I was diagnosed with AFib 6 weeks ago and have been on 5mg Bisoprolol since. The GP has suggested that I go onto AC's as my main risk is my alcohol consumption ( I am a heavy drinker). I am concerned about taking AC's. I get the impression that they are quite controlling as to what you can and can't do, although I understand that they reduce the risk of a stroke. I am 53, approx 3 stone overweight, ex heavy smoker, now I vape quite alot and not very fit. I have a gp appointment on Monday to discuss medication etc. Any advice on AC'S/ having AFib. ( My AFib seems to be constant). Should I be concerned about taking AC's or am I worring to much. I do realize that I have to change my lifestyle but don't seem to be doing to much about it at the moment.
Thanks
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Hacker65
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You really do have a problem Hacker. It is very likely that the alcohol, if not the cause, is contributing to your AF so some serious thought as to your life choices may be needed. In addition, I'm not sure that anticoagulants and alcohol go well together.
I'm sure you understand that they are for stroke prevention as AF makes us five times more at risk of a serious stroke but at the same time high alcohol intake greatly increases the risk of internal bleeding with anticoagulants.
Losing weight and cutting the alcohol will I am sure reduce your AF burden as life style is important. The alternatives are not attractive I'm afraid.
Don't wait for a stroke to motivate you to change your lifestyle. Suggest you write some goals to achieve and hang around people who don't drink.
CHADS2VASC2 is a scoring system used to to inform the doctor’s decision about anticoagulants.Gastrointestinal and liver disease which can be associated with alcohol may increase the risk of bleeding.
Alcohol and high BMI promote AF. Big challenges and difficult decisions.
I was a right old binge drinker before AF. Used to eat rubbish and throw it up after.... totally awful lifestyle. Lots of caffeine drinks all day every day too.
Diagnosed with AF last September.... gave up alcohol immediately (not easy).... didn’t give up the throwing up.
Joined this site and it was a revelation.... I found out what the hell I was doing with my body!
Had a cardioversion in January this year. Had stomach surgery in March to correct the mess I’d made of my stomach.
Been in NSR since Cardioversion....
So, alcohol that’s hard to give up but I don’t wanna die nor do I want my constant AF back. So you can do it, I did.
Take de caf drinks- easy fix that
Eating right.... hard but I’m trying.
Once you get back into NSR you don’t wanna go back!
It’s important to replace one habit with another. I used to love a glass of wine with dinner or at at social function. I still have a wine glass but put non alcoholic drinks in there instead. I still get giggly when socialising and having a good laugh so maybe the wine glass does the trick 😀
I`m with you Hacker - you sound like I was before afib except I have always been fairly slim.
I`m stating the obvious but here goes. I loved a beer (still do) but moderation is key here. Booze and afib are NOT a good combo. When I work abroad alcohol is very much of the culture in the countries I visit. Ask for a shot of whisky and you get a tumbler with half the bottle in. When I look back I have no idea how I got through 10 years of it.
I didn`t exercise and a main meal was a kebab or three Big Macs (or both). I started smoking aged 13.
Now I still enjoy a beer in moderation. I quit smoking and also vape - the taste is better and no cough. I`ve discovered the joys of walking and nature through exercise. I have also discovered new foods that I wouldn`t have considered before. As well as helping my heart my overall fitness has improved tenfold.
Hand on heart (pun intended) - it`s the best thing that happened to me.
Hacker - do it and make small changes starting TODAY. When you start seeing positive results you`ll feel even more motivated. 3 or 4 weeks and you`ll notice a difference.
As for the AC`s - take them if your doctor advises you to. You`ll be more worried if you have a stroke !
I nominate your post to be one of the funniest this week. Wait a second, I’m confused. You’re asking our help but you don’t really want to change. What’s the big deal with drinking anyhow? It may have changed your perception too much. We are not only imperfect, infallible, and, at times, dopey that we forget how life can be shortened. Your doc has given you a wake up call. Don’t blow it by hanging onto a high ball and a smoke.
Hi Dawsonmackay. I didn't realise that there is a competition running on this site for the funniest or saddest post of the week. Fully aware of lifestyle changes needed to be made. I don't recall saying that I didn't want do anything about it . For some people after 20/30 years of living one-way changes can be hard to adjust to,but changes need to be made! I wish your post had been as constructive as the others that I have received thanks for you input.
No competition at all. I just found your post, odd and funny - Hacker65. That's all. When I returned from my honeymoon, I had been feeling awful the whole time. Couldn't breathe or something but took myself to the doc and he said "well you have persistent Afib. And your life is about to change completely." He gave me some scripts and off I went to learn the parade of Afibabbles - way before I learned of this site. You're right, this site should have constructive ideas for persons like you learning that your whole life is about to change (hopefully completely). I wish you well.
I am sorry that you are going through this-A-Fib along with us here. Not fun, but we all adjust eventually. AC’s can be worrisome when you first are given the suggestion to take it. Your doctor will give you the best advice but maybe you should ask the gp if you can talk with an electrophysiologist who specializes in A-Fib. Even though aspirin is no longer considered the better coverage for strokes, some people who can not take AC’s are put on aspirin. My aunt who is 72 has only one kidney so she was told she had to take aspirin instead of AC. She seems to be doing ok. But she also takes a number of other drugs that may have some anti- clotting affect-don’t know. They use the Chad Score to advise you.... but everyone is an individual.
