I'm 28, live in Dallas, TX and no prior history of any type of heart condition. I had my very first and only episode of Afib back on Feb.2 2020 which put me in the ER for 24hrs on which I converted on my own back to Sinus Rhyme after 12 hours.
Before my episode, I was what you would call a very health conscious individual. That was never sick and the only thing I had ever been Diagnosed with was Strep a few years back and IBS. I was a personal trainer for 7 years and still maintain all of my PT Certifications, worked out 5-6 days a week, did Yoga on occasion, and maintained a healthy diet 6/7 days a week.
Vices? Not many. Drank alcohol maybe twice-three times a month in social settings, don't do drugs, and don't smoke cigarettes. The only Vice I've had is probably caffeine consumption and that was maybe 500mg/daily at one point due to high stress/anxiety of getting married and planning a wedding.
The night before my ER visit I had popped two 25mg Benedryl to help me sleep which made me very dizzy and increased my heart rate/made it irregular. I thought that maybe this was just a side effect of and decided I would just sleep it off. Woke up the next morning and felt even more dizzy and told my Fiancee that I needed to go to the ER. Upon arrival, my heart rate was a 140bpm and was told by the ER Doc that I was in Afib. The ER did both an X Ray and Blood work on me and everything came back normal, including my thyroid. The next day I got in with a local Cardiologist where they performed a Echocardiogram on me which also came back with no abnormalities. The Doc wrote me a script for Metoprolol XL 25 mg to take once daily. I see my Cardiologist again on Friday 2/14 to to over next steps. I have no idea what to expect.
My Cardiologist said that this MAY be an Isolated event but I won't lie to you, I'm a bit terrified still. Since my episode, I've had some heart palpitations a little bit of random chest pain/tightness which only lasts a few moments and sometimes minutes. I've read that this usually only effects people 60 years old+ but still scared and am considering doing an ablation if this happens again. I refuse to take meds for the rest of my life because I've also read that eventually the meds stop working and had a friend who had an ablation which completely cured him on his SVT.
Has anyone else my age went through this kind of situation? feeling a bit alone here.
Always seeking advice.
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CT868
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Sorry to hear about your situation. On the positive side of things, your body is fit and healthy so as uncomfortable as Afib can be when it’s happening I would still consider you low risk for abruptly having a stroke or heart attack.
Caffeine is a known tigger, same thing can be said about Benadryl. Both can cause increased heart rates and fluttering.
Then when you combine that with all of our natural tendencies to become anxious when we feel these symptoms then it’s rasy to see that we can further magnify or trigger the symptoms.
Personally, I’d try to stay relaxed, continue to eat right, do light exercise, and continue Yoga to relax the mind and I believe the symptoms/episodes will fade away once some of the fear/anxiety subside.
Thanks for the reply. Stroke is exactly what I'm afraid of. I've asked my Doc if he feels if I need to be on some sort of Blood thinner besides Baby Aspirin twice a day and he said pretty much the same thing about me being young and active and doesn't see any need for it.
Still scares me though and even bought a watch off of amazon that has an ECG monitor on it.
I agree with Chuck but I also think that you should never take Benadryl again either. Last year I took one Aleve and fainted. My GP said, "don't ever take Aleve again."
Thanks for the reply. It is comforting that someone else has had a similar experience with reactions to antihistamines when it comes to AF. The ER Doc said that he didn't think Benadryl would be a trigger. Safe to say I wont be taking antihistamines again ever.
I have a sibling who is a pharmacist in a New Orleans Hospital. Upon speaking with her last night, she has reported that certain patients have gone into Afib or other arrhythmia due to allergic reactions to antihistamines. Just some food for thought.
The bad news is you have had a-fib. The good news is you are young and will benefit from new treatments - maybe within the next 5 years or so. I should think your chances of a stroke at your age are next to none. You still need to keep your eye on the ball though.
I need to think carefully before I suggest this - maybe I'll decide not to post this bit. Before I go any further I'm NOT a doctor or do have any medical knowledge at all. This is just something to discuss with your doc.
Ablations work for many. However I think newer and more effective treatments are coming. Who knows - in 5 or 10 years they might be a thing of the past. I'm older than you but still want to wait a while before having an ablation - if my a-fib can be controlled by med's I'll stick with it for now and see what's around the corner.
If a new treatment takes a decade to be found you'll still only be in your late 30's. Ablations are invasive and I guess best avoided in an ideal world.
