Posted , 13 users are following.
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
0 likes, 39 replies
suzanne48640 andrew45288
Posted
Sounds like holiday heart. Im sure you'll get several answers from the people on this website. good luck!
hhanover andrew45288
Posted
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.
andrew45288 hhanover
Posted
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!
julie7525 hhanover
Posted
kate07761 andrew45288
Posted
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.
andrew45288 kate07761
Posted
Hopefully everything will be fine and ill try and not stress.
Thanks for the response Kate!
reginald86759 andrew45288
Posted
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
andrew45288 reginald86759
Posted
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!
frank61666 andrew45288
Posted
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
Tennessee frank61666
Posted
frank61666 Tennessee
Posted
For potassium, that has to come primarily through foods, like nuts and seeds and bananas are a great source.
Its as much as avoiiding alcohol and sugar as it is taking the supplements.
Frank
pauline31919 frank61666
Posted
Funnily enough once after I'd eaten a banana I had an AF blip, but only for a short while,so I'm very wary of them now! I worry about taking any supplements with my medication, but have heard a lot about magnesium, what's your advice on meds? Good luck everyone ??
frank61666 pauline31919
Posted
Magnesium in its own is a blood thinner because it competes with calcium which many blood thinners also do. I do not offer meds advice except in this case if someone is on a blood thinner they should stay away from magnesium until they get cleared by their physician. Too much of a good thing could lead to a disaster.
pauline31919 frank61666
Posted
frank61666 pauline31919
Posted
I can't make any comment on that - nutritionists are not all created equal. Dabigatron is an anticoagulant to prevent finbrinogen conversion to fibrin clots and that is a calcium-dependent process that magnesium also would inhibit, so be careful without being monitored by a qualified healthcare specialist. Many nutricianists are that, but....
Frank
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