Hacker you are in the right place to get support for your AF and yes I'm afraid it is going to be tough to make those changes. With a lot of self will and support from your GP, family and the lovely people here, you can do it.
We have all had to give up the things that we enjoy but at the end of the day we know that they are bad for us and are probably the reason why we have AF and/or heart disease.
Be strong and think of all the reasons why you should give them up and good luck to you.
Yes indeed we do. Try and find the company of like minded people with healthy distractions and habits. If in doubt go out and do not spend too much time on your own. Good luck
So, describe a lifestyle that is basically giving afib and other health issues a ticket to ride, obviously it's all a worry, maybe that is the reason for your terse replies. We've all had similar experiences and people here genuinely do care and try to advise and help you along . But, then to have an attitude to just what seems to answer good wishes with "I already know everything about lifestyle changes" and other obtuse replies, its pointless adding anything anyone hasn't said really . If you don't want to hear the truth about why your lifestyle affects afib so much, then simply don't ask the questions. I gave up alcohol because of it, changed my exercise habits and lost weight, then had an ablation, it all helps and is necessary if want any QOL , but you probably already know that these things are paramount so good luck with your changes .
Hi I am same age as you, used to smoke and drink too much and did little exercise and was two stone heavier and got AF ! Your lifestyle is causing your AF you have a very good chance of putting it in total remission but you need to make big changes for that to happen! Please dont stop the anticoagulant as you would be putting yourself at risk of something that will fundamentally change your life for the worse or even end it , look at dr John days website on AF he gives a ten point plan to reduce AF naturally ! Good luck !
Thanks Andyc934 for your reply. I have looked up website today. Interesting site
Thanks
You obviously need a whole life change. Once you make a few changes, and since you are so young, there are 2 things you can try that stopped my AFIB. I cut-and-pasted my research below. Note that, I think, alcohol causes your body to be a little dehydrated and that is one of the two triggers discovered below. Good Luck! Here it is:
After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar was the culprit. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again. It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 3 or 4 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day.
Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. So you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. Good luck! - Rick Hyer
It took me about 8 years of trying the obvious things (magnesium, phosphorus, other things that your heart needs). After 8 years I was at a loss, then by accident found that sugar was causing it (happened in the middle of the day after I ate a Ben & Jerry's ice cream). At that time my AFIB NEVER happened in the middle of the day - always in the evening. It then took another year to figure out what kind of sugars triggered AFIB, and how much sugar. After I got it all figured out, I contacted all my doctors - and guess what? - none were interested!! So I try to spread the word on these forums in hope of helping others, at least for a while. I noticed that, as you get older, your sugar (and salt) tolerance decreases, which causes your AFIB to happen more often and last longer - eventually never ending because you can't eat less than 40 or 50 grams of sugar a day and stay alive, so eventually your only course of action is pills or surgery. But until then, figure out what your sugar tolerance is, and as long as you stay under it you will never have AFIB again (plus you must stay hydrated). At least it keeps you off the pills for several years (in my case for about 15 years). Wish science knew what it was inside your body that isn't working with sugar/salt correctly - if we could find out what that is it would immediately cure the AFIB problem. If you ever find out what it is let me know at RickHyer@outlook.com. But I think we all will be long dead before that little secret is ever found out. Good Luck - count your daily intake of sugars!! - Rick Hyer.
Please research magnesium deficiency and symptoms of magnesium deficiency also research vitamins d3 k2mk7
Your liver needs some help so if you can drink celery juice first thing in the morning and lemon juice and increase your fruit and vegetables intake durning the day good luck
I take Apixaban as an anticoagulant. I am lucky, suffering no side effects. The plan for me was to be anticoagulated then have a cardioversion - which successfully stored my normal sinus rhythm, and made a big difference to my breathlessness.
I have been a slow learner, despite the doctor dropping strong hints, I had to work out for myself that I must give up alcohol, or go back into Afib.
I just wrote a long post about booze in reply to another poster. So this will be short.
I resisted stopping drinking until after my recent ablation - which I might not have needed if I’d quit 20 years ago when I was your age. I liked my beer and wine - and probably still do. I’m just not having any these days. My AFib was not too terrible but I had lots of breakthrough attacks AFTER the ablation and decided to not even have the one drink a day my EP said was ok.
I may see if I can stick to the severe limit once the recovery period is up - but I’m not sure I will. Abstinence may be less bother than limit setting.
I promise you - as a fellow drinker - that you WILL feel much better after a couple of weeks even if you still have to deal with AFib. You will sleep better and some of the weight will go away. And you will be ingesting less sugar too. Your concentration will improve and you won’t need so much caffeine...
Instead of beating up on yourself and dreading abstaining, try to think of all the benefits of freeing yourself - and controlling AFib is only one.
The hardest part is breaking the associations of alcohol with so much of your life. Same as quitting smoking. Takes time. And finding some new hobbies or friends might help.
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