I'm not trying to put you off having one - I'm just saying discuss it carefully with your doctor as you are young and likely to be able to benefit from future treatments. Keep your finger on the pulse and check out clinical trails and the like - see what comes up over the next few years. Google is your friend
One final thing. Benedryl can trigger an irregular heart beat - avoid it from now on. If you buy any over the counter medicine always read the leaflet to see if an irregular heart beat can be caused by taking it. You would be amazed how many medicines can list this as a side effect.
Paul
PS - it's quite normal to have anxiety after an a-fib attack so don't worry. It will pass - I promise.
I don't know Mike. There are many moving parts to this.
Already ablation treatment is being improved (mapping and like). Medical advances are being made all the time in all aspects of healthcare for most conditions.
Patience is a virtue IMO. I truly believe new things are on the horizon. Time will tell of course but lets keep our fingers crossed This doesn't help those of us suffering from a-fib today but might offer hope in the (near) future. Let's wait and see !
Hi CT, and welcome! I live about 2 hrs South of Dallas, yeehaw!
Sorry to hear about your AFib, it can be quite a scary situation!
To shatter a few myths - AFib can occur at any age, although it usually starts to occur in older people. I started having more arrhythmias, and my first bout of AFib, in my late 30's! Come to find out, I have a genetic heart condition, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which can cause arrhythmias. My parents also suffered from AFib, and my Momma probably had HCM as well!
Ablations CAN "fix" some people, others have to get them several times, some just don't work, so it's not a one-size-fits-all type of procedure, unfortunately. I would try the medication for now, and like others have said, who knows what will have been developed 5-10 years down the road.
And although Google can be your friend, it can also totally overwhelm you and cause undue stress if you don't search the right sites. I stick with well-known medical sites, or National Institutes of Health, those types of sites for legitimate information.
Some great advice from others on here, try to remain as stress free as possible, the anxiety will pass, I promise (as others posted), exercise is great, your diet sounds healthy, and the fact you don't drink much and are a non-smoker are all great things!
Hang in there, follow-up with your doctors, keep on top of it, sounds like you're doing everything you can, please keep us updated (I am following you for updates)!
I am not a doctor, but I can speak from experience. Metoprolol is a beta blocker. Perhaps you can review the side effects. Upon diagnosis, I too was placed on 25mg Metoprolol. Whereas I had no prior palpitations prior to taking this drug, suddenly my heart was pounding out of my chest, plus I thought life was no longer worth living. I was later to read that metoprolol is contraindicated with vagal AF.
I am a bit confused between "local" and "my" cardiologist, except that the local one put you on Metropolol and now you are going to your cardiologist. What I am trying to say is definitively go over this drug and whether you have to take this drug at all or start on any drug regimen considering your age, your single incident that may have been precipitated by Benedryl , your healthy lifestyle, and your clean bill of heart health. Again, since you say"I refuse to take meds for the rest of my life , " you might want to ask the cardiologist when you should start taking heart meds if at all.
My sister-in-law ( 77 years old) also had a single incident whereby she went to A & E , and whereby the emergency doctor prescribed a rate control drug. She was also very fit , being a yoga teacher, plus led a very healthy lifestyle. She delayed taking it until she went to a cardiologist who was also an electrophysiologist. He said that it was good she did not take the rate control pill because she didn't need it. She is still not on any heart drug pills and she has no AF. True, once in a while , she did feel some palpitations, but she quickly calmed herself down with yoga.
Between the lines, I am reading that you are stressing yourself over this one episode wondering if you have had others or will have others. I suggest you purchase a Kardia ( they have a 6 lead oe now) to take reading when you feel that way. Having had three ablations, my heart is very sensitive. I have at times thought I was back in AF, so I took readings on both the Kardia and the Omeron, but no AF. Stressing yourself out is not good for the heart.
This is merely a person opinion: You are young, healthy, energetic. One episode of AF does not condemn you to AF, so don't be scared. It's a long road from one episode to an ablation, and you have hardly taken one step. Look at the cup half full, so devote your energy to your upcoming wedding rather than wasting it on AF.
Thanks for the response. Just to cover up front, I've only seen ONE cardiologist. Thought about getting a second opinion just to cover my own basis but I'll wait and see how things go. Never can be too safe when it comes to major organs, especially the heart.
I'm happy that you brought up the Metoprolol XL. I saw my GP yesterday for just a well-being check and when he went to check my BP it has dropped to 100/60. Typically my BP is in the range of 120-125/70-80. Basically he said that the BetaBlocker was dropping my BP and was even questioning why I was taking it. Also, my resting HR is usually around 60-62 but recently has been down to 53-55. I'm still hitting the gym and eating right but I have been getting more tired recently and feeling like I could take a nap at any given moment.
