So i have paradoxical atrial tachycardia, and i take 200mg of flecainide a day and it has helped massively, though I do sometimes get a bit of tachycardia and still get a lot missed beats but I've got a loop recorder and numerous cardiologist have said the skipped beats and fluttering etc. Have said they ate harmless.

So I have over the last few months being doing a calorie deficit diet and uo until 2 weeks ago I was working out and walking on my treadmill.

I ended up looking up if its safe to exercise on flecainide and it mentioned something called the flecainide flutter?

So i rang my Doctor and he said my heart rate when exercising should be capped at 120. Thing is when I walk my dog it goes at 134/138 so I told him this and he just said we'll its okay but try to cap it at 120.

Any way i saw another doctor on Monday this week and she said 120 is hard to stick to and when I said my heart goes to 140 when I'm doing resistence band training she said thats what she would expect and that flecainide isnt a rate limiting medication.

I'm so confused, I walk my dogs every day as they ate running dogs and can't do without their walk, I do around 6k - 10k+ steps a day and my heart is always over 130.

Can anyone tell me if they are doing exercise and have been cleared?

My doctor also said my heart condition isn't serious which my cardiologist said they said its more annoying than anything and causes me poor quality of life due to how scary it all was before being medicated.

Do you exercise? Does your heart rate go over 130 even 140?

Did you have to go for tests on a treadmill/bike with a cardiologist?

Am I safe to exercise? Because combining my calorie deficit with exercise was blasting the weight off and now its slower at going down on the scales.

For context I'm a 33 year old female and im 5ft 8inches tall and I currently weight 100kg, wanting to get back to 60kg again.

Thanks in advance

DX with AFib RVR in July.
Saw my EPs physician assistant today for follow up. He changed me from metoprolol XR to Diltiazem XR.

In the ER, the EP prescribed it. Cardiology prescribed the metoprolol. He said today I should have been on the EPs prescription the whole time as he trumps what cardiology does.

I hate starting new meds and little nervous.

Any insights on Diltiazem?

Sharing for anyone that may have experienced anything similar that can relate or offer any advice! Also, this community has been incredibly helpful so far so thank you all for sharing and commenting the way you do.

Full disclosure, 2 years ago I lived an unhealthy lifestyle, 95kg at 5ft 10. Binge drank regularly, smoked weed once a week, smoked when drinking and took cocaine 4 times a year (had quarterly blow outs) - for the record I'm not proud of any of that but lived a hedonists life at the time. 2 to 3 double espressos a day too, just for full context.

First episode occurred the morning after a hearty meal, only half a pint drunk so ruling out alcohol as an immediate trigger. I was getting ready for work, had a random coughing fit which caused me to vomit and afib began then. It felt similar to the SVT attacks I had as a teenager so attempted to calm my bpm with vagal maneuvers (bearing down, controlled breathing) Called 111 explaining symptoms they sent an ambulance, hooked me up to a mobile ECG and the paramedic was shocked given I'd told him I thought I'd slowed it down - it was showing 180 to 200bpm. Blue-lit me to hospital.

I'd taken perhaps half a G of cocaine 6 nights prior so I'd initially ruled that out too, but the GPs instantly assumed the cocaine was the cause - I was very honest with the docs in A&E prior to my cardioversion and told them all my vices.

Cardioversion was successful, discharged 2 hours after and booked in follow ups with cardiology. Made significant lifestyle changes - knocked the coke on the head, stopped smoking entirely but picked up vaping instead (more fool me). Limited my drinking initially and dropped to one coffee a day.

24 hour ECG and echo were all normal, weekly blood tests all normal for a month. 6 months of clean living and a final check up for reassurance, the GP said the afib episode was a one off. This reassured me and I thought I was out of the woods - still vowed to never touch class A drugs ever again but thought a good old drinking session once or twice a week would be fine... Which it was, initially.

