ages a go, so AF be damned coffee for me.
Mind you if I stopped and then started again it might just be like the old hippie days where something may kick you like a mule.
All for those on decaf cofffee it is best avoid the chemically washed brands, stick to water washes decaf, being where the caffeine is extracted naturally NOT chemically which can cause more harm than than caffeine.
Hi, I enjoy a very occasional cup when out but at home I use Kenco decaff which is excellent 👍 sorry you had that experience, guess you won't repeat that!!
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Do You Have Dark Urine Caused by Anti-coagulants or Blood Thinners?
an Caffeine Trigger Near Syncope?
Does AF continue to progress silently when using drugs to successfully stop AF episodes?
Tachycardia post ablation advice 
