I guess it's always worth a little experimentation, and if you can get away with drinking coffee that's awesome, but for most of us, caffeine is a trigger, never a tool to help convert.

I gave up booze, cigarettes, fatty foods, coffee, and loose women, but out of all those, I miss coffee the most. I drink decaf sometimes, but it just ain't the same, man.

Verrrrry Interesting!!!!

Quite by accident, I learned I converted when I mowed my little front yard on a hot morning. Has worked for me several times since. Someone else said they converted by jogging. I tried my version of a jog...and converted!

Seems that some of our Hearts get back into rhythm when they are speeded up a bit.

So happy you shared this little gem. I would much rather have a Starbucks vs mowing my yard!!!!!

yeah, coffee is not a trigger for me either and yes a couple times I converted after drinking a cup.. I drink a couple cups every morning now. Actually I have no clue what my triggers are. I have experimented with all the reported ones and just found they did not hold up for me, except getting really hammered on alcohol, that seems to make the afib episode more intense.

I dont like coffee so I dont drink it. I love the smell of it though but just smelling coffee probably wont get you too far. ;-) Oh well. If it works for you go for it!! I hope it works next time, too.

For me Coffee is not a trigger or converter to NSR unless it's a real delayed reaction. I've always been a big coffee drinker and have 4-5 mugs every morning with breakfast reading the SF Chronicle.
Alcohol does seem to be a trigger but not always.
My trigger seems to be the time between AF episodes. 9-12 days. During 9-12 days alcohol and late snacks seem to trigger AF.
Episodes, consisting of irregular HB and some fatigue are lasting 30+ hours but do not interfere with my quality of life. So Far!

Annette

Thanks for all your replies. I had also given up alcohol after my ablation. Think I may try a shot of Tequila next time, just to test the waters. :-) Salud!

For what it's worth, I spoke to a very experienced EP and he said you'll drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what your triggers are and trying to avoid them. He said to just enjoy life and if you stumble upon something that seems to trigger your afib, then by all means avoid it, but he said usually triggers are very random. And when you think you found your trigger, it turns out it really isn't.

If you think how complex the body is, I think it's crazy to think you're going to be able to pin point exactly what specific thing causes afib. You might have a cup of coffee and have afib thinking the coffee was the trigger...when in reality it might be you didn't get enough sleep and your electrolytes were out of whack and the cup of coffee was just enough to make the trigger go off. Had you slept well and had your electrolytes in balance, you probably would have been fine. This is just a random example but my point is, the body is so complex that unless you're monitoring everything going on in your body around the clock, it's impossible to know for certain if one specific thing causes your afib to kick in. Sure there may be exceptions but I'd be willing to be for most people their afib if very random.

When I hear people basically giving up every "fun" thing in life just to avoid afib, I cringe. Life is too short.

If you like coffee, try a small cup and see what happens. If you'd prefer to have two cups, try two and see what happens. I'm a big believer in moderation but I don't agree with people who say they avoid everything in hopes of avoiding afib. I'll have an ablation first before I do that!!

Travis

Travis

Travis, I like the way you think!
-Mark

My biggest triggers are coffee and alcohol. By that I mean that if I indulge in either, I'll likely go into afib or SVT at least 50% of the time. It doesn't always happen, but it's often enough that I avoid those things now. I like NSR a lot more than I like coffee or booze.

When I hear people basically giving up every "fun" thing in life just to avoid afib, I cringe. Life is too short.

If you like coffee, try a small cup and see what happens. If you'd prefer to have two cups, try two and see what happens. I'm a big believer in moderation but I don't agree with people who say they avoid everything in hopes of avoiding afib. I'll have an ablation first before I do that!!

Travis

Travis,
Great post my man you're doing your research.!
Exactly what I did, got ablated and enjoying life, drank a little too much this weekend but no afib.
16 months post-op, Thank You Dr Natale!
The stress I've been under the last year with an ailing mother, my job and my business it's amazing afib has been non=existent!
Experience counts and anyone that tells it don't when getting ablated well will end up with 2,3 4 ablations to "cure" this.

McHale

Coffee might even be beneficial
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/818993

McHale

Thanks McHale. Interesting article.
-Mark

Hi Mark,

Actually, coffee would convert me too sometimes. All my doctors were telling me I must NOT have coffee or tea. But, did what Travis said. I tried a little (1/4 cup) first and I noticed it did NOT trigger any afib for me. Then, I increased the amount to two or three cups with no problem.

I agree with what Travis and McHale have said about trying things 100%. Life is too short to avoid things because of the afib, and worse, because a doctor said so. You got to try stuff and see how your body reacts to them.

Scott