Afib and alcohol: Holiday Heart?

Hi, im not sure about afib or alcohol but before my heart transplant i had ventricular tachacardia and at first it was well controlled with a pacemaker and anti arrythmia drugs. Back then i drank probably more than i should and most of my doctor's limited me to 1-2 beers a day. Well 2 problems with that was i would have 2 but very large 2. About 2015 i had a very bad bout with arrythmias my pace maker had to shock me about 8 times over a few hour period befor i got to the hosp and on some stronger drugs to get my Heart back in rythum. Scariest day of my life. Well between my faith in the Lord i gave up drinking. I didn't take the drs serious enough and kept pushing it. Im so glad i did because i truly believe God got my attention and maybe i would not be here. But also i thi k i damaged my heart and 2 years later it finially gave out. Luckily i was eligible for a heart transplant which BTW you can't dri k at all with a transplant. So i figure the Good Lord was preparing me for this period i my life. Im turning 60 next week and i don't think i would be here if for not listening to God and my doctors about alcohol.

I wound up in the ER again last Saturday morning and asked the doctor then too what the relationship was between alcohol and afib. He said that afib can happen to a person who very much abuses alcohol, but in my case, with 1.5 to two glasses a night, he doubted it. Because I felt so horrible, they admitted me. It turns out my sodium level was 127 when the minimum is 136, so they put me on a saline drip all night to get my sodium level back up and to monitor me. They took my blood every six hours. But, I'm scared straight as they say. I have not touched alcohol since 3/7, the night before my initial afib episode from hell. I had another bad night last night with the pounding heart, but got up a few times and my BP was normal. My heart rate got up to 82, which is fast for me. I don't know what that was about. I only have afib incidents at night. Curiously my heart RATE was steady. It was just a pounding and fast heartbeat. I woke up this morning feeling awful again, but took a few Himalayan salt crystals before I ate breakfast and after lunch felt somewhat normal again. I am beginning to wonder though if I'll ever feel NORMAL again. I have brief moments of feeling decent, but most of the time feel a bit out of it. I hope all this equalizes eventually. I blame the Eliquis, but I might never know for sure because the docs say I will probably be on it the rest of my life.
No matter what though. I am so sorry for whatever I did to put me in this spot. I was also diagnosed with osteoporosis right after being diagnosed with afib, so I'm feeling extremely sorry for myself right now. I'm trying not to get depressed, but it's hard. I live alone and don't have many friends here. I feel so sad. I do appreciate all of you though. It helps to hear other peoples' stories. Some of your stories are way worse than mine. Maybe you can tell me though, am I ever going to feel good again?

Wow, you are lucky to be alive!! Did you get a heart transplant? I would think it's hard to get one and that there's a long waiting list. If you got you, you are extremely lucky.

@catmom yes last January 2018. Thanks. My heart condition had gotten to the point iv drugs could not stop the arrythmias. I am thankful for the heart i received life even tho there are rules you have to follow and ill be on anti rejection meds for my who life I still thank God for a new release on life. But also realize im not an expert on afib but i know someone that has it and the problems you deal with are different. I guess there can be issues with cloti g. I mainly want to point out that alcohol is a factor if abused.

I don't know if I'll ever know if my alcohol use caused this. The docs and nurses said no, but I'm very small and older, so I think maybe it did. Nobody in my family has afib so I know it's not genetic. I have been under a LOT of stress in my life thanks to picking the wrong men and the jobs I had, but I haven't been under significant stress for a few years. The thing is that I know several people who drink more wine than I did and they do fine--no problems, so unless my size is a factor, maybe I just drew a bad card and wound up with afib. It really sucks though that there is no going back and that I'll probably be on blood thinners the rest of my life. In two weeks I found out I have two irreversible potentially fatal medical conditions when all these years I thought I was so healthy. I have eaten a Mediterranean diet for almost all my life, did a lot of physical work, walked a lot, hiked, biked, was in shape for decades (not so much now though), so it doesn't make any sense. With the osteoporosis at least I know the culprit--not enough vitamin D, and that makes sense. But with this afib, nothing makes any sense. But, at least we're alive, right? We have something to be thankful for. I know a guy who almost bought the farm with a stroke. He lost his vision, hollered to his GF, and that's all he remembered for five days. It took him over a year to recover enough to function OK and I still don't think he can drive because his vision was compromised, but he's alive.

