After a heavy night drinking and a lot of food, I woke up with my heart rate at 90-150bpm. I went to the hospital and after 2 hours it calmed down without treatment, they put me on a heart monitor and few hours later, after a drip, they said i could go but said I have Afib.
The doctor didnt seem too concerned but said I need to reduce my alcohol and see a cardiologist.
Im currently working away and I'm due to fly back next week, my appointment is 2 months away.
However, I've been given no real information, looking on the internet the condition seems like a real nightmare. Can anyone offer any light?
I'm only 28. I've suffered from anxiety for a few years, been to A&E a few times but my ECG has always been fine, have suffered from palpitations for a few years.
Thanks
Andy
Sounds like holiday heart. Im sure you'll get several answers from the people on this website. good luck!
Andy, you need to be treated to my sad (not really) tale: I am an olympic class drinker (on furlough since 1999) who frequently experienced a chestful of hammering heart in the middle of post drunk sleep. One time, when I was a little older than you, the aberation continued into the next day prompting me to go see a doctor who said it was "holiday heart". Thereafter I had occasional episodes (the doc word is paroxysmal atrial fibrillation) with decreasing intervals starting with months and ending with days. I began spending more time with cardiologists (it's my HEART, for God's sake) being treated with a succession of unsuccessful drugs and continuing the inexorable path to chronicity (afib all the time). I even had a right-sided ablation, also unsuccessful, and was constantly on warfarin, a blood thinner which is intended to reduce the risk of stroke attendant the fibrillation induced inefficiency of the atria causing little clots to form in the left atrial appendage, migrate to the brain and cause much mischief. After, what?, forty years since my first experience with this ratty condition, I am now on warfarin and control my level of anticoagulation through self testing. I am 78 years old and live a marvelous life. My wife and I take yearly (so far) bicycling vacations (cargo shorts, not spandex), exercise vigorously and regularly, and plan, with the concurrence of cardiologists, to live long enough and actively enough to spend the major part of our childrens' inheritance. Bad news for them, good news for you. This disease is rotten, intrusive, worrisome and a general pain, but absent a stroke it probably will not kill you. You will live to your use-by date and to the extent you can do so, you should not give this foul condition the dignity of letting it interrupt your joy any more than is absolutely necessary. I quit drinking, probably a good idea, and I also quit caffeine, but I didn't last on that one. Thin blood, moderate exercise and lots of sex. I made that last one up, but I think I'm right. Be well, Andy.
If you end up with AF and on all the drugs it isn't much fun so that is best avoided unless necessary. I would treat this event as a one off and hopefully not repeated event. The cardiologist will reassess in 2 months and it sounds like me a good idea to see if it is all now settled. You don't want to go on all the drugs unless you need to. AF is a bit of a random problem but the number of people on this site who mention heavy drinking and lot of food being a trigger is amazing. Our bodies do the best they can all the time but sometimes they are overloaded and they shout out loud and clear to you. I'd follow the advise you are given reduce the alchohol and don't eat heavy late meals. You talk about anxiety and I would also look at getting some help with that. If you start getting anxious about AF then you won't help the situation. I'd be mindful of what has happened but try and forget it until you see the cariologist. I'd also leave looking up on Internet unless you have repeat events in future. It's a warning and you know what not to do. Good Luck.
Andy,
you have had a couple of good replies. I too was a world clas drinker. I don't like taking all the drugs so am trying to change lifestyle. Eat sensibly, take plenty of excercise and, moderate alcohol. I find I am able to take a couple of beers or share a bottle of wine with my wife but not everyday.
reg
Potassium and magnesiumm are key ions needed for a healthy heart rythm. When you drink too much alcohol you are p*ssing out a lot of the potassium and magnesium and the result is "holiday heart" which has killed thousands and is a cause of aifb. You probably have a lousy daily diet also, so you should ditch the sugar and focus on nuts and grains. Excess alcohol, sugar and caffeine along with stress cause potassium and magnesium levels to decrease. Everything in moderation, but as you get oplder, those deficiencies accumulate.
Frank
No need to get into a stressed situation, one can live with AF for years with no problems. Episodes will self terminate. Stop what youre doing if it occurs again and try and go to sleep.
Looks like your AF trigger is alcohol so moderate your intake, or don't drink alcohol at all till you return. There are different triggers to AF - Caffeine, chocolate..we are all different, so try and take note of your intake if you have any more irregular/ fast heart beats. 150 over 90 is not a real problem..... Do you have a heart monitor?
2 months does not sound too bad really but if you have an episode of fast heart beat (over 160) that goes on for hours go to your GP who can refer you to a rapid access cardiology clinic (ie immediatly).
