This may sound silly but did someone make a post about M&S low fat drinking chocolate as a trigger to A/F. The reason I ask is that I had a mug fall just before bed and spent the night and following morning in A/F and as I have a pacemaker and take heart meds this was unusual for me. I did read a post about this happening to another hence my enquiry........or did I dream it!!!
Triggers: This may sound silly but did... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Triggers
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opal11uk
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BobDVolunteer
Dosn't ring a bell but no doubt there are artificial sweetners in it which are a no no for AF people. (Most people in fact if they have any sense).
Thanks for your reply Bob, it could just have been a one off but as no other factors were involved it was my conclusion that the wonderful cup of drinking chocolate I had at so few S/W points, I had hit on a winner.....but maybe not lol
Possibly the ‘just before bed’ had something to do with it? There seems to be a consensus that it’s best to go to bed with an empty stomach but of course if you’ve been having a mug full of something at bedtime for years you can ignore that!
I loved your post lol. Yes, I used to have a mug of Ovaltime Light Chocolate every night with no ill effect but for some reason I stopped, cant remember why so saw the M&S and thought id like to try it. I had a few mugs during the day with no problem so decided to have one before bed and of course now wondering if my sleepless night was the outcome, anyway will take it during the day if I have any more. Thank you for your reply x. ps tried to read the ingredients but they are in French mmmmmm makes me wonder lol
Post them in a reply to this and I'll give you a translation.
Thank you, one of our group has kindly translated for me x
Seems from your post that you also had a number of these drinks during the day. There is caffeine in chocolate so maybe a build up. I cannot drink anything with caffeine after 1,00pm or I will have trouble sleeping. Try drinking it just in the morning.
Yes, thought the same, thank you Miriam. My regime is normally a latte at breakfast followed around 11 by herbal tea, then at tea time a cup of tea and nothing else for the rest of the day but them I exchanged the herbal tea for chocolate and on the day in question only had the 1 but at night. Rest of the day I drink water to stay hydrated.
Bob, would you mind telling me why artificial sweeteners are a no no for afibbers? I understand alcohol, caffeine, sugar etc., and living my best life. But I do enjoy a caffeine free coke zero at times. Thanks, Mary
Artifical sweetners are not a good idea for anybody Mary. Aspartame for example is so bad in todays world it wouldn't get a license. Years ago my wife got me on it but it made me quite an unpleasant person so she soon went back to sugar. lol 😁 Eventually I just stopped sugar full stop when my annual health check showed was heading for type 2 diebetes and that changed pretty soon . You get used to it.
Hi Bob, thanks for the reply. It's not the teas or coffees I've a problem with. I worked in a huge factory in my late teens to thirties, so getting sugar for tea was a five minute walk out of a ten minute break. I agree, I'd never go back to using it. But that coke zero is just delicious for no calories. I'll just have to try harder to not have it. I was stewing some Bramley apples today to have with yogurt and normally because I'm dieting (diet as recommended by my EP) I'd add sucralose, today I added organic honey. Better choices will hopefully help. Nearly two stone down, thank god. And hopefully it will stay going in the right direction. Thanks, Mary
It was me, cant remember now but think it has artificial sweeteners in it. Was a box of sachets of choc powder to make a hot choc. drink that a friend had told me was lovely.
Jean
Being chocolate there is probably a certain amount of caffeine and bromine in there. Maybe that could have triggered it? According to various websites a 250ml cup of hot chocolate has about 9mg of caffeine, rather more than an 250ml cup of brewed coffee which has has 8mg caffeine.
There was no doubt a hefty dose of sugar and/or sweetener in it. Hot chocolate is usually very sweet. You said you had 'a few mugs' of it during the day so your body was possibly reacting to sugar overload?....
I think I read this post but only 'eyeballed' it as it didn't worry me. Sorry I can't be of much help. I think it was quite a few days ago now Each person who posts has the hours under their name, i.e. BobD shows up as 14 hours ago. Maybe you could try searching 72 hours ago or similar.
There is a very useful free app called Yuka which enables you to scan the barcode and find out about all the ingredients of most packaged food stuff and toiletries. I have found it really useful and quite an eye-opener. It gives a broadbrush quick answer (e.g. bad, poor, good, excellent,) and also more detailed analysis of the contents: the additives, etc.
That is very useful, thank you x
just googled it and the ingredients are:
Whey Permeate (Milk), Fat Reduced Cocoa Powder (28%), Sugar, Glucose Syrup, Dried Skimmed Milk, Coconut Oil, Thickener: Xanthan Gum, Flavouring, Salt, Sweetener: Sucralose, Stabiliser: E340, 339, Emulsifier: E472e
For me it would have been the Sucralose.
Thank you Frances, I might have known that anything tasting that good, and that I could have whilst trying to slim, would be taboo. I bought it in sachet form, then could not get it locally until M&S started with tins, so I bought two!!! Thanks again x
I found that the supplement 'Ensure' is a trigger for me, and among the ingredients is 'corn syrup' which must be fructose and I do not tolerate fructose at all- the only fruit I can enjoy is a not overly ripe banana.
