Seasonal A-fib?

Hi Gang,
It's been a while since I've posted, thanfully, I've had very few episodes lately and when I do get them they're very mild and short-lived, so I realise how lucky I am relatively speaking.

But I've just had one, and thought I better put it in the log I keep. In doing so, I was struck by how many of my episodes happen during the autumn and winter. Between April and September I've had precisely 2 episodes, compared with 40+ during October - March.

Has anyone got a similar pattern to this, and has anyone any theories why this might be?

Hope there aren't too many 'holiday hearts' out there, and I wish you a 2004 in NSR!

Love,

David

Hi,

I read in my home town paper that most AFib's were in the cold months.....I've had 5 in 5 years, and they are spread all over the months. First one was in Nov.1999 and then Aug.2000, Feb.2002, July, and Oct.2003 so I don't know. Seems like a toss up for me.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL.....Nel

David -

I wonder if afib episodes peak in the dark days of the year, if that means that there is a tie-in with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) - light deprivation causing depression.

Nel - did your newspaper tell where the information came from?

Carol

I can't remember if it did or not, Carol. It was about 6 months ago, and a friend cut it out of the paper for me. I think I might have saved it and will take a look see...if I ever get all this Christmas stuff put away :-).....Nel

There have been comments on this subject in the past. I definitely have more episodes in the fall and winter than the summer.

Dear Dave,
Glad to see I'm not alone on this one. I have no idea why that should be. If you live in LA, Nel, I can see that winter cold won't be a problem (it's -6 out here tonight!!)

I must have been the total opposite. I found that hot clammy weather triggered me more. The cold though bracing seemed to keep me more stable - which is just as well as we are -17 tonight and have been without water (except my bottled stuff) since first thing this morning. I'm praying for a thaw as the dishes are piling up and I want a bath..... not to mention the toilet.......

Fran

Fran, i had no idea Scotland got cold like that. I live in Maine, and last winter when it went below zero we had to turn on the water and leave it running just a trickle all night to keep it from freezing. Once it did freeze and we thawed it out with a hair dryer before it burst the pipes. Are the pipes frozen inside your house or [worse] outside under the ground somewhere?
Peggy

Hi Peggy

We got the water back on after 36 hours. Scotland has a very temperate climate. We can go in winter from about 15 degrees one day to -20 the next. Its up and down the whole time. It was a quick severe cold snap. Nightmare. We left the tap dripping last night and will do again tonight just in case - its hovering about 2 or 3 degrees but there is no cloud cover now so the temperature may plummet again. In fact I went out with my husband in the snow plough tonight to keep him company (and get away from the party revelers) - some people have to work the holidays. We were clear here but twenty miles away the snow was falling fast and furious.

The pipes were frozen outside. We hurried it as much as possible and my husband borrowed a space heater to see if it would quciken the process. We also put a pipe to a spring up the hill that was not frozen and tried pumping water down. It worked but the water was muddy so only good for flushing the loo and within two hours the water froze in that too. So it really was a cold snap to freeze running water.

Hope you had a great new year

Fran