question about triggers

[Afib_girl]

how fast do you get afib after a trigger? I think caffeine is mine but if I have caffeine in morning I get afib at night. Do you think it’s related? Does it take that long to get afib from a trigger or is it more instant.

[BobD Volunteer]

Many people think that triggers are a myth. You have AF you will get AF.

That said when I first had AF long before I knew what it was it was alcohol which had an instantaneous effect on me . As soon as it touched my lips my heart went off.

[Hidden]

Hiya Afib_girl,

Food and its ingredients are my trigger and - long story (12 & half years ) cut very short - a Nutritionist was my saviour 'cos she diagnosed the offending stuff (wheat, gluten and oats). Since that original diagnosis I have found many other triggers in food and some vegetables and have now pretty much mastered the dark arts to the point that usually I only get few bouts of it each year. That said, you cannot ignore the influence of genetics ......... where basically on one side or another of your family you may be able to trace the incidence of strokes/ cardiac issues. I certainly can, including my daughter in her 30's when she was in her two pregnancies she was diagnosed. When she stopped breeding her AF stopped.

My triggers can hit anywhere between 4 and 9 hours after consuming food, normally my evening meal, which means it hits around 02.00 hrs and 03.00 hrs each early morning. It can then last up to 4 hours or worst case up to 15 hours, which totally wipes me out.

John

[Polski in reply to Hidden]

If you haven't eaten certain foods at all for several months/years (more than four months at least), you may find you can safely reintroduce them, but it is best to eat them on a four-day rota basis, so if you have stopped eating tomatoes, you could try doing so every fourth day only ie days 1,5,9 etc This is likely to be true for the original three you mention, but it could still be worth trying. It would increase the range of foods you can enjoy.

[Hidden in reply to Polski]

Hiya Polski,

Thanks for your comments. I haven't followed your schedule ( as it were) .

Over the years since I listened to the wisdom of my Nutritionist I have been able to reintroduce many food lines that I had earlier abandoned. I don't follow the 4 day cycle you talk about, I've used much longer periods over time (11 years roughly) and am now able to return to foods I earlier enjoyed ... inclyuding some pasteries. Onions are still out, so is soft cheese, so is lettuce BUT I substitute them with shallots, hard cheese and Rocket.

This cycle of abandonment then over time return does work .... the other aspect is not to hurry/rush this process ..... the gut doesn't understand the passing of time as humans do 😂

Thanks again.

John

[secondtry]

Mmm...how quickly a trigger activates AF I believe is dependant on 2 main factors 1) is your AF vagally mediated 2) how close are you to the AF threshold breakthrough due to a myriad of other lifestyle and individual factors.

I understand from this Forum for many, caffeine before 1pm is unlikely to cause AF, that said I haven't risked it myself and limit my coffee consumption to a few sips of my partner's brew. I know my AF is vagally mediated.

My money in your case is on a normal accumulation of other unhelpful lifestyle choices during the day eg stress, diet, tiredness etc resulting in you dropping into a chair and then bed at night plus maybe eating too much, too quickly, too late as your last meal; such issues can start AF and did regularly for me some years ago. You might try smoothing out your day more in the am don't go as fast and then in the evening (when hopefully less tired), eat early, very light (minimal meat) and do a little bit more, but nothing too energetic! After a couple of months of that introduce the coffee again in the morning and see if there is any difference.

Sorry, no quick answers and a lot of trial and error testing because we are all individuals but it can work and is worth trying. I have been essentially AF free for 8yrs with only two <1hr episodes.

[theohappy]

More instant! My triggers will set my AFib off typically within a half hour. Sugar, hot showers, over doing cardio workout.

[Leechg]

I agree, very difficult to tell. With dark chocolate or caffeinated drink my heart goes off within half an hour. With alcohol it is the next morning. But certain movements or vibration can set if off immediately.

[Ppiman]

Except for a few who are sensitive, I gather caffeine in drinks is not a trigger. I have a feeling that many seeming food "triggers" are some other event, perhaps related to circadian rhythm with the adrenergic / cholinergic hormone systems. or even body movement (such as bending, stretching and so forth; also food and intestinal gases naturally push the heart about a little which can set off ectopic beats and, in prone individuals, AF).

bhf.org.uk/informationsuppo...

Steve

[MarkS]

If you have coffee in the morning, then levels in your body will be down to negligible levels by night. I spent years searching for my trigger and also trying to find THE supplement that would sort it without success.

[Figbar in reply to MarkS]

mark S

You and I seem to have the same unsuccessful results!

[needlestone]

artificial sweeteners are instant. Gluten/wheat sometimes instant but recently I ate a piece of crust less quiche I thought was gluten free and I got it during g the night. Next morning I checked the label and wheat was on the list.

[momist]

I simply don't believe in triggers. Yes, some people (like BobD) react to certain substances, but then others don't. I've had alcohol and coffee regularly, and could never tie it to my AF. Getting cold, or stress of any sort, sometimes seems to cause mine to happen, but then on other occasions I 'get away with it' and it doesn't happen. Hence, I've given up looking for a trigger.

[Snowgirl65]

My major trigger was alcohol. I'd go into a-fib early in the morning exactly 5 hours after imbibing.

[vajrahara]

Hi Afib_girl

I had a successful cardio version (1 shock only) on 26th July after 6.5 months of high rate permanent AF and am still on my daily meds including 5mg of bisoprolol cut down from 12.5mg except for the discontinued digoxin, until seeing Cardiologist after a check ECG. I love strong black real coffee and drink tea and coffee without milk as I really dislike it and I had a suspicion that coffee was my trigger. On 15th August after having no problems with instant coffee I thought maybe I could get away with one cup of black real coffee a week. I had a cup of strong black coffee at 9.am and flipped into AF at 4pm when I took 5mg of bisoprolol as my PIP. I rang NHS 111 after 5pm as I had only had a very brief phone conversation with Cardiologist after the cardio version and hadn’t asked what meds I should take if I didn’t go back into sinus rhythm. My Omcron cuff showed increased HR and irregular HB for the first time since the cardio version. 111 was hopeless and insisted that I went to A & E. After some hours I had an ecg at 9pm showing the PIP had worked and I was in NSR bradycardia. For four days after that my Omcron cuff showed irregular heartbeat present and then there have been no problems since. Very sadly that is the end of my real coffee drinking I am investigating quality decaffeinated coffee with Swiss Water decaf process hoping it is less carcinogenic. Hope this experience is food for thought.

[Spoiler]

I think I could just smell caffeine and go into afib. It is out for me😞

[kocoach]

Hello Afib_girl, just happened to me about two weeks ago, was afib free for twelve days then drank a cola that had caffiene in it and went into afib later that day which lasted for twelve hours. So in answer to your question I believe the answer would be YES.

[Speed]

Hi Afib_girl. With AFlut my identified triggers were occasionally a long exercise (running / cycling) session or rare binge drinking session. Both times there would be a delay of maybe 5 - 15 hrs b4 onset. Subsequently learned that dehydration is a trigger and that may be the common trigger for both. Since last Ablation, now AFlut replaced by AF. Symptoms very rare but has happened actually during exercise and also occasionally post binge. Small regular alcohol no problem (a couple of glasses of red a day supposed to be generally good for health?) but sometimes happens on a bigger session.

Drink a coffee every morning but don’t think that has ever precipitated an episode.