Paroxysmal AF is a pain to identify as it has to appear at the precise time you wear a Holter monitor (what they use to check your heart beat over 24 hrs).No garantee you'll have an episode on the precise day. Bring back the ECT output from the hospital you attended if you can..will save time here
Hi Andrew, Hanover's pretty much nailed it. Looking back, I had palpitations for years and ingnored them. I also suspect that I had paroxysmal AF for years and ignored that too. The end result of sticking my head in the sand was a tachycardia induced cardiomyopathy (a severely enlarged left ventricle that wouldn't pump very well) and persistent AF.
This is your body's way of telling you that it's had enough of overindulgence and it's time to start looking after it.
I'd advise googling AF risk factors and see how many of these apply to you and address the ones that are addressable.
Greatly reducing alcohol, losing weight/eating well, and regular moderate exercise will go a long way toward coping with AF.
I also had severe sleep apnoea, which also places extra strain on your heart, so maybe a sleep study would also help?
I now use a CPAP machine and can't believe how much better I feel for getting a good nights sleep!
It's not the end of the world, but you'll need to make some significant lifestyle adjustments, then all should be fine.
Good luck with it
Hi Okapis,
Thanks for the response. My resting heart rate is usually around 50-60bpm, so I thought 140 was quite high. I have an app on my phone that measures my heart rate.
Thanks
Andy
Hi Reg,
Thanks for your response. Ill have to do my best to change my lifestyle but I was quite a heavy drinker and I'm having a hard time imaging that ill have to cut it out!
Haha that was a great response! Glad to hear your leading such an active life. I've done quite a few decathlons on the drink over the years so I guess its caught up with me. One of my main worries is that they describe it as progressive and I'm so young!
Yeah the internet makes things sound very gloomy.
Hopefully everything will be fine and ill try and not stress.
Thanks for the response Kate!
Hi Andrew,
Best get good advice. Whether or not you are in Britain get onto the Atrial Fibrillation Association website and devour its content - including abiout an EP (Electrophyisiologist) near you - thats a specialist Cardiologist to deals in the hearts electrical circuits. The heart has two main bits - mechanical and electrical - bit like a car engine. Engine stops - car stops. Your heart - it stops - you stop. An EP is what you want. also read up on the vagal nerve - a main nerve which controls a number of organs - but especially the heart and digestive system.
I had palpitations for a year or so then right out of left field came AF - bang. Anxiety/stress is a good cause - booze and food can be in many sufferers dead cert triggers. sorry mate - cut out the booze - now ! Watch what you eat and see if any particular foods cause any digestive issues - if so give them away. Calm the digestive system and you calm the heart ! I've done it and haven't had any AF since April 2015.
Yes it can be a nightmare - if you let it.
By the way, I was 65 when diagnosed, am 72 now, I hold a PCV (bus licence) I still work 30 to 40 hours a week bus driving AND I still pass my DVLA medical each year. I am active and often get out on the rugged and sometimes torturous Cornish South West Coastal Path - no problems.
You make it what you want mate.
BUT - get to an EP not an ordinary cardiologist !
Cheer up, not the end of the world - just bloody seems that way.
John
Yes my brother who also had a A Fib and sleep apnoea used a CPAP machine for years! Alas his heart neglect got him in another way and he is no more
Dont think youre at the EP ( electrophysiologist ) stage yet, Andrew! These are the people who map out where the electrical misfiring in the heart causing arythmias prior to a catheter abalation. I went 30 years before getting to that stage but it does depend on how severe the arrythmia (aah never can spell that word!) is. ie how disabling for how long. The important thing is not to allow yourself to go into permanent AF which does not respond so well to abalation.
I operated a pill in the pocket strategy with flecainide for many years which avoided continuous pill taking. It was only when the maximum dose became ineffective that I went for a catheter ablation. Ugh..My life was on hold for 2 yrs plus as I had three ablations with sepsis after one of them. Bad luck that! 11 days in a cardiology ward undid the second ablation...
The first line of defence will be probably to put you on Beta Blockers (avoid atenelol) but you amy not need that if you go back to sinus rhythm easily after felcainide.
Blood pressure varies all the time depending on what youre doing so expect it to rise and fall. The important thing is not to continue doing anything strenuous through an episode.
Not sure your app is doing its job properly! The ideal BP is 120/70 but it will go up and done depending on physical activity and stress. Search Blood Pressure in this site..
Andrew,
Interesting. Why avoid Atenolol?
reg
Atenelol has a number of unpleasant side effects including making psoriasis and PsA worse!
Im currently having small palpitations, but it may be because I'm hooked to the internet reading about this! Is that normal?
Also if I improve my diet (not overweight but eat rubbish!) and massively reduce my alcohol, I shouldnt expect a flair up and could possibly get by without tablets for a while?
Well I guess while there are no guarantees, it's probably reasonable to suggest that every risk factor/trigger you address increases your chances of staying in rhythm.
Alcohol does seem to be one of the big triggers though. Since having my ablation(back in April last year- first one so far), my EP has strongly emphasised the importance of consuming less than three standard drinks per week (which is just about impossible! )
I'm starting to think that total abstinence might actually be easier!!😦