Hello, I was diagnosed with AF over a year ago and have been following Health Unlocked ever since, although I have never posted a query before . so here goes : the other evening I gave into temptation and as a treat I ate 3 small dark chocolate sweets, I don't know if they caused it, but later that night I had a really bad AF attack - has anybody else experienced this ? Whether they caused it or not I think to be on the safe side I will not eat dark chocolate again !!
Thankyou
Trish72
Hi Trish,
Put aside the dark chocolate for a moment. Just think back .... have you ever had such an event in the past that has occured after eating any sort of food, in particular your evening meal. At the risk of dramatically over simplfying the issue, if not then it may be the chocolate.
The link is the vagal nerve. Suggest you 'Google' it.
Do you sleep on your left side? In many people that can trigger an AF event.
John
Welcome to the forum and feel free to ask as many questions as you like.
We have one member on here who swears that sugar causes her AF, so it is possible that the chocolate you ate caused your heart to go into AF. Did it contain any artificial additives, as they're a common trigger? I never eat blueberries now as I've had AF attacks three times very soon after eating them.
Jean
Seriously? Blueberries? We had an unusually sweet crop this year in the US and I ate a lot, I mean a lot, of them. Not one AF event after eating, even though my AF is vagal in nature and my events almost always occur after eating.
Yes, it really is an odd thing, but I'm too scared to try them again! Especially as I've been AF free for over 4 months.
Dark chocolate i thought was good for the heart so I've been eating 90% pure daily at the reccommended 25grms a day maybe i need to reconsider. I dont know if it's having any effect on my AF as iv been in persistent AF now for nearl a month. I suppose at the end of the day we are all different and have our own triggers so its really trial and error at the end of the day.
I love my dark chocolate and have no ill effects!
Do you know that dark chocolate, say about 50%, has caffeine? And the higher the percent, the more caffeine it has? If you don't do well with caffeine anyway, better to stay away from your dark chocolate. Milk chocolate is really diluted and the stuff that is 33% and lower you probably can eat a little.
I cannot eat chocolate dark or milk. I have permanent AF and it certainly raises my heart rate about an hour after eating it, it also affects my sleep makes for a restless night. I have to avoid all caffeine, but found that out many years ago it gave me palpitations so have avoided it for many years. Fortunately I have never been a great chocolate eater (hubby is a choc-addict) but I do miss a decent cup of coffee. We are all different but a no- no for me.
Cassie
Dark chocolate - provided it contains 70%+ cocoa solids- is part of the Mediterranean diet and is supposed to be good for you. Chocolate can trigger AF in some people but you did not eat eat very much-seems unlikely to me. Assuming you have eaten dark chocolate before did it produce the same reaction?
Absolutely
I have consumed almost a bar in 2 days , a week ago, with eating bigger night meals, and ectopic beats started , my dr told me about big meals and the pressure the stomach add on the chest and the heart so that one confirms it, as well as the dark chocolate so those need to be taken very seriously and for the time being am avoiding them
So yeah both , they didnt trigger AF to me but ectopic and both are irregularity so stay away from either or take really in moderation
Hello, I would limit your choc to smaller amounts and before 1pm, certainly not in the evening.
Af and exercise
I'm in AF and due in hospital 