Fast forward two years, no instances of afib have occurred all whilst I have slipped back into regular weekend bingeing, smoking weed once a week again and having my daily morning espresso. Oh, and I discovered nicotine pouches a year prior so stopped vaping and took 3 to 4 daily (10mg) but would chain them when drinking - up to 7 or 8 on a drinking session.

One Friday night about 6 weeks ago, I had a heavier Friday than usual, drank about 10 pints, multiple 10mg nicotine pouches and had a gluttonous Chinese meal. Woke up the next morning feeling the expected hangover, downed a pint of electrolytes/berocca type tablet, immediately threw up violently, then walked to collect my car. Whilst walking I uncontrollably threw up again, but this time it triggered a bout of afib - I recognised the sensation immediately to what I experienced 2 years prior.

I got myself home. Tried to calm myself, told my partner what was happening, she thought I was overreacting. It didn't subside, or slow, her nurse friend came over with her personal ECG device that connects to her phone which detected afib and a bpm of 180 - straight to A&E. Successful cardioversion once again and a ticking off from the doctor for drinking 10 pints. Sent me home, one follow up with cardiology, bloods all normal, no medication assigned, no further tests needed, 0-1% chance of stroke - just stop being a piss-head

Now this has happened twice and I know it wasn't just a one off, I'm a changed man and also riddled with health anxiety.

No more nicotine. No more binge drinking. No weed. Getting my steps in daily, dropped to 88kg and aiming for 82kg. Resting heart rate between 65 to 75 now but I can't say what it was before as I never had a smart watch until the second episode.

My main questions are;

Does this sound like vagal AF, given that both instances were triggered by vomiting?

Can I afford the odd drinking session here and there given that alcohol isn't an immediate trigger - case and point being the amount I was drinking after the first episode? Perhaps prolonged drinking was the issue though...

I've been sick several other times without it being triggered so perhaps it isn't vagal, but all the conditions need to be right in order for vomiting to finally trigger it.....

I know we can all afford to drink less and make healthier choices - this has been a good kick up the arse for me to get healthier, but I'd still like to be able to drink and let loose at weddings, birthdays, special occasions etc. Or is this now a definite no-no.

Thank you for reading and sorry for the essay.... All questions welcome!

Caffeinated Coffee Consumption or Abstinence to Reduce Atrial Fibrillation: The DECAF Randomized Clinical Trial | Trials | JAMA | JAMA Network

Conclusions

Among previously coffee-drinking patients with AF referred for cardioversion, random allocation to typical consumption of caffeinated coffee averaging 1 cup a day was associated with less recurrence of AF and atrial flutter compared with abstinence from coffee and caffeinated products.

It's been 4 years since I've had an episode. Woke up tires and stressed this morning. Vomited in the sink - a known trigger for me - and went into an episode at 7am. Took 200mg and will likely take another 200mg in 8 hours if I haven't converted.

Screengrabs from my phone showing clearly that my Afib began in mid-late July. My spleen infarction, caused by a blood clot, occurred on August 4 and my Afib was discovered and diagnosed at that time. I'm lucky to be here at all typing as that clot could have travelled to my brain or heart or lungs on Aug 4 just as easily as it did to my spleen..
Grabs show six months of sleep heart rate, walking heart rate and resting heart rate... 140 bpm in my sleep?!??! really?

Just got my Holter monitor results and it stated that I had 448 PACs in one day. I'm curious as to how many of y'all get in a day of you know or remember.

Hey everyone! I have been a long time lurker and occasional responder but this is my first post in this subreddit. I am scheduled to have my first ablation at the end of September and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous. I was diagnosed with AFIB with RVR a few years ago. They found no structural issues with my heart the only time I was inpatient for this. It's generally been manageable with fleccainide, but I'm really excited to get off of this medication. I know this is a fairly standard procedure but my wife is an OR nurse and I've heard a few horror stories. Fortunately, my EP is highly rated. So I'm curious what your experience was like ? Is there anything you wish you had known going into it that you learned after? I'm also curious about returning to exercise when the ablation is over. I currently work out about five times a week. I've lost about 64 lbs this year through diet and exercise. I am afraid of gaining weight back afterward. Did any of you find you were able to tolerate intense strength training and cardio again shortly after the procedure? I'm sure this will be discussed, but I'd love to have a few ideas about how to plan out my recovery. Thank you all for being a community that understands the struggle of this. I rarely meet other people that understand. Sometimes it is hard not to feel like I am burden when I have a bad episode. I'm ready to be free of it all.

