Stress caused A-fib

I have a St. Jude Pacemaker but still get a-fibs. I take Sotalol 2 x a day. I know that mental stress (even unintentional) can cause my a-fibs. Last night's was 9 hours in length, even though I took extra Sotalol. It was due to thinking about a friend's fatal illness.
Any suggestions for a better medication to keep these a-fibs from happening would be much appreciated. I also can't take antihistamines for the same reason (a-fib).

5 Comments

up to your doctor

by Tracey_E - 2009-12-29 07:12:46

That's a question for your doctor. If you're on the correct dosage, I would think it should prevent the afib regardless of the stress level so maybe your dosage needs upped. Once extra dose once probably won't do much, those meds work by building up in our system.

Some beta blockers such as metoprolol also are used as mild tranquilizers or anti-anxiety, so that may help you if some of your fibrillation is due to stress.

Pm's don't do anything for afib. Pm's will speed up a slow hr or even out one that's pausing or skipping, but it can't do anything about your heart going too fast on its own. All a pm can do is generate beats.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend. It's never easy to have a friend very ill, but the holidays are the worst time. {{{hugs}}}}

Metoprolol

by Eperr - 2009-12-29 08:12:39

Thanks and thanks for the hug. I'll ask the doctor. I already take 160 mg. Sotalol in a.m. and 120 mg. in p.m. and I don't want to go any higher due to side effects (long Q-T, etc.)
The doc did say PM wouldn't keep me from having a-fib. I have paroxymal afib. They gave me so much med to stop afib in ER that it caused slow heart beat. After the fact, one can be so smart!! my Ironically, before I was on the pacemaker and Sotalol (2002), I was taking Metroprolol Tartrate since 1996 and it did work for me - only problem I had was taking time to adjust to new altitude when traveling. Then I switched to Toprol and the afibs began.

Stress and A-fib ?

by ted - 2009-12-30 07:12:32

I wonder if there have ever been any studies done about the relationship between stress and A-fib. My own personal (non-scientific) opinion is that A-fib just happens.

I should have added

by Eperr - 2009-12-30 09:12:26

At the party I helped organize, the circuits blew because the hired folks didn't do what they were supposed to do regarding placement of pizza ovens, etc. It was chaos.

A-fib & Stress

by Eperr - 2009-12-30 09:12:57

I did a little Internet searching yesterday and my conclusion is - very little research. Personally, I keep diaries and medical drug records and also records of a-fibs. My very first one, at age 54 was due to stress related incident. I ended up in the emergency room as I didn't know what was going on. Last 6 years, I organize neighborhood Halloween parties and have had a-fibs after 3 of them. Some of my records show a-fibs in connection with taking anti-histamine type drugs. I have been off of them since May and have had only 2 a-fibs since then - the one on Monday evening and the one Halloween for 7 hours. I am 71 and have a long track record. Early on, in my late 50s-early 60s, that was not always the case, and they were also not always as long.

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