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DiscussionLiving with Atrial Fibrillation: What are Your Experiences?
Heart Rhythm Conditions | Last Active: Jun 23, 2025 | Replies (166)Comment receiving replies
Replies to "@marybird, the various terms used may differ from provider to provider or even by the same..."
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Thanks for your reply. I've never been able to determine a particular trigger among commonly encountered items like food, drink, caffeine, other items people mention as triggers for them. I do tend to stay away from alcohol as more than a small amount could (but not always) bring about an A-fib attack. I have a long history of SVT- well before any A-fib and learned early on in my life to avoid energy drinks or supplements as definite triggers for tachycardia, and THC containing gummies are definite no-no's for me as I imagine marijuana would be as well.
I think sometimes the surge of adrenalin associated with strong emotion, could be joy, sorrow, anger, excitement, take your pick, will bring on an A-fib attack for me- might be associated with a rise in blood pressure at these times, I've had high blood pressure since I was a young woman ( tends to run in our family) though it's controlled most of the time. These days a a viral illness tends to bring on A-fib for me too. Most of the time though, the A-fib seems to come and go randomly, most often it lasts no more than a minute.
I do take Eliquis, as my CHAD2vasc score is 4, and we also have a family history of strokes. I take metoprolol tartrate, 150 mg/day, to control my heart rate, and it does a pretty good job I think.
As I think I'd mentioned previously, my cardiologist knows exactly how often and how long my A-fib attacks are from my pacemaker remote monitoring reports ( quarterly and alerts when a preset limit for an event is exceeded), and it's entirely possible that there is more breakthrough in the "atrial high rate events" ( ie A-fib, SVT) with this doseage of metoprolol. The time may be coming that the metoprolol won't be as effective as it had been for controlling these events, though my cardiologist says he is reluctant right now to increase the metoprolol to cover this breakthrough. He says that is because over time the metoprolol loses its effectiveness and ever increasing doses are needed to work. So he's instructed me to take an extra 25-50 mg tablet for a tachycardic event that doesn't seem to be stopping within the minute or two as they have been. Overall, this works for me.