Hi Catmom, You say, "In two weeks I found out I have two irreversible potentially fatal medical conditions when all these years I thought I was so healthy." Such doom and gloom! Half the population over age 55 has osteoporosis. Not a big deal! You aren't going to die from it. You ARE healthy, cat mom! People would DIE to have your level of health. Nearly no one our age has as healthy a profile as you do. Your BP, pulse, weight, eating habits, past exercise are all AMAZING! I wish I could say the same. And look out there at people around you. They are obese with serious health problems like diabetes and cholesterol, depression and high BP.
Get on a treadmill every day like I did and straighten out your arrhythmia. It took going to the gym every day with 35 minutes on the treadmill to iron out all the wild heart beats. Inside one month I was off the highest does of beta blockers the cardiologist had ever given to a patient. That nasty Eloquis will probably prevent you from exercising however, because of the side effects of weakness. Maybe wait to see the cardiologist to get it sorted out and get permission to exercise. It was the CURE for me and my 21 months of severe atrial fibrillation. Cheer up! You're going to be fine.

I would get OFF that horrible Eliquis ASAP. So often the cure is worse than the disease.
Do you take any drug or stimulant at night that could be causing the pounding heart? How many minutes of the night do you experience the pounding heart? Is it like the occasional bump or is it continuous? How long do the episodes last?
Btw 82 is a perfect heart rate for any size person, believe me. Is it steady?
I presume you are off the wine.
Speak to your pharmacist about the dose. I'll bet a 220 pound man is given the same dose you are taking. If so, you know you can cut the dose. Talk to the pharmacist about it.

Hi @catmom777,

You’re quite correct that many health experts believe there is a connection between alcohol or caffeine, and A-fib. However, there are many other possible triggers that may work alone or together to cause A-fib, and it is also difficult to work out how much coffee or alcohol could trigger an episode. This makes it difficult to isolate a specific cause.

There actually is a specific form of A-fib known as holiday heart syndrome (HHS) – as you mentioned. HHS is the sudden appearance of A-fib in individuals who are otherwise healthy, but who recently took part in excessive drinking. Researchers noticed that HHS is more frequent after weekends and holidays linked with increased alcohol use, which is how HHS got its name. https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/155050-overview
Studies have also found a connection between A-fib and chronic alcohol use., but no link was found for moderate drinkers. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3998158/

Here’s some information from Mayo Clinic, which I hope will help:

Abnormalities or damage to the heart's structure are the most common cause of atrial fibrillation. Possible causes of atrial fibrillation include:

High blood pressure
Heart attacks
Coronary artery disease
Abnormal heart valves
Heart defects you're born with (congenital)
An overactive thyroid gland or other metabolic imbalance
Exposure to stimulants, such as medications, caffeine, tobacco or alcohol
Sick sinus syndrome — improper functioning of the heart's natural pacemaker
Lung diseases
Previous heart surgery
Viral infections
Stress due to pneumonia, surgery or other illnesses
Sleep apnea
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atrial-fibrillation/symptoms-causes/syc-20350624

There are two different doses of Eliquis that I am aware of-2.5 mg and 5 mg. The doctor had me on the 5 but changed it to the 2.5. I weigh 138 and am 5' 1" tall. I don't seem to have any trouble with the Eliquis.

I think I'm on too high a dose. I will be making an appointment with the cardiologist probably today (it takes 5 weeks min to get in though) and will ask if I can get a lower dose. I hardly ever have afib incidents too. Maybe one a week now.