AF and alcohol.

[DavidLyn]

Hi. I have now been in AF permanently for the past eight weeks, during which time I have steered clear of alcohol. It wasn’t alcohol that triggered this session but it had sometimes been a trigger. Up until this session, the longest spell in AF I’d had was 3days. I’ve recently had a 24 hour heart monitor and an echocardiogram and am now waiting for an appointment to see a cardiologist. My question is, is it safe for me to have a sensible drink of alcohol? With Christmas looming it’s possible I won’t see the cardiologist until after the festivities and my wife and I are hosting a big family Christmas dinner and I would have liked to have the odd glass of wine. It won’t be the end of the world if I can’t but an occasional tipple would be nice. I’ve never been a heavy drinker but I do enjoy the odd tipple. I’m just worried if I had a drink it might exacerbate my symptoms of breathlessness and a thumping heart beat. TIA for any answers I might get.

[CDreamer]

What is your heart rate in AF? If you are breathless is that entirely due to the AF? I think it’s important to monitor yourself and symptoms. You don’t say if you are taking medications and if so which. That would also be a factor and know there is interactions between drugs and alcohol, especially anticoagulants so be wary.

The sensible thing to do would be to not chance it but my view is that depriving one’s self of something you enjoy can be just demoralising. I found that alcohol nearly always increases my HR and that is what you need to be cautious about. My AF is just about controlled by Pacemaker and I don’t take any drugs and I have maybe one small glass of wine with friends once a week and have no problems IF it is a good wine. I cannot drink plonk and prefer organic wine. I have found a very nice organic Rose in Waitrose which suits me so I stick to that and it is reasonably priced. I’m also OK with sparkling wine, always have been and have no idea why?

Some members found it is the sulphites in wine which cause fast heartbeat and digestive problems which trigger AF but as you are in persistent AF anyway the only way to know is to try a very small glass - which I suggest you do before Christmas and see what happens.

The alternative is look for a very low alcoholic content or none alcoholic wine or invent a lovely none alcoholic cocktail - friends and I experimented last night with spiced apple and berry and Gimber which gave the drink a taste kick, similar to alcohol.

Good luck.

[DavidLyn in reply to CDreamer]

Hi again. I should have said I take warfarin as an anticoagulant and I take 2x 120mg and 1x 40mg verapamil per day. My heart beats per minute vary between 40bpm and 140 bpm.

Thank for your reply.

[Popepaul]

Hi David. I think that alcohol over Christmas is unlikely to be helpful and it could well exacerbate your condition. A personal decision of course. Regards

[Bingofox007]

You can only sip it ‘n’ see. Gin is my trigger factor in any amount so I don’t drink it but a low alcohol beverage might be fine, they have improved over the years. Take care 🦊x

[jeanjeannie50]

Hi David

Once when my heart had been thundering away in my chest for weeks, I went to a neighbours house for nibbles and a drink. I only had a very small amount of a Dutch wine, but it was so nice I had another small one. Another neighbour said to me, 'You're looking well' and I answered I feel it and yes, I suddenly realised that my heart was back in normal rhythm. Of course it could also have been the lots of Doritos I'd eaten (salt has been known to put people back into normal sinus rhythm).

So my tip would be just have a small glass of wine and some Doritos today, to see if either work.

Jean

[TopBiscuit in reply to jeanjeannie50]

Sounds like very good advice, Jean! 😀 Though a word of warning; flavoured Doritos (as opposed to the plain 'corn' variety) contain Monosodium Glutamate which is definitely best avoided.

[jeanjeannie50 in reply to TopBiscuit]

It was the plain ones, think blue pack. X

[kitenski]

My cardiologist said some alcohol is fine, if its something you enjoy, doesn't make things worse then IMHO life is short enough as it is without starting to live like a monk.

[Thomas45]

I'd be more worried about the effects of the "Big family Christmas dinner" than that of a glass of wine .Be very careful about not eating a big meal which can exacerbate your AF.

Alcohol was never a trigger for me, but I now don't drink much. This year I've only had one bottle of wine and half a bottle of spiced rum, and I've bought a bottle of wine for Christmas, but it will last me weeks as these days I only sip it.

[TopBiscuit]

Hi David - I am definitely one that enjoys the odd tipple myself so you have my full sympathy! I know the alcohol is a definite trigger for me but I've found that I can have one drink with no problem as long as it's on a full stomach, ie following a meal. Unfortunately I had to test this theory out the other day, it being Christmas 'n all and a bottle of Bailey's in the cupboard (which I only drink at Christmas).

Unfortunately my 'stop' button wasn't working and several glasses of Bailey's later....yep...here we go...AF strikes again 😑

I was about to say that one glass with food in your stomach can't do any harm....but I rewatched this excellent video that I recently posted that is a very thorough look at AFib including a lot of relevant studies and I was dismayed to see him sum up the section on alcohol by saying that a study looking into the effects of alcohol on AFib found that "those randomly assigned to abstinence [in the study] exhibited a substantially reduced risk of re-occurrence." Boo!

In your case, since you're already in AFib that may not be relevant to your question.

Here is the video in case you'd like to check it out. He talks about alcohol specifically at 1:04:48.

youtu.be/8OpM4W73vvk?si=rxz...(Not working as expected?)

Whatever you decide, I hope you have a very lovely Christmas (I won't say 'merry' because...well....you know..)

Helen

[mjames1]

If your doctor clears you for a few drinks, go for it! You're in afib already and Jean's story has some merit. Sugar and caffeine were some of my afib triggers, but some sweets and a strong cup of coffee also got me out of afib more than once, i.e. what puts you in afib can get you out of afib. And even if it doesn't, you will enjoy the drink

Jim

[kkatz]

Believe me I understand how you feel.1 year after ablation I thought I might loosen up on my abstinence from alcohol by having the odd glass of wine (maybe 4 or 5 in a month).Then off to Portugal for a month.People virtually drink more wine then water in the Algarve. Having wine with a meal maybe 2 small glasses is a must and I was pleased our local restaurant didn't offer us our usual complimentary brandy.Ist night felt really dizzy with one sip of wine so went on water.

Subsequent meals bought water with the meal & drank 1 small glass wine.

The last meal we had before they closed for Christmas I also had a brandy.

Palps & arrythmia for 2 days but not in AF.

I Went to our Portuguese bowls club Xmas bowling match & meal afterwards and although I missed the mulled wine strengthened with spirits

and my brandy I drank water all the time. I want to stay in NSR.

If I was still on my long waiting list for ablation I would have risked it thinking a visit to A&E could move me up the list.But you could ruin everyone else's Christmas.

Your decision!