Covid and AFib Connection?

After receiving the new Pfizer Bivalent booster in November, 2022 (the 5th in the series I've received to date) I experienced an episode of what was diagnosed as "new-onset" A-fib (flagged by the Apple watch I was wearing), approximately 2 months after receiving the booster. During the period I was experiencing it, the watch recorded 3 episodes during the course of the day. Not knowing the potential impact or significance of the episodes I went to my Hospital ER, after the 3rd was signaled, where the ER physician confirmed it was A-fib following a 6 hour monitoring period. He described it as being "in-control" in that the upper limit heart rate never exceeded 90 bpm. My cardiologist, who I saw the next day, attributed this to the fact that, as a cardiac patient (heart attack in 2014), I was taking the beta blocker Carvedilol. The ER physician prescribed Eliquis, which I started immediately, to address the potential stroke risk associated with A-fib. My concern, did I experence milder A-fib episodes earlier that my watch or I did not recognize as such, and how many individuals are having them and not reporting them because they don't recognize them for what they are. My other question, as a 77 year old heart patient, should I take the 2023 vaccine booster?

@michael56cc820, that is a very good question to ask your doctor, preferrably your cardiologist. The 2023 vaccine targets a different strain of the COVID virus than was in the original vaccine or in the bivalent vaccines that came out last year. It's still a COVID vaccine, but it's now targeting the XBB.1.5 strain currently circulating. So it isn't a booster in that sense.

While the 2023 vaccine is recommended for your age group, I would talk with your cardiologist first. They are familiar with your recent episode following the 2022 bivalent shot and your complete heart and medical history.

@michael56cc820 did you continue to have afib and are you still having it? Was/is it continuous or episodic?

Thank you for your feedback. I was to see my cardiologist today but he cancelled because of an emergency. I did, however, touch base with my Primary Care Doctor earlier. I mentioned two papers published this year, one in February and the 2nd in June, describing the link between m-Rna vaccines, re. A-fib and other heart arrhythmia's and asked, given the narrow scope/target of the vaccine, i.e. the XBB.1.5 strain that has pretty much run its course in our part of the country, does the risk benefit make sense? He agreed that in my case it was a good question and also recommended I talk to my cardiologist. I would also mention that Yale issued a news release today about the likely cause of these vaccine associated heart arrhythmia's likely being a "cytokine storm" related immune response.

I recently had three episodes but one was before the vaccine and two were right after!

No, in follow-up monitoring sessions with my cardiologist and primary=care doctor they have not detected it. I also continue to wear my Apple watch which flagged it initially. From a symptoms standpoint, but for the day I had the 3 episodes the watch detected, I have had none.

In a similar situation, I declined blood thinners. I wonder if you can come off-?

Because I had 5 stents implanted, my cardiologist felt that DAPT (81 mg/aspirin and Effient) therapy was appropriate in my case. The shift from Effient to Eliquis was deemed necessary because of the stroke risk concern.

I have treated AF. I have had two ablations, one that failed and one that has kept me in sinus for the past nine months. I have had every vaccine and booster offered by my provincial health authority, now a total of six injections. I have had AF after getting injections, and have had AF prior to getting them. There is a tendency to blame unusual events as the precursors or progenitors of undesired events that follow, whether hours, days, weeks, or months afterwards. This is known as the 'post hoc' problem where if something happened after the unusual event, it must be because of that thing that happened. If this were true, the literature would be full of such results by now and we'd have stopped the vaccines like we did Vioxx.

The fact is that people find they have one or more 'triggers' which they swear is a reliable bringer-on of AF. Often they are quite correct as multiple trials show. For some, if you can believe it, it's chocolate. Not coffee, or tea, both of which have caffeine, but just chocolate. Another blames dairy. Another alcohol. If you wish to know if the COVID vaccine or booster send you into AF, it would have to be the trial that has you taking another shot. Or, you could decline the boosters, and maybe you will get COVID and find that the strain brings on AF. It's a crap shoot.

I have Not had the vaccines but have had COVID twice & now have Very mild afib.
Saw cardiologist, he actually reduced my bp med bcuz my heart rate was low. He did put me on eliquis only bcuz I am overweight, therefore putting more pressure on my veins? I have seen my cardiologist 3xs & afib has not changed. I was actually out of afib at my last Drs (not cardioligist) appt.
I do NOT have any symptoms, and even started going to the YMCA.
Blessings & 🙏 to All who deal w afib