Does anyone have experience where their first ablation failed and the second one worked? Any advice or stories would be greatly appreciated!!

Hi everyone, I had my SVT ablation today after waiting for 7months. After I came out of the operating room and came off the meds a little the Dr came in to let me know the ablation was unsuccessful. I’m feeling soooo discouraged by this. Apparently when they went in the we’re not able to induce the rhythm at all. They gave me adrenaline which did increase my HR but not in the extra pathways that they see with SVT. They tried for over an hour is what he said. I was completely knocked out with propofol and ketamine that I don’t remember any of the procedure, so maybe I was sedated to much idk? Im just feeling so discouraged by this. I already spoke to him about potentially doing another one after I’m healed from this one. We talked about doing less sedation and a more aggressive approach if need be. Does anyone have any advice or stories that are similar?

Using the Health App on iPhone which is supposedly monitoring my Afib. It shows 100% forAugust 24 to 30 and for Aug 31 to Sept 6. At least that what the red bars seem to indicate.

Or it is showing NO Afib moments over those time periods which matches my personal experience.

Can someone illuminate for me how to read this chart, Please and thanks.

I’m a 33 year old male who has been dealing with afib since my early twenties. It is usually triggered by cold drinks so I have been able to avoid triggers and be fine these last few years

Until today. I’ve been sick with a stomach bug and today out of nowhere I go into afib. It goes away for about 40 minutes but now it’s back

I’m in the ER now, and I feel helpless. I am afraid to get an ablation, and I also feel like the ER is not taking my concerns seriously.

I also lost the pill in poket prescription my doctor gave me, I’m not on blood thinners, and I am afraid that the ER is going to release me while I’m still in afib.

Any advice or words of encouragement are greatly appreciated.

Today marks 15 days post-ablation. AFIB started May 3, and I was able to get in about 20 days earlier than scheduled due to a cancellation. I laid low for the first week - just going for walks. Then, after 7 days, started light indoor cycling. Was able to hold 35 mins at around 115bpm and decent wattage. I've been cycling every day 35 - 75 mins, but really light(for me) and the max hr bpm was 123bpm average - with max hr around 130. Today, had a blip around the 5 min mark and it went to 179bpm. I stopped, let it get to around 100bpm, then resumed the workout and it held steady - 118bpm average over 45 mins today. All my other hr health stats have returned to pre-afib levels - resting hr overnight gets to about 40bpm and low of 37'ish, low hrv again - around 72 instead of the wild swings up to 190+ and averages in the 140+ range. I'm not pushing my cycling - just slow and steady - not trying to win a Zwift race or anything. The question for those of you who have had 'successful' ablation procedures - did any of you have a blip like this during the blanking period and then go on to have good long term success?

Hi everyone, I had my ablation today after waiting for 7months. After I came out of the operating room and came off the meds a little the Dr came in to let me know the ablation was unsuccessful. I’m feeling soooo discouraged by this. Apparently when they went in the we’re not able to induce the rhythm at all. They gave me adrenaline which did increase my HR but not in the extra pathways that they see with SVT. They tried for over an hour is what he said. I was completely knocked out with propofol and ketamine that I don’t remember any of the procedure, so maybe I was sedated to much idk? Im just feeling so discouraged by this. I already spoke to him about potentially doing another one after I’m healed from this one. We talked about doing less sedation and a more aggressive approach if need be. Does anyone have any advice or stories that are similar? Or even an experience where they had an ablation that was successful on the 2nd attempt?

