Wine and afib

[Poncegirl]

I had cryoablation in early August, no afib or tac since then, total success. Eliquis is the only med I’m taking and recommend because ima woman and over 70. At the gym three times a week besides looks of bike riding and walking. My weight is good and also blood pressure. New cardiologist this week and he recommended only two alcoholic drinks a week because more can cause afib. I have a couple glasses of wine with dinner every night. Anyone notice wine causing afib events.

[BobD Volunteer]

Depite shares in a vinyard I had to give up wine and all alcholol more than fifteen years ago. Not worth the risk!

[Hidden]

The forum is full of posts about AF and alcohol, suggest you use the search box top right of this page.....

[Finvola]

I had to give up my much-loved wine at diagnosis seven years ago - on my cardiologist's advice. Daft to see a cardiologist and go against his advice, much as I miss my wines.

[Buffafly]

Good luck (you may need it) 🍀

[Globe-J]

Hello Poncegirl,

As for me, before I got rid of the affliction, a glass of wine made no difference. There seem to be different individual responses to some triggers - exercise, alcohol, stress, etc.

Have you tried to experiment? If your heart does not object, why not to enjoy? There is some evidence, a glass or two may do us good.

Happy 2021

J (-:

[Poncegirl in reply to Globe-J]

Thank you for your reply. Before I had my ablation in August I was in afib minimum of 12 hours a day, having said that, no I wasn’t having my wine too often. My afib and SVT started in Oct 2019 very slowly but by late winter 2020 it was awful. Dr tried med after medication adding new ones and increasing dosage. It continued to get worse and after a horrible reaction to doubling my flecinide I had enough. His next plan was try a med that I’d be in the hospital fir 3 days. I refused and insisted on ablation. 8/2 it was done, not one event not ever SVT. No meds except eliquis. So a wine a night so far is ok I think. If I have an afib I’ll reevaluate. Looking forward to a healthy active good year. Happy New Year !

[Bawdy in reply to Poncegirl]

Yes, I'm with you on this. We can always change what we are doing if things go belly up. I stopped my meds also, apart from xarelto and enjoy a glass of red nightly, good luck and all the best for 2021. Cheers X

[Hidden]

I'd say the reverse, certainly for me. Either drink little and regularly so you're used to it, is better than not be used to it then have a drink. I'm tee-total and one sip would set me off, done it by mistake once.

[MarkS]

When I had AF regularly, I gave up alcohol for 6 months and it made no difference. I have a small glass of red wine most evenings now and it makes no difference. After all, red wine is an essential part of the Med diet!

[Padayn01 in reply to MarkS]

Are you not in AF now?

[MarkS in reply to Padayn01]

I had an ablation 10 years ago which was successful. Over the last year or so I have had occasional recurrences of AF but a lot less than I had before the ablation.

[Padayn01 in reply to MarkS]

When you say recurrences do you mean ectopics? or short runs of arrhythmia?

[MarkS in reply to Padayn01]

Occasional runs of both. The arrhythmia is at a relatively low HR and doesn't seem to slow me up, I can still walk up hills etc at a reasonable pace.

[Alfc]

Wine is a definite trigger for me, so I’m tea-total now. But I think we can have different triggers. If you don’t get a reaction enjoy your wine! And have one for me!

[spinningjenny]

I have never been able to discover a trigger for mine. Wine doesn’t seem to affect me at all. I can be sitting on the sofa knitting and my heart will suddenly wake up and go for a jog. One of the worst episodes recently occurred while watching Andrew Marr on a Sunday morning. I try to avoid him now.

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

Same happens to me i can be just sitting on the Sofa and my heart just goes for run, how long does yours last for?

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

How long is a piece of string? Minutes, hours, sometimes days. I have recently come out of hospital following a really bad spell lasting 6 days. It's very unpredictable.

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

Have you ever had an abalation? or is it just controlled with Meds?

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

I had an ablation in 2014 and am currently waiting for another which hopefully will be very soon. I know I am pretty close to the top of the waiting list.

