Alcohol after ablation

[duckpopper]

I have had 2 ablations , last one 3 months ago , I do like to drink red wine on a weekend but now iam wondering could that cause af to return , iam on 50mg of flecinide 2 a day and bisoprolol . When drinking red wine my heart is calm and for a day or 2 after , but I do get etopic or extra beats a few days after . But saying that I have been getting them every day even if I haven't drank ? They said while doing my 2nd ablation they found a third arrhythmia but was hard to induce and tablets would control that . Can etopics / etopics ? Cause heart damage , thanks for any info x

[BobD Volunteer]

Ectopcis are quite normal and everybody gets up to 200 a day regardless of whether or not they have or have had AF. You are still very early in your recovery so they may well reduce over the next six months or so. I like a glass or tow of wine , but in my case white before dinner each evening especially in summer when I sit outside and watch the sun set. I have learned to recognise days on which such activity may be a bad idea (and I don't mean when it rains) so I would say be careful. I have been off all arrhythmia medication (apart from warfarin of course) for about 7 years since my third successful ablation..

[Thomps95]

The effects of moderate alcohol consumption depend on the individual. I often have a single glass of red with dinner and if anything it makes my heart feel calm, like a beta blocker.

If I'm out with friends and have several, then I can get mini runs of palpitations later (middle of the night). So if I know I'll be having a few, I take a quarter beta blocker before bed as a preventative, and it works.

I suspect your ectopics may settle over time.

[Chris147]

I am on the same meds as you plus amlodipine and warfarin and rosuvastatin. My cardiologist seemed to think that a glass of wine was ok. For me i decided that i wouldn't as i spent four periods in a and e and twice in resus. I do miss the odd glass but so pleased to be feeling well back at work energy levels much better and apparently alcohol interfers with warfarin so i guess my choice is abstain. I think only as an individual you can choose. Best wishes chris

[Bob56]

My cardiologist told me that in his experience it was the way in which you drank that made the difference when it came to triggering AF. He didn't specifically tell me to give up alcohol but maintained that if you had one glass every day, that was better than three glasses all in one go i.e. maintaining a stable regime was better than suddenly shocking the system. He also said that white wine was better than red, although I can't recall his reasoning. I share the other contributors' views that ectopics are not seen as particularly dangerous, but I would still prefer to do anything to avoid them as they are very unwelcome! I made the decision to stop drinking as I know it has been a trigger for me in the past, but we are all different and if you can find a regime which allows you to have a drink ( in moderation , I would suggest! ) then that's great.

[steve60]

This is my problem with me not having an ablation, by the sounds of the replies to this question I drink a lot more than the odd glass of red, example being last night I had 7 cans of lager and a large glass of red as a nightcap, I only drink at weekends but I don't want to stop as I consider it a fun part of my life. An ablation would put a stop to that and so I think I'll save the ablation for later, by the way I am in permanent afib although don't notice it due to my daily 1.25mg of bisoprolol.

[jimmysouthgates in reply to steve60]

I'll be honest and say I used to be a binge drinker. I used to have occasional times when I drank a small 330ml bottle of whisky and a bottle of wine in a session. I can always remember waking in the middle of the night with palpitations that would ease after a while....since concluded this was af that self resolved. The bottom line with me is that I am pretty sure my drinking habits caused my af. Yeah I am predisposed because of a genetic make up but alchohol and an adrenaline fuelled job has definately caused me to be an af patient earlier in life. Im 35. I would just say that breaking the cycle of drinking alchohol is hard especially the way I did it but unless you want to have regular episodes of af or other arrthymia I'd seriously consider managing the drink better. Each time I go to my dads he's on the vino and I curse him as he's 63 and never had an arrthymia. Im 35 and had my first at 21!!

[Kmagner70 in reply to steve60]

Wouldn't the ablation fixed the problem so then you could drink? That's why my son wants it done so he can drink when he is 21.

[jimmysouthgates in reply to Kmagner70]

In my humble opinion it may well buy time and allow a certain lifestyle if thats what hes after but I reckon the af would come back sooner rather than later. Heart muscle doesnt like alchohol.......end of

[Rellim296 in reply to steve60]

Steve, what difference does an ablation make? I thought we were to go easy on the drink a) because it can be a trigger for AF and b) - for those on warfarin - because it raises INR.

[Kmagner70]

My son is only 17 and has AF. They had to shock his heart to get him out of it. His heart rate was up to over 200 and he had chest pain with it and shortness of breath. He had binge drank like 5 days before he had like 8 beers. And he has drank several times on ocassion since he was 16 with his friends. He is scheduled for an ablation in September and he just wants to get " fixed" so he can drink again. I tell him he really shouldn't be drinking with this condition ever besides the fact that he is only one 17 almost 18. He says he wants to drink with his friends when he us 21. I'm just really worried about him.

[jimmysouthgates in reply to Kmagner70]

Knowing now that my heart is hyper excitable and looking back on my fruitfull youth sometimes I think how the heck didnt I go into a serious arrthymia at 18/19? Or maybe I did but was too young or arrogant to know. Im one of the younger people on here at 35 but I think af is going to increase in prevelence and at younger ages because of this lifestyle........that I lead. Apparently 1 in 4 people have af by 40.... I'll find the quote

[Kaiser78]

I didn't drink for months and still got af attacks, I even thought it was pizza stop getting af for 3 mths then boom af whilst reading a book in bed, so it wasn't pizza, it's really annoying. My EP says it's gonna happen no matter what!

Drink loads of water keep well hydrated should help after drinking booze!

[philologus]

Too many ectopics can cause heart failure. I am proof of that. Since I have reduced the ectopics I have also improved the HF. I am now in the "Moderate" region rather than the "most serious" that I was a month or so ago because my ectopics have considerably reduced. I check regularly with an Alivecor device.

I was told that alcohol (and coffee) in moderation is OK for the mechanical heart - but not good for the electrical heart as they can cause arrhythmias.

[Hidden]

I have had 2 ablations , last one 3 months ago , I do like to drink red wine on a weekend but now i am wondering could that cause af to return

I'd say the simple answer to your question is, yes it could. It may not, but it could. We're all different, but with me it would, so I've gone tee-total a few years back. Can't drink just an odd glass or two because sometimes it would be more, etc and two 250ml glasses is ⅔ of a bottle.

Koll

[realtking9]

Just say no to alcohol!

[rosyG]

I wouldn't risk it- alcohol is known to trigger Af so start a tasty substitute and you'll soon get used to it!!

[Jason1971]

Prior to my ablation drink was a contributory factor to my AF. However, it would only be after binge sessions and the episodes would not happen until the day after. I put this down to dehydration. Post ablation I still have a drink, but the regularity of the binge sessions has stopped. Due to my days playing sport I have a vast network of friends of all ages and there is always some social event on the go. I haven't cut them all out, but tend to drive to several now so I don't get tempted. If I do drink more than I should I make sure I drink a lot of water also. I also keep well hydrated the day after.

Like Kaiser I too gave up the drink for months and still had attacks, if I knew alcohol was certain the trigger for me, then I'd drop it, but as so many people state on here AF affects us in different ways. As the saying goes one man's meat is another man's poison.

Try a few weeks without a drink and see if you see a change.

Jason