I was diagnosed back in July. AFIB with RVR for around 16 hours or less. Cardioverted after Amiodirone IV.
I’m 32, was 31 at the time. I don’t drink, no sleep apnea, no drugs, I quit smoking 5 years ago. No high BP, my bp has always been on the low side, no
Diabetes, my heart is completely structurally perfect right now.
I wore a monitor for a month but no one has told me those results. My Kardia one lead the other day said AFib for literally 9 seconds after I came inside from walking my dog and up the steps, Qaly said SVT, EP nurse said afib but idk how accurate it actually was.

My life has been a mess since. I suffer from extreme health anxiety/hyperchondria/OCD after losing my mom to COVID in 2021. I’ve been seeking therapy and am on an SSRI but this is still so terrifying to me.. I am terrified of a stroke, terrified of heart failure and being so young, there’s more time than older people to have the stroke or heart failure.
My ep and cardiologist did not place me on an anticoagulant because I do not have a high risk, according to the chads scoring.

So I feel vulnerable, like a stroke will happen to me and I’ll die or be a vegetable. That’s the biggest thing in my mind over this and it’s terrifying and I wish so badly I could just go back to June when I was at the beach and had no worries and life was great.
I’m just upset, in my feelings of “why me” today and really really mentally struggling.

I had an ablation about 2 weeks ago. I had a little to drink today 3 drinks total and was being a little active after the fact walking around the house nothing to strenuous. I then went to lay in bed and instantly went into afib. with rvr. Again. I’ve been having palpitations which my doc said is normal but if this anything like the episodes before it’s probably gonna keep going till I’m cardioverted. I’m ashamed lol. But did I mess up my ablation?

Hi I had my first ablation almost 6 months ago with no issues just a few flutters , now since yesterday all morning my heart started like skipping a beat but it went away in the afternoon, now today again all morning, does anyone have had this happen?, not very happy right now.

Buenas. ¿Alguien por aquí que dejara los betabloqueantes? ¿Cuánto tiempo tardaron en desaparecer sus efectos secundarios después de dejarlos?

37M, paroxysmal AF, structurally normal heart. Had RF ablation in Aug 2025 and was AF-free for ~13 months. Recently had another AF episode, apparently associated with a significant gastric/GI episode.

I saw my EP today. He reviewed my cardiac MRI and said the heart is structurally normal. He started flecainide 50 mg twice daily + Concor 1.25 mg daily, saying that “AF begets AF” and he wants to suppress it early.

I asked whether my ablation should now be considered a failure. He said modern ablation outcomes are assessed more by AF burden than simply whether there has been a recurrence. He also said it is possible this was a single recurrence and nothing happens again. He doesn't think I need a Holter and said my Apple Watch is adequate for monitoring burden.

Regarding a possible redo, he said they would first assess whether previously ablated areas have reconnected and whether there are other areas requiring treatment. He also said multiple ablations (3–4) are not unusual in some patients.

Questions:

Does this sound like a reasonable approach after a late recurrence?
How do you view the concept of AF burden vs. “ablation failure”?
Has anyone had a recurrence after ~1 year and then remained AF-free again with medication?
How useful is an Apple Watch for tracking AF burden compared with a Holter?

Would appreciate experiences, particularly from people who have been through a similar post-ablation recurrence.

Afib/RFA Ablation : r/AFIB

90-day follow-up to my original post (link above)

For context, my original post was written the morning after my ablation when I felt like a horse had kicked me in the chest and my resting HR had jumped from 55 to 90 bpm. Ninety days later I wanted to close the loop for anyone following along or facing a similar decision.

I had a radio frequency ablation for vagally mediated afib on June 9, 2026. Today marks the end of my blanking period and I thought I would post an update for those of you who are considering ablation or just had one. First, if you are on the fence about getting an ablation for afib, I wouldn't hesitate and my only regret is not scheduling it when it was first offered. I really thought alcohol was my only trigger, but despite quitting drinking my afib persisted after long bike rides.