Caffeine I reckon.
Bless you. I don't even think the normal triggers 'work' I'm currently on holiday... have had a cocktail every night.. just the one.. have sweeteners in my coffee or tea.. have had desserts with chocolate... and so far all is tickety boo. I'm probably not drinking as much fluid as I should so adding a Zero electrolyte tracker tablet just in case I sweat too much.
Everyone's triggers are different.. only way I guess is to have it again another night and see what happens.
Life's too short. Do what makes you happy and doesn't obviously trigger afib I say
Awwww thank you, and I guess at my time of life its a good policy, I have always said life is for living and so far so good. By the sounds of it you are enjoying your holiday so have a cocktail for me x
My PAF has been quite quiet (about 4 times a year) for a long time, but a couple of weeks ago I went to my usual choir rehearsal and started to feel unwell so I went home - when I got back I used my scanwatch to check my heart and I was in AF at 140 - so no wonder I felt ill. It lasted a couple of days. Then the following week I went to choir again and the same thing happened, but it lasted about 4 days. Presumably the adrenalin engendered by this activity is causing the problem - I hardly dare go next week!
Interestingly I had a virus about 6 weeks ago - a pretty mild one - but I have been unwell on and off since then - out of breath and tired, then OK for a few days, then back to feeling awful. I am beginning to wonder if I was going in and out of AF, rather than some sort of post-viral problem.
GP has referred me for a cardiology appointment, and, as it was ging to take 5 months, I have made a private appointment for next week - I just want some sound advice as to what to do when it happens. I can get the rate down with bisoprolol, but the rhythm stays haywire. I need some clear plan, rather than being here on my own and wondering what I should do. I find it hard to deal with now as my doctor husband died 4 years ago and I feel so unwell when it is happening - giddy, out of breath, exhausted.
Any thoughts from anyone? Thanks
Hi, I too belong to a community choir and we always do breathing exercises before we start, the Laughing Policeman being a favourite lol, it opens up the rib cage/diaphram and enables deep breathing and to date has not brought on my A/F but I believe that for some it can. I am pleased you are taking the initiative to see a cardiologist, always best to discuss with him/her and have tests if required. I am so very sorry to hear of your sad loss, life is hard on your own. We are both in our 80's and due to my health I have prepared for the eventuality, equipping my husband with written notes on what to do as don't want him to struggle but in him I have the sounding board that you don't have which enables me to discuss whatever, after 63 years of wedded bliss he is quite used to me babbling on lol but he is ex Royal Army Medical Corps. so he has quite a medical knowledge. I hope that your cardio appointment goes well and that you can get the reassurances you need to move forward. Good luck x
A virus does trigger AF although to contradict that I had COVID end of jan and didn’t have a single episode all week !!!
When I broke my hip and was taken in for an emergency, I was diagnosed with COVID 19, I was amazed as absolutely no symptoms, got a private room so that was nice lol, however it was after this trauma and GA that I became dizzy/breathless and had a cough. Loads of test over several months before they discovered that it was my heart! I had gone into perm.a/f and was diagnosed in heart failure.....thankfully now back in sinus but whether still in heart failure I don't know soooooo, was this down to Covid I wonder????
For my tenpenneth, the ingredients are the same whether you drink it at night or during the day so I would find it strange that it would be ok for one but not the other. Perhaps try it again at night so you know whether it was a one off/coincidence?
These things are known and accepted:
- the stomach and food pipe lie very close to the heart, sometimes pressing against it - all quite naturally.
- even mild natural pressure on the heart muscle can cause it to develop an ectopic beat; this can, in prone individuals, set off AF.
- this means that foods can seem to “trigger“ AF when, much more likely, the act of drinking or eating itself triggered an ectopic beat, through an entirely anatomical and mechanical process, which then set off AF.
That’s the explanation I prefer as I just can’t get my head around the idea that some specific parts of certain foods set off AF.
But I might be wrong. 😊
Steve
I am learning the ANS and our immune systems are closely linked, it just could be that if we come across any viruses or anything the triggers the immune system into action it could also trigger the ANS into action and for some of us that could be also irregular beats and or AF. I am not sure but is does seem reasonable to me. It is why many of us say stress triggers us. To me it makes sense.
Yes, that sounds right to me, too. Stress triggers mine at times, or at least sets off palpitations. These days certain kinds of "confrontation" can do it, even. That's called "adrenergic AF", I believe. I suppose all kinds of other things can set off an emotional response, or, as you say, an immune / inflammatory response and cause similar.
Steve
The first thing I thought of was chocolate, which is a stimulant for me. I don't go into a-fib from it (thank goodness as I'm addicted!) but it would certainly keep me awake if I drank it at night.
I have organic chocolate powder from Holland and Barratt no sugar ..with skimmed milk no problems
Thank you, this I will explore x
It my contain some additives and chemicals.??
Don't know about drinking chocolate, chocolate has Tyramine: which should be avoided if suffering from A-Fib
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