Ill be sure to bring this up to my Cardiologist on Friday morning when I go in.
I agree with your GP. I wish I had had one as astute as yours. It was my GP who first put me on Metoprolol 25 mg when there were other drugs, which in my opinion, would have been more beneficial. A side effect of Metoprolol is irregular heart beat and I think that's what happened to me. Yes, do ask your ONE cardiologist about Metoprolol. Also, you cannot just stop a beta blocker (Metoprolol in your case) and especially your sufficiently high dose of 25 mg. But, your one cardiologist will guide you. I would encourage you to see another cardiologist. You're only 28. You need to get it right now rather than follow all these detour roads. Meds are a tricky business and some professionals are not up-to-date. Beta blockers are known to make people tired as a side effect. In my case, I could hardly get up when I took Metoprolol 25 mg.
In your young life, I would suggest you be on top of any drugs ever prescribed, especially their side effects. That means you would need to do some homework. One site is drugs.com. If you like doing research, you might want to explore rate control drugs versus rhythm control drugs which are prescribed for arrhythmia. I wish I had done research when I was prescribed my first drug and that was for blood pressure. Informed, you will be in a better position to converse with whomever is prescribing drugs. I was in persistent AF before I found out from my GP that he was not licensed to prescribe anti-arrhythmic drugs, and that was only because I asked him at the one year timeline that he got me to persistent without referring me. Short-circuiting my story, I had to have three ablations , when in my evaluation, I could have had only one.
Updating as promised. Went to Cardiologist this morning and before I could speak to him about the Metoprolol; he told me he wanted me to stop taking it. He said based on all of tests that my heart is very healthy and see's no reason for me too continue to take meds.
He admited that he is a bit perplexed given my health history, me having a BMI of 25, and my lifestyle as to why this happened and said that his money is on my body just responding negatively too benadryl and this being an isolated episode.
He did however give me a script for Ditializem 25mg just incase this happens again as a precaution.
What good news! I am so glad this cardiologist is not going to start to pump you up with drugs with such an isolated incident. He may have used the phrase "pill in pocket" (PIP) which means only take when an episode arises. 25mg is a low dose. I daily have taken a much higher dose. It is a rate control drug belonging to the nondihyropyridine calcium channel blockers group. It also has blood pressure lowering properties. Relax and enjoy life. 😁
Hi Ct. Sorry to read your post. I cant be the only one to read of younger people affected by this malaise.
Posts especially first posts. I've been struck by, young, fit -exercise, gym , train, eat well, no major vices. Then get struck down with Afib.
Whilst a lot older than you I reflect your mantra.
By a twist of fate I now meet my first excellent Consultant at social events, we both belong to the same choir.
I can ask the questions you wished you could have asked in consultations.
What has come out is that being physically fit with a slow resting heart rate can be a precursor to Afib if given the right triggers.
The mystery is what are the triggers. For me close analysis of my lifestyle and reading others. I am more of the view that, stress, excess caffeine, even low to moderate dehydration, poor sleep and for me especially after exercise sleeping too deeply. I'm unable to comment on effects of drugs and home remedies. But read about them with interest.
Let me just amplify deep sleep. Being male of a certain age nightime trips to the loo is part of the territory. Suddenly waking up from a deep sleep and jumping out of bed when your heart was previously beating as slow as a Blue Whale then expecting it to jump into fast rhythm maybe, if it is naturally slow, asking a bit much. It has been a trigger for me. So take life a little slower. Still exercise and do all the good things but allow the heart to ramp up and down more slowly. Just my own thoughts and observations. Wish you well.
Be aware that too much exercise can promote AF. Hearts are not meant to be repeatedly pushed to extremes! You may like to read 'The Haywire Heart' by Dr John Mandrola. He is a cyclist/cardiologist, so he knows what he is writing about.
Yeahhhh, my Cardiologist told me about that. I had known a few things regarding it from my years as a Personal Trainer. From what I gathered, It's all situational but I actually would be interested in picking up a good read.
Give this a try - it might keep you from having another afib episode for many years, or may make your afib episodes so mild that you will not need any meds.
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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. 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 (this is why all doctors agree that afib gets worse as you get older). If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). 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 1 or 2 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 just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate (afternoon) exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt?? I also found that strenuous exercise does no good – perhaps you make yourself dehydrated??
