I had alcohol for the first time and woke up with possibly a-fun?

[bcrouse]

Long story short. I’m on a beta blocker. No pre existing conditions. I’ve only had a bout of afib once and it went back to normal sinus rhythm on its own. But I woke up in the middle of the night with a racing heart and it fluttered for 5 seconds than stopped. What was this?

[Hidden]

Sounds like your heart doesn’t like it when you drink alcohol so I guess the choice is entirely yours......

[HiloHairy]

Sometimes these are called ectopics and sometimes they lead to an fib event but not always. The alcohol may have caused it but there are so many other things that can do so as well.

How much did you have to drink? Were there any other changes from your normal consumption or changes in your actions that day?

[Jajarunner]

I thought everyone got episodes like that (ie palpatations for a few seconds), afib or not? Most people I know say they do...! But cos we have had a fib i think we get paranoid to them more (or maybe thats just me!)

[Madscientist16 in reply to Jajarunner]

Yep, I still get short runs of fast fluttering heart and I have had an ablation.

[momist]

Yeah, if it's only a few seconds don't worry about it (unless it happens a lot).

[Deacon-L]

Hi, as usual, there are some very good bits of advice from the group.

From the information in your post, it does point at the possibility that alcohol may have triggered an AF episode..... but, it may have no connection with alcohol. Waking up in the middle of the night with palpitations could also be a sign of sleep apnia when you have stopped breathing in your sleep for a short while and wake up with palpitations feeling quite uncomfortable and then it settles down within 5 or 10 minutes as your oxygen levels recover.

It would be a good idea to keep a diary of the event (what you had to eat/drink and other thoughts you have about your previous day) how long the event lasted and how you felt. If it happens again, you then have 2 uncomfortable episodes to share with your doctor to help diagnosis.