Wow, thanks, everybody for the comments and perspectives. John, a bit more history. It’s paroxysmal, not continuous, definitely influenced by stressful life circumstances and I’ve induced it a couple of times with vigorous exercise so I’m careful with that, but the relationship to alcohol is unclear. I’ll abstain for a hiatus and see how things go. I’m the last in my family to get it. My three sibs all have it and my mother had it. A repeat ablation is a possibility and I know that approach is not unusual, but it is not a pleasant step to contemplate, based on the recovery from the previous procedure. We’ll see what the coming weeks bring and perhaps I’ll provide an update. Thanks again, everybody.
Brian,
I too suffered from AF for several years. During this time I was never able to identify a specific trigger except fatigue. I am fairly certain alcohol was not a trigger.
I had an ablation about a year ago and have not had AF since. My experience with the ablation procedure was dramatically different from yours. The after effects were very mild and limited to a few days of minor discomfort. I am not a Doctor so I am not familiar with different presentations of AF but my Doctor was pretty accurate in his description of what to expect. My recollection is that he said the first ablation is about 80% effective and that a second ablation increases that to 95% +
Best of luck resolving this.
Here’s some info that may help. Recent article
Says alcohol has an effect .
Damn stats!
People who drink alcohol also more commonly die of cirrhosis, car crashes, etc…yet we persist, why? ![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
This meant in a good way, not being internet trollish.
Could we agree on “alcohol could have an effect on a certain percentage of people?”
Keep in mid, 80% of smokers don’t die from smoking related problems, yet we say smoking is bad…all relative risk.
More A Fib stuff…
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.618.7215&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Risk factors are statistical, but not specific to any given individual.
Web MD had a decent normal civilian take: Error 500
There is a link between atrial fibrillation and sleep
apnea, this should also be considered as potentially an aggravating factor.
Update:
Abstaining from wine consumption made no difference whatsoever. Opened a 2006 Domaine Collotte Marsannay Le Clos de Jue couple of nights ago … lovely with grilled salmon. Repeat ablation scheduled for Mar 11. I’m resolved to the necessity. Hoping this one does the trick.
Great discussion here everyone! I have had intermittent afib since I was about 30. Went through an ablation and on med to modify BP. I too have found that limiting the total amount of alcohol makes a big difference in controlling rhythm. Regular exercise, and completely cutting out caffeine helped a lot (I am exquisitely sensitive to any caffeine). General level of stress, physical exercise, and modest alcohol use is absolutely helpful in controlling symptoms. I guess in reality it just really sucks to get older. Good news is that with slow aging of wines in the cellar, you can savor the bottles over time and keep a clear head. I found that limiting myself to only rare overindulgence helps a lot.
Coravin, with all the limitations, is still your friend. This is one of the threads that is priceless here at WB.
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I´m not having AF, but I´m used to spitting almost any time I´m out of house - and I enjoy it to be able to taste a lot of wine without getting drunk at all.
I can only recommend to get used to spitting as often as possible.