I'm pretty sure that Afib is caused by a gland(s) - like the Pancreas, Thyroid (sends signals to the heart to increase speed or strength of beat), Adrenal Gland (sends signals to increase heart rate), Sympathetic Nerve (increases heart rate) or Vagus Nerve (decreases heart rate), Hypothalamus Gland or others - or an organ that, in our old age, is not working well anymore and excess sugar or dehydration is causing them to send mixed signals to the heart - for example telling the heart to beat fast and slow at the same time - which causes it to skip beats, etc. I can't prove that (and neither can my doctors), but I have a very strong suspicion that that is the root cause of our Afib problems. I am working on this with a Nutritionist and hope to get some definitive proof in a few months.
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. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case 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. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer
PS – there is a study backing up this data you can view at:
As you've probably read, everyone's AFIB is a little different but just to describe mine in case you see any similarities with yours, I had my first AFIB episode when I as about 45 and I went to the ER and converted back within about 8 hours. I had all kinds of tests done which showed my heart was structurally sound. I did have slight high blood pressure which they put me on a low-dose beta blocker for. I am also pretty healthy and run frequently, though not really long distances. You will read that athletes or those that do high intensity exercises have an increased risk for AFIB so I keep that in the back of my mind and try not to overdo anything.
Over the next 8 years, I would have an AFIB episode maybe once a year. Mine is the vagal type and things like heartburn, sleeping position, or going to bed after a full meal could trigger it. It doesn't appear that caffeine, stress, or alcohol really triggers mine. Though I have found that dehydration and taking cold medicines has caused me to go into it in the past. When I go into AFIB, I've tried all the things they suggest to try to get you out of it (which never worked for me) but I did find for me, running usually for less than a mile will convert me out of it almost 100% of the time. I've been known to go out jogging down my sidewalk at 2:30 in the morning if I woke up at night in AFIB.
About 3 years ago, I started having more and more AFIB episodes and it got to the point where I was having up to 3 a week. I end up having an ablation done at that point, which while greatly improved it (I probably had 30 episodes in the 3 months prior to the ablation), I have had two short episodes in the 3 years since then.
One other note, I was also very scared of having a stroke any time I went into AFIB. My doctor has never recommended me going on blood thinners though based on my age, health, fitness, and CHADS score though you will see varying opinions on this. I was still a little worried though and would start taking aspirin anytime I went into AFIB and for several days after (even though you'll probably read now that aspirin probably does little to prevent stroke from AFIB). I think that could have actually made my AFIB worse though since it probably ended up irritating my stomach (since my vagal AFIB seems to be very sensitive to stomach issues) and probably caused me to have more AFIB episodes.
I also had my first episode very young. Age 27. Then at age 31 I had a heart attack. I’ll give you some advice. Although afib and heart disease are two separate problems they are sometimes related. Push for a thorough cardio exam. At the very least a stress test and a calcification scan. Find a good EP now to address your afib. Not to alarm you but this is a lifelong battle. No cure but very treatable. It may be years before it happens again but it will happen again and will eventually become more frequent. I would strongly recommend an ablation for first line treatment. Many would disagree but it’s a better option than drugs. More and more doctors are going this route considering the improved safety and effectiveness of the procedure.
In the past 3 months I've had probably 5 ekg, 3 chest x rays, an Echocardiogram, Stress test, and a two week Holtor Monitor test. All of which came back came back without abnormalities. I check my BP twice a day and even before my AF episode, wore a smart watch with an ECG on it (its pretty cool) my resting HR is always around 55-60 BPM and Blood pressure is rarely above 120 unless im on a run, lifting weights, running around the house or swimming.
Besides having a great cardiologist, my GP was a Cardiac nurse for 15+ years and he said that for my age, they've ran more tests than anyone he's ever seen per my request to run everything we can and he or my Cardiologist have seen no abnormalities.
My cardiologist still thinks this event may have been a one time event based on my overall health and my past with excessive caffeine consumption with pre-workout and 2 espressos a day at one point. Ive had caffeine and alcohol since my AF and it didn't seem to be a trigger. Only thing I haven't tested is benedryl and have no intention too. In fact, I found out that my Dad's side of the family have an adverse affect when taking benedryl.
HOWEVER, as you said, my cardiologist can't guarantee that. My fiancée and my GP all agree that if it happens again, I should push hard for an ablation since they have a higher success rate the younger you are.
My biggest thing at this point is getting my anxiety in check and relax.
Sounds like you’re on the right track. I’m 58 now going for 3rd ablation after virus thing clears. My afib was controlled with tikosyn but I was having short runs of vtach. Back on sotalol, working ok so far. Pretty healthy still. Best of luck to you.
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