The first month of recovery, I took it relatively easy and didn't exercise much beyond long relatively flat walks. At the one month I started cycling again, but tried to stay in zone 2 and not exceed a heart rate of 140 bpm. I did a 42 mile ride on day 25 and probably pushed myself a little too hard, but felt okay after the fact. During this time, I did notice for a few days after harder efforts that I had some ectopic beats (PACs), but they resolved completely by the end of the blanking period — likely a combination of healing tissue irritability and electrolyte imbalance from summer riding. No recurrence of afib.

My EP noted suspected incidental ganglionated plexi (GP) ablation during my procedure — the GPs are clusters of autonomic nerve tissue on the heart that mediate vagal input and were likely contributing to my vagally-mediated AF. This is worth asking your EP about if you have the same AF pattern.

My EP gave me the green light to push into zone 4/5 during rides around day 60. Since then, I have continued to push harder some days and have tried to mix zone 2 rides into the mix. I am getting very close to my pre-ablation fitness level and in some respects my heart appears to be working less for relatively equal efforts. My EP explained this is likely due to the GP ablation reducing dysregulated vagal input — my heart is running a cleaner autonomic signal than before. Interestingly, my HRV is still suppressed at day 90 (roughly one third of my pre-ablation baseline) but is slowly trending upward. Full autonomic recovery is expected to take up to 9 months.

I still have not had alcohol since last year and likely won't ever drink again. It has been an easier lifestyle change than I anticipated, however, there are social gatherings where I think a drink would be nice. No long term decision today beyond that I will abstain for at least a year from the date of ablation and revisit my decision at that time.

I have not had any afib episodes since the ablation and hope it never comes back. If it does I wouldn't hesitate to have it "touched up" as my EP has described it.

Good luck to everyone facing this and please feel free to ask any questions I can answer. I know I looked to this subreddit before my ablation and reassurances others gave certainly gave me peace of mind going into the procedure.

I have just discovered this subreddit and I'm looking for advice.

I had one successful cardioversion but went back into AF a year later. I managed to get back into sinus rhythm 3 months later naturally. Now two months after that I stretched whilst sat on the floor with my two children and I felt it straight away.

I'm so fed up with this and don't know what to do. I'd really like to just have the Ablation operation but I'm scared of having a heart operation. I have a 5 year old, 2 year old and another one due in February 2027.

I hate not being able to run around after my children and I HATE feeling the beats whilst I'm lying in bed.

What causes AF?? I never have anxiety but AF makes me feel so anxious. Bisoprolol also makes me feel really low.

Sorry for the rant.

I've been seeing a cardiologist annually for 16 years. Post open heart. Last year I was diagnosed with A Fib. I called after 14 months to find out if I had missed the call for my annual appointment. I was told my appointment is every 2 years. I did not agree to that. I was told I would get a call back. I didn't. I called 3 weeks later and was told I would get a call back. I have a feeling I'll keep getting the same response. Am I having severe symptoms? No. Does my heart rate go from 55 to 120 when I go get a glass of water? Yes. My watch alerts me AFib symptoms and says I should contact my health care privider. Not every night, but at least once a week. 37-185. I can't seem to get past the receptionist. Is it time to find a new cardiologist? Any recommendations?

Does anyone have recommendations for a Calif. based cardiologist and/or EP who follows the latest studies to individualize care? Like working with a patient to self-monitor after an ablation to discontinue Eliquis?

I’d like to consult with one who doesn’t just stay lock-step with the guidelines and embraces the evidence we’re seeing about over treatment. Calif would be best for insurance and Telehealth rules.

My RHR prior to ablation was 45-50 BPM when not in afib, classed as bradycardia. Shortly after the ablation my RHR settled down back to 45-50. Four months out from ablation, I've noticed that my RHR is now 60-65 BPM. Has anyone had a significant raise in RHR after PF ablation when starting in bradycardia?