@diane987654321, you don't mention your age or your CHADS score, or how long your afib episodes last.

I have had mostly once/year episodes since 2015 so the scenario is a little different. It has not progressed knock on wood. My episodes always involve heart rate around 190-200 with big fish flopping around, feeling faint, chest pressure etc. Until the last one I go by ambulance but the last time I drove myself and I am going to try staying home if my bp is okay. My bp is naturally low so I am hard to treat, hence the hospital where they can do IV hydration.

I take magnesium (600mg) at night and drink 8oz. low sodium V-8 which is high in potassium. And take calcium for bones. I declined blood thinners 10 years ago and finally got Eliquis for "pill in a pocket" if an episode goes on too long (>5 hours I guess), which I have not used, and have pill in a pocket diltiazem.

Eating a big meal with a fizzy drink like beer, then reclining, would trigger afib for me right now if I did it. Over time we learn some things to avoid. I do not eat after 5 or 6 and don't recline. Also avoid carbonated drinks later in the day. I actually aborted an episode within seconds by sitting up straight with food still in my tummy!

I did these things partly thanks to afibbers.org which @gloaming posts on (he knows his stuff!). Last year I bought "The Afib Cure"- a great book- one of the authors, John Day MD, also has a website, blog and newsletter. You might be able to at least mitigate if not cure. I would say that is the spirit of the book despite the title.

COVID messed with my heart too. So did Paxlovid. I am unusually scared of COVID! I landed in the ER twice and then the hospital with steady runs of PVC's if I moved. Oddly I was fine in bed. It doesn't seem to have worsened my overall picture the way it has for you and I am sorry you are dealing with this!

ps @gloaming I seem to remember one type of afib is worsened by beta blockers. Was it vagal or adrenal?