Following a pneumonia vaccine and a spell of diarrhoea yesterday I now find myself in afib for the first time in 6 months. Maybe coincidental but has anyone else gone into afib after upset stomach? My GP thinks it might be dehydration that's the trigger which may have reduced my potassium levels, I am having a blood test tomorrow.
Heart been racing and jumping around since midnight last night with no sign of it slowing. Taking medication is all I think I ca do at this stage but hate the feeling especially in this hot weather as I am sweating s lot. My episodes often last over 24 hours so look like I still have another sleepless night.
Written by
Karendeena
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Being dehydrated can certainly be a trigger for AF. Drinking iced water can sometimes halt those rogue beats, in fact make sure you drink plenty of water anyway. Do some slow, deep breathing to see if that helps. It's such a horrible condition isn't it!
Hope that your heart soon calms and you can have a good nights sleep. Are you feeling ok with it, or is it making you feel ill?
Hi Jeanjeanie, almost forgot about it after 6 months but yes it's an awful rogue condition. Don't feel too bad my stomach is a bit sore but the heart jumping about really makes me upset and anxious 😟 I had too much fruit over the last 2 days and was drinking flavoured still water which my GP says is a no no because of the artificial sweetners (should have thought). Dreading tonight, think I might stay in the chair. Must have got up 20 times last night, no sleep up to 5 am
Bless you. That heart jumping around is horrible, I remember it well. Let us know how you are tomorrow please. Artificial sweeteners were a trigger for my AF. I avoid them like the plague now.
Thanks Jeanjeanie, calmed down in the night and finally flipped back into NSR this morning, how much better do I feel 😀 Really gets me when an episode kicks can't really do much apart from drag myself around. Thanks so much for your support, means a lot x
Yep, AF is a hydraheaded monster - very much all things to all people and triggers for all reasons. I've been on this forum for around 11 years ( which includes this forums earlier incarnation run on Yahoo) and on any discussion of triggers - food and drink tea, coffee, alcoholic, any drink at all and the vagal nerve (google it) will all come up at some time or an other. Stress is another and stress in itself can manifest itself in different ways, other triggers might be so called healthy people exercising to excess. such as marathon runners and olympic grade cyclists ( and there is quite a lot of anecdotal evidence to suggest these athletes have had AF diagnosed or not and death has been a result of their activities). More anecodtal evidence to suggest that fighter pilots can also suffer from AF. Then there is genetics .... it appears in my family ( fathers side) from time to time in various generations, right up to my daughter who only experienced it in her two pregnancies. Nothing since.
For me it was food beyond doubt, but, that said at the time I cannot totally eliminate some degree of stress due to the job I was in at the time.
I consulted a nutritionist, went gluten free, wheat free, and oats free and shedloads of other stuff to and managed to tame the monster ( calm the vagal nerve, calm the heart). So for me lifestyle changes and medication lead me to live an almost AF free existence although several times a year I get AF events, but nothing too serious. I have had 2 really major events in recent years, April 2015 and February 2018.
There ya go, food for thought !
Incidentally, my symptoms re food were, diahorrea, loud intestinal gurgling, burping and worst of all very painful bloating. The bloating would be the one that would trip me into AF.
How knowledgeable John, really appreciate this, makes me feel less anxious that I'm not alone! Incedently, I do suffer a lot of gurgling and bloating so maybe need to adjust my diet. I cut out alcohol but love bread and steak etc. I think I might be intolerant to certain food groups and bordering on IBS which my brother has. My father had some kind of heart arrythmia but it was over 30 years ago so as I was young never really took much notice. Unfortunately he was a very private man so we never got to know much. He was on wayfarin, and fell subjecting him to a brain haemorrhage and sadly passed away as a result, he was only just 60
I forgot to mention that my GP ( back in the day) did have bloods done for IBS and Coealiac Disease and although they both came back clear he still felt I could be marginal IBS. But thanks to the two nutritionists I consulted I got my diet sorted and my Af journey then turned the corner. Very sorry to learn of your fathers experience, thats very sad.
My paternal grandfather died from a series of strokes back in 1964. Nobody alive today who can give me details but I wouldn't mind betting there was some heart arrythmia involved there. Can't remember the number of strokes but it wasn't just one, he had many which affected his different faculties to a range of degreees, until the final one. My second cousin on the same side of the family ( and my age now) also has AF. His grandfather was my grandfathers brother. Again, food for thought. I think still and all, that there must be an element of predisposition to AF and genetics must play a big part.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Afib progressing
Kardia monitor - if it says ‘Possible AFib is it always AFib?
Triggers for AF
Afib/dementia
