hi all. Little fed up today. Had my 2nd ablation 4th Sept. No af episodes for over a month
Went to a Xmas do yesterday and had a small glass of red wine 🍷 with my dinner. BANG straight into af. Luckily had 200mg flecanide with me. Stopped in 2 hours.
fingers crossed 🤞🏼 it’s a blip. As it’s only 3n half months
Last weekend I had 2 pints of beer with a meal and was fine
Happy Xmas 🎄 all
At least you know what (not) to do now.
Yep. Agreed bob. Just worried now af pathways have been formed / found. That’s it ??
I had a couple of episodes ( 1 from dehydration, one from abruptly stopping flecanide in the blanking period on GP 'advice)All OK since. Try not to worry and let things settle down again. At least you know the trigger!
All the best Len x
You all ok now ? Suppose 14 weeks after my ablation still fairly early days ???
Well,Proff kept me on flecanide after the episodes cos they were quite lengthy. No flutter at all though just AF.( just lol!)Watch this space in April,they will take me off and see what happens. Might need a top up ...wait and see!I'm fine. Best wishes Len yes in the scheme of things still early days xx
It could be that your beer had a lower level of sulphides than the red wine - which is known to contain enough to cause heart palpitations. Hopefully, just a small blip.
strange. Literally 2 mouthfuls of red and I could feel af coming on.
Sounds to me it was more like excitement than the 2 mouthfuls of wine. It's also worth thinking about what you'd been doing earlier that day or week - lots of rushing around, stress etc? I used to find mine kicked off just as I was relaxing after a period of stress. I had an AF episode right at the end of my blanking period in 2022. Nothing detectable since, so take it easy and try not to worry.
I had been work then the gym.
Just thought the 2nd so called “successful ablation “ would enable me to try and enjoy the odd glass of decent red. 3month blanking period?
Fingers crossed it was just a blip! We can only ever do our best so don’t beat yourself up. Forget those old rogue cells, support your good strong NSR pathways and enjoy a trouble free Christmas.
I think red wine is high in Tyramine. It can be a trigger for me as well. Also aged cheeses, too much beer and fermented foods. I have a theory that these things are OK in small amounts but too many together and bam. Last Xmas at friend's BBQ. Had beer, red meat and sweet deserts. Two later the cheese came out. Had one small piece and I could feel it immediately. Same sometimes with red. Feel it almost immediately but then other times no reaction. Afib is just too much fun.
Any red wines about with no sulphates ?
Jean did some research couple of years back think M n S ,Waitrose and Sainsburys do
Yes, there are lots of them, many of them organic wines. Do a quick google search.
I am in the camp that has faith in trial and error eg stop the red wine and see what happens next.
Regular red wine drinker but usually only with dinner. The only time I recall it setting off AF was when I decided to have a glass while waiting for dinner, no other trigger obvious. Since then have been careful not to drink on empty stomach. No problem since, relative to this.
I expect it just might have been the alcohol, but I have no problems and neither do the three others I know with AF. We are all different, and the occasion itself will have been unique. I think these things are more likely to be physical triggers whereby the diaphragm or oesophagus is brought, through swallowing and eating (or IBS / constipation) naturally to press against the heart and spark off ectopic beats, with those then triggering AF.
Steve
I am 6 months post ablation
After three months I could have a drink, as I’m allergic to sulfa I avoid red wine
My EP told me only one drink
Red, white wine, bubbles clear spirits
He is not a fan of beer or any sweet drink, like Baileys I guess increase inflammation associated with sugar
I drink one drink, then a mocktail or a NA IPA
I used to love a spicy margarita but that’s 33 percent proof like whisky,
So now vodka or gin or bubbles which are all about 12 percent
I saw him recently, I’m still on Eliquis until January.
I am happy to be able to have the one, I drink about four glasses of water and keep hydrated
That seems a lot of Flecainide to take as a PIP. When it was first prescribed for me it was 100mg and episodes always ended in a couple of hours.
I was once told by a cardio to take 300 mg at one time! and I innocently did so--sent me into a horrible 24/7 cascade of ectopics for 4-5 days... nightmare. I later learned that 150 mg PIP ends my AF episodes in 2-3 hrs. Sometimes I wish all cardiologists could experience AF for awhile, because they often seem to be groping in the dark when it comes to dosages and side effects, & we're the guinea pigs. Maybe you know of Dr. John Mandrola, who is an EP who has AF (maybe controlled now) and always has such a balanced view of AF research studies, treatments, & meds. I think he's worth following for that reason alone. Cheers, Diane
Hi, Di! I have just replied to another one of those by email, about an article she found on Omeprazole in the Times. I am quite amazed the cardiologist prescribed the maximum dose as a PIP for you but then he wasn’t an EP so not an expert on the electrical functioning of the heart! And he doesn’t seem to have read the information about the drug that comes in the packet either!! 100mg taken as a PIP was what was first prescribed for me after I saw a lovely EP and had sent him a copy of a reading of an episode of AF of mine after he’d introduced me to having a Kardia and a smart phone thus changing my life considerably! Now I take 100mg twice daily it has virtually put an end to episodes and I can still take an extra pill on the very rare occasions I do like when I must have caught covid. Do you play the harp?
Hi, Von--I just do PIP now, and I've considered going to daily, but figure if 150 works well, I'll just stick w/ that. We're holding daily dosing in reserve bec. I began to get numbness in feet/legs & the neuro says "It's flec", but the EP and cardio say "No way". Battle still unresolved! (Yes, I'm a research dr. in the area of Vibration Med./symptom managemt, but I have a side career as a professional harpist. Actually, patterning certain vibrations of the harp can regularize AF, esp. vagal, and I still use my own recorded protocol to stop episodes... the 8th cranial nerve knows what to do 
with harp vibrations. I work mainly in psych & end of life care. ) Blessings of Christmas-- Diane
I had an successful ablation (rf pulmonary vein isolation) 5 years ago, & have had the occasional red wine (max around 2 - 3 glasses a week) since & it’s never affected me. Then a few weeks before my 5th ablation anniversary I had a glass of bay leaf tea just before going out for the daily walk and almost immediately went into af & have been in it ever since! Whether that triggered it or not who knows? Weird & extremely annoying. I’m waiting to be referred to the cardiologist…….
We all want to know our triggers and it’s the first thing we think of when AF kicks in. There will be plenty of coincidences to consider but will we ever be 100% certain of triggers and coincidences? The brave would try the same thing again and see if it happens again. I have an unproven theory that the emotions involved in excitement and relaxation may be more to blame than what you’ve ingested and again the anxiety of “I shouldn’t have another one now” may be more of a trigger.
Maybe wishful thinking on my part and I will be alcohol free this Christmas and at least until I’m out of my blanking period so maybe Easter if I feel brave enough.
Happy Christmas all….. Cheers 🚰
Cheers when did you have the ablation?
I did have 1 glass of white last night and no issues. So maybe the red wine caused it
I had a cryo on 7th December, my first one for PAF 🤞. Had an episode on day 6 for 16hrs and self reverted in my sleep.
Edit: Sorry, I replied to the main post instead of your reply.
Whilst it is still early days and could be just blanking period sorry but alcohol not good.I spoke to arrythmia nurse recently while away on holiday and he said "Alcohol is the surest way to undo all our hard work"
I have been a big drinker all my life.
North east lass from a family of drinkers.So I know it is hard.
A couple of small glasses of wine & brandy on hols and in arrythmia for over 24 hours.Not AF but enough to scare me and I am10 months post ablation.
Maybe a combination of work, gym then Christmas celebration instead of home to rest?
AF and Tired 
AF returns
AF and IBS
