Heart Rhythm Conditions – Welcome to the group

Since paroxysmal tachycardia started in my late teens and at that time, I had never touched caffeine not even cokes. I don’t consider that much of a trigger. The two major episodes I had recently started while I was bending over such as putting on shoes or picking up sticks. The heart got a little too squeezed, I’m not about to give up my one cup of coffee in the morning. I am wondering if there could be deep seated unknown concerns in my subconscious regarding the Concerns about my beloved, who is dealing with a rare blood cancer.
Yes we are very complicated beings,- mind, body, spirit, and our whole being needs to be attended to holistically.
I’m trying my best. thank you all for sharing.

I haven't had any caffeine in 40 years so it is not a trigger for my afib, as I wrote before. It seems to be a standard recommendation by doctors to avoid caffeine so thank you lindy9 for adding to the discussion.

I do magnesium at night, calcium twice a day, and drink low sodium V-8 for potassium. I avoid lying on my right side, don't eat after 5 or 6, and don't recline after eating. I have spinal fractures which have rearranged my insides and things like lifting (moving diaphragm up), eating a big meal and stress (one time an alarm in the middle of the night) seem to be my triggers.

We are all different. It is, I think, important to at least try to identify triggers though our hearts aren't always easy to control. Overall I think things are more complex than doing or avoiding just one thing for most of us.

I haven't seen any convincing evidence that caffeine is going to be a trigger for people. In fact, the evidence is that caffeine enhances heart function, although not six cups of it a day, or a single Mountain Dew. It wasn't caffeine that set me off...if was being in the middle of a mid-morning run. I still have a light-caffeine pot of tea each morning to start hydrating, and then have a pretty decent sized coffee, full test, mid-afternoon with the missus. My heart rate does increase, but it doesn't come close to setting off PACs or AF.

With that comment aside, I do support a methodical exploration of what could be one's triggers, and that would clearly have to include trials of caffeine-free and caffeine-loading days, probably two or three days apart as a minimum to clear out all residues and to let the heart stabilize. Also would be tests for magnesium supplementation, calcium, and potassium supplementation, exercise, the kinds of foods that reliably disagree with the person, etc. If the AF seems to be only loosely associated, or not at all, then it's something other than what you're trialing.

I am only 75 next to your 84, but you think like I do. I would do without. If you are drinking or eating ANYTHING that contains caffeine in it, such as coffee, chocolate, colas, mountain dew, eliminate completely and let me know what happens.

All this information is very helpful and I will now seek out the advice of a electrophysiologist. Makes a good sense.
thank you so much for your prompt reply.

It depends on: frequency, duration, and the actual rate. Oh, and how much it impacts your well-being as well.

a. If you are frequently experiencing SVT, it can seriously impact your sense of ease and well-being. It can interfere with proper rest, or even cause you to want to stop going for walks or cycling or hiking...which is never ideal, particularly as you get north of 75. If it's once a day, no problem. Three times a day, not really a problem....unless..

b. ..it's lasting for an hour or three each time, or you begin to fear it wants to persist and to continue in perpetuity;

c. if the rate is above 100 BPM, you don't really want that, not for long. Again, an hour once a day...a pain in the patoot, and it bears watching....but you won't die from that. Once your rate soars above 100 BPM and stays there for a total of two, three, six hours each day, or never seems to want to quit and to return to NSR, you should start thinking about getting an intervention from an electrophysiologist. In fact, once you have an arrhythmia, you should shake hands with a really good, highly sought, EP and get in line for a remedy that she/he can offer.

Bottom line with SVT, flutter, and atrial fibrillation, your heart can tolerate a lot of it for short periods...now and then. When the rate begins to soar reliably, and the frequency of events begins to climb, drugs are losing ground and your wonky heart's electrics are gaining it. IOW, these things tend to evolve, or to progress, to more intractable levels and persistence, and they get harder for the mid-level electrophysiologists to treat. Even the very top tier EPs will struggle to fix your rhythm if you go too long and your heart begins to develop other pathology as a result.

If your monitoring device ever says that you have ventricular tachycardia (and not just SVT), call an ambulance immediately, or get yourself driven to the nearest ER that has a great reputation for cardiac problems.

In my late teens, I was diagnosed with paroxysmal tachycardia and was able to stop it by holding my breath and bearing down. I had no symptoms for many years. Now that I am 84 it has started up again, I wore a heart monitor for two weeks and was diagnosed with SVT and started a calcium channel blocker, which has calmed it down but I'm not happy with the side effect of constipation and just the fact I am taking a drug. I'm wondering if I should just try living with it as I was told to do 10 years ago since a beta blocker might be more objectionable to me .
ideas?

I would encourage you to do two things: let your prescribing authority know, but also try....hard....as tough as it is going to be...to tough it out for a week or more if you can. My wife was told to take anastrozole, a drug to stop her from making any more estrogen as a prophylaxis against recurrence of breast cancer. It can be a miserable experience, apparently, but it gets better after a few weeks. This from the sympathetic oncologist. I suspect that Multaq might be the same for you. What you don't want is something like night sweats, palpitations or more arrhythmia, vomiting, low BP (below 100/65). But maybe you can endure a headache for a few days just to give the drug...and you...a chance together?

Either way, let your doctor know.

Hi i am Barbara! I have afib and every med I am placed on makes me physically sick. I have been taking multaq for 3 days and I am experiencing headaches, loss of appetite and exhaustion i am thinking about stopping the multaq after 3 days

I am new to these forums. I sent a response to @soloact. Will she receive this or is there something else that I should do?