At the moment I’m on 12.5mg of Bisoprolol daily which is a big dose and I am beginning to be bothered by side effects I am also on Digoxin. My heart rate is anything between 47 and short bursts of 147 but generally is fairly settled in the 70s.

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

Was your first abalation a success and how long were you AFIB free for?

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

It only lasted for about six months but I felt well while it lasted. I had a lot of other problems as well and had mitral and tricuspid valve repair in 2018.

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

May i ask can you exercise at all?

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

Yes. Normally I walk three miles a day and/or go to the cardiac rehab gym. Nothing at the moment sadly as I have only just come out of hospital and am having to self isolate but I am itching to get my walking shoes on. I have to say, I don’t break any records and I can’t keep up with my husband, we tend to walk separately maybe agreeing to meet up by the cafe in the park for a cuppa. Not been to the gym since mid March last year.

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

Thank you for taking time to answer my questions, i hope your second ablation will come quickly

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

No problem. Stay safe xx

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

Oh sorry can i just ask you one more question? do you get these runs only at rest? or do they happen when you are walking also?

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

I get them anytime but get very breathless when they happen while walking. I just have to slow down for a while. They are a nuisance but I know they're not going to kill me so I don't get frightened anymore, just annoyed .

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

I fully respect you being so brave, when i'm sitting and get a short little run my anxiety hits the roof and than i get 4 or 5 short runs straight after

[spinningjenny in reply to Padayn01]

Been there, done that, I'm cross with it now. Determined not to let it beat me. It's my body, I'm the Boss!

[Padayn01 in reply to spinningjenny]

Respect to you

[Karendeena]

Yes, wine started my lone afib and is a trigger for me. I love wine but decided to go cold turkey and give up completely. Not sure if I will ever drink again as I have fast afib when it starts which is very uncomfortable and scary

[Finvola in reply to Karendeena]

Same with me Karen. I even tried de-alcoholised wine from Sainsbury's and it had a similar effect. I came to the conclusion that it was the sulphides in the wine, rather than the alcohol which triggered my arrhythmias.

[Karendeena in reply to Finvola]

How strange, I found that non-alcoholic wine set my afib off too! It's a minefield finding the triggers!

[Poncegirl]

I dont have Afib any longer since my ablation and no meds either. Wine was never a trigger, I think stress was.

[Sfhmgusa]

I drink wine most nights 1-2 glasses and if anything red wine might have been a causal factor for my episodes to stop ( prob by relaxing me) since ablation 2, 7 weeks ago it has not caused me any problems, if it is a trigger... it will trigger, if not I suggest moderation is ok but we all are different.

Sadly my QOL would diminish if I went tee total as I love food and wine both cooking and eating but I’m certain it has helped me cut back as I am certain getting drunk is a real danger

[Bruceyboy]

My cardio called A fib “ holiday heart” as we often drink and eat too much on holidays and that happened to me I have a pacemaker but am very active myself with Bushwalking cycling and Gym plus walking the dog I have a couple of wines each night and has not been a problem but if you want to eliminate risk as much as possible follow your cardio’s advice but quality of life will be sacrificed😉

[Spangle14]

Boring though it is, I have gone teetotal as I believe there is a strong connection with afib and alcohol. That said, my cardiologist did say that it wouldn't hurt to have the occasional glass of wine

[Janith]

Definitely! I was a martini before din and a glass of wine with din kinda girl ... pre afib ... l had to stop! Now l have one glass of wine with dinner on Saturday evening only. So l went from 7 days per week to one day per week and l LOVE IT! I look better and feel better and think better and get along with others better!! Behave!!

[cuore in reply to Janith]

My EP. said not to have wine for only one month after my ablation. After that I could.

[Janith in reply to cuore]

That’s okay ... l prefer to forego the ablation! Not for a glass of wine would l have an ablation. Furthermore, my cardiologist said that l don’t need one. Thx. ❤️

[cuore]

My EP. said not to have wine for only one month after my ablation. After that I could.