AF & Dehydration

[Guitar335]

What is peoples experience of an AF bout being brought on by dehydration please? It makes sense to be hydrated and wondered if people had experience of this impacting them

Thank you for your thoughts and experiences

[BobD Volunteer]

Very much so. Drink at least 2 litres WATER a day, more in hot weather. This does not include tea or coffee,

[Paulbounce]

Stay hydrated - very important with afib !

Paul

[Sewnknit]

Yep, looking back it was the biggest trigger.

[Drounding]

Every time I've a serious bout of AFIB I've been dehydrated to some degree. I think being dehydrated creates salt inbalances in your body thaty may trigger the AFIB.

[queseyo in reply to Drounding]

You're right, many times I wake up with my heart pounding at night, then I take a few sips of warm water and the heart beats get better. Even so when I'm symptomatic.

[D_afibber]

Yes, indeed. I take magnesium from Dr Dean. Really helps settle Afib. But she also recommended taking a little salt in my water. It works for me, as I usually have much coffee which makes me visit the loo. But I find that with a little salt I no longer trot to the loo so much and retain my liquids better. But some people I understand may have problems with water retention. Best ask a Doctor before doing this.

[Mrsvemb]

Dehydration is a definite AF trigger for me. I drink a lot of water.

Val

[Jajarunner]

Absolutely. My second bout of afib came after getting dehydrated on holiday and experiencing a fast heart rate for 4-5 days before going into afib and needing cardioversion. 7 months later after a 6-7 hours without water due to having a general anaesthetic, I went into afib 36 hours later despite drinking loads of water after the op.

Now I have 0.5L of rehydration drink per day (Zero capsule) and half a litre of water with lemon and salt. PLus at least a litre of water. Plus tea, of course. I try to get a minumum of 2 L per day but as I exercise I try to get nearer to 2.5 - 3L.

Hope this helps

[momist]

Best thing you can do is drink lots of water. I found I could even drink beer at a festival, if I was matching drink for drink with water.

[Auriculaire]

Definitely. At least 2 of my afib attacks have been brought on by by dehydration. Certainly it was a factor in going into afib after surgery.

[Cha275rL]

Definitely. This triggered two really awful ones I had recently. Keep drinking.

[bikergurl]

Absolutely! Dehydration is a trigger for me! Drink up!

[daysyday1]

I am sure I drink plenty albeit decaf tea and coffee. But as soon as Afib starts during the night, the first thing I need is a cup of very hot tea, it doesn'tstop it but I don'tfeel so dizzy. If I feel unwell when I'm out, my husband knows to get me somewhere for a hot drink asap. Then I'm usually fine.

[Guitar335]

Thankyou all. Some fascinating thought and responses.