Good morning, catmom, Wow! You've been through an ordeal and a half! Who knew that simply drinking too much water could affect one's health to that degree?! I have seen football players writhing on the ground during a game due to dehydration. And I just read that those same athletes must not drink too much water to recover or they can be in the state you were in. I never thought it could lead to someone being hospitalized.
Can you tell me how much you drank in a day? I am asking because I suffer from recurrent bladder infections (31 rounds of antibiotics in 2 years 3 months..which is my medical crisis) and I try to drink as much as possible. I drink 6 or 7 glasses of water per day and I feel like I spend a lot of time drinking. I guess feeling symptoms as much as you did would be an indication.
Now that that has passed, try to put it all behind you and move on as soon as possible. A wise Russian woman told me a few years ago that in her country when someone is suffering from distress, he or she should walk in nature near running water. Listen to your favourite music, visit your baby grandson, pat your cats, go out for dinner with a friend, sing, dance etc..

I take Eloquis and the only side effect I have is bruising. But I'm taking Brilinta also, two blood thinners.

My heart doctor said I had Afib and put me on Multaq even though I had CKD (about 40% of my kidneys). Within a week I had an appt. with my GYN doctor and she did a blood test. They found that my kidney function was down to 23%!!!! I stopped the Multaq right away and they said my kidney function should go back up. Last time I had it checked it was only 28%. I have had another test done but don't have the results yet. The doctor has me on Eliquis (2.5mg. twice a day and I haven't had any bad results from it. Just a warning-if you have CKD think twice before taking Multag.

...and tell some doctor that you are taking thyroid medication.

Wow catmom777; no more wine? no more coffee? I suspect if you search enough you should find just as many studies calling that BS!

Of course we are all individuals with individual metabolisms. So there are likely people who cafein or alcohol will effect in a negative way and maybe cause more AFIB. Just like some people I know who drank 2 CASES of beer EVERYDAY for 40 years and NEVER had any liver problems! Different stroke for different folks

Personally I went thru this same phase you are at now, after my valve replacement and being put on blood thinners. I researched it - why bother if I cannot have my beloved beer? Well, MY research showed that alcohol is NOT a big bad thing. I asked my cardiologist and on two different visits his various super nurses: ALL said no problem to alcohol. I said what about 3-4 beers a day? Answer: no problem. Based on my experience now since Nov. 2018 open heart surgery, they are correct.

I'm too scared to drink any more alcohol. I used to love margueritas too. There are some real good ones here in real Mexican restaurants. I suspect that at family reunions I'll have a sip or two of wine. Some people in my family are big wine drinkers, and they do fine. They drink a lot more than I do and have never had any issues. I suspect though that the real reason for my afib is lung issues. My lungs have been through the wringer. My dad was a smoker and so were most of his friends so I grew up in a cloud of smoke. Then I lived with smokers on & off, and battled occasional long bouts with bronchitis, and then four years ago I got bad smoke inhalation. I thought I got over that but a year ago got sick and got bronchitis again and have been coughing on & off since. I have a smoker's cough. Also, I think I might have sleep apnea. This morning I had just woken up and suddenly was gasping for breath. That happens every now & then, not frequent that wakes me up, but I wonder if I quit breathing in the middle of the night sometimes. A few days ago I woke up at about 3:15 am with my heart pounding. My heart rate was 152 and it kept going up. Finally when it reached 181 bpm I called the paramedics. They came and sat with me until my heart rate went down to between 80 - 110 because I didn't want to go back to the ER for the 5th time in three weeks. It's a puzzle. Hopefully the cardiologist will help me figure it out.

I doubt that it is the Eliquis - I've been on it for some time, and have suffered from dizziness too, but the dizziness was due to low blood pressure and/or poor hydration. I have been careful to drink more water. Good luck.