About two months ago I had my first atrial fibrillation episode. It woke me up at three in the morning with a heart rate of 126 bpm and scared the bejesus out of me. I woke up my wife and as we were dressing for a run to the emergency room it suddenly stopped. Since that first event, I've had several more, always in the early a.m.

After a lot of research about AFib I've come to realize that in my case those events were triggered by late night eating and/or alcohol consumption. Damn, I do love a cheese & cracker snack along with a glass of wine before bedtime. It sucks getting old.

Anyway, I've learned a lot about AFib over the last two months. One thing is that it's not necessarily dangerous. Another is that in many cases you can stop and attack on your own.

Here's a good starting place if you experience AFib.

They tell me I’ve got it, though I’ve never felt any symptoms.

The a fib by itself is not very dangerous and someone can live an almost normal life while in A-fib.

The problem is prolonged episodes lead to bloot clots in the atrium, which then can dislodge and travel to the lungs and you can die from a pulmonary embolus. That is why people who have chronic afib are on blood thinners to prevent the clots from forming.

So the secondary consequences of A-fib can be deadly. But the actual afib is not at all deadly.

I suffered three episodes of Afib. First time was in Afghanistan in 2017, induced by stress and fatigue, lack of sleep, and poor nutrition coupled with high intake of caffeine and stimulants. I was actually very physically fit. That lasted almost 4 days and by day 3 I thought I was dying. Actually collapsed trying to run to a BP. I got casevac’d and it was swept under the rug somehow, they let me go right back out to the valley after a couple days.

Second time working myself to death right after Christmas before last. stressed about money, living on chips and pretzels and doing nothing but working and sleeping for months. Afib kicked in and my heart rate hit above 200 bpm one minute, then drop as low as 15 bpm the next. Again, thought I was dying. Pretty much spent a week in bed and then back to work.

Third time was right after July 4th last year, same deal. Doctor didn’t even want to talk to me, told me I was working myself to death, and my lifestyle will take years off my life.

My arrhythmia was basically caused my extreme fatigue, lack of sleep, and electrolyte imbalance. Throw in a few drinks over the holidays, bam. Afib.

So now I take my vitamins every day, start my day with a protein bar, and eat a nutritious diet and most importantly I do not consume any alcohol at all. No alcohol, no energy drinks, I still have coffee and caffeine but maybe only 2-3 cups a day. No AFIB episodes all year.

Yes.

And lacking the atrial kick, necessary to get a mass of oxygenated blood into the ventricals. That will mostly just show up attempting strenuous activity. But I've known lots of folks diagnosed with A-fib. They can move along like normal most of the time because the arrhythmia comes and goes. Cardiac ablation can be a long term fix. Which is what I would choose over mess, if I had the choice.

Good data to share with so many getting the Afib jab aka clot shot.

My son had this procedure done when he was in his teens. Until the surgery we had to keep a bottles of water in the fridge. If it got bad, we would splash his face with cold water. The shock would restore his normal heartbeat.

Dont screw around with this get the Ablation.

My heart Dr. Is doing a Cardio-Version on me July 5th. I have had Afib for about 6 years and he says ablations are less than 20% successful after2 years of Afib. He changed my medicine and said if the Cardio-version works then he would consider doing an ablation. I have never had increased heart rate. I only have out of rythem heartbeat which is causing congestive heart failure.

I've been called a "FIB" in the earlier part of my life.

I had afib for 18 years since my first episode. Had the cardiac ablation 3 months ago. I think it was 100% and fixed the problem.