How long can a heart beat at 160 bpm before it causes heart failure

[TBYCL]

So I'm 25 and over the past 2 years ive been to the er with afib with rvr (rapid ventricular response) this comes as a result of me vomiting. I have no heart disease or any other heart condition, but for some reason vomiting throws my heart info afib, and my hr jumps to 160 bpm and i have to recieve cardizem. The doctor told me hes not concerned with the afib, but he wants to keep my hr down. If a heart beats at 160 bpm for a period of time it can cause heart failure or stroke, but how long would it take to cause heart failure? Weeks? Months? Years? I know people who has a resting hr of 130 bpm and they seem fine.

[MichelleP_3811]

Unfortunately you can't always control vomiting but it is good to hear that is the only trigger.  And I would suspect that since your heart is otherwise healthy doctors would not want to intervene at this point.  So I guess it is more a case of keep an eye on things.  If you start to get episodes that induce without cause or are easily provoked then you may need to consider taking precautionary steps to avoid stroke risk and possibly try an ablation.  Best of luck with it.  

[MichelleP_3811]

How often do you vomit?  Have you had it addressed if it is frequent?  The only time vomiting is an issue for me is when I am drinking alcohol.  If there is something that is contributing to your vomiting you may want to consider avoiding it.  Alcohol itself can have an affect on the heart, It dehydrates us, so not a bad idea to give it up for that reason too.  Unfortunately there is no cure of afib except ablation.  In any event, because alcohol tends to make me sick I keep it to 2 drinks when I have it.  

As for your question about heart failure I am not sure anyone can tell you because each heart is different.  Being you are young it is likely you can handle it much better than an older heart could.  I had an svt that caused my heart to beat almost twice as fast as yours was.  I let an episode go for 8 hours and had minor temporary heart failure.  Even in my 40s my heart recovered from it so I think at this point you are fine but you do want to tend to the afib when you have it rather than let it go.  And if you notice your heart speeding up drink lots of water.  It helps the heart function better.  In general try to make it a habit to drink lots of water everyday.  It will do your heart good.  Take care.  

[TBYCL]

I don't drink alcohol and my afib episodes were nearly 2 years apart. Both times it was caused by vomiting, so the last two time i vomited it happened. The most recent was a week ago. They dont want to out me on meds because my hearts bpm is normally in the 60's and they said meds would only slow my heart rate which means i would be in bradycardia. The cardiologist didn't seem a bit concerned after seeing my echo, xray, ekg, blood tests, and i was monitored for more than 24 hours with a heart monitor. Im not too worried about it since as long as i can avoid vomiting i shouldn't have any problems. If it happens again I'll probably consider ablation. A few people i know had ablation done and worked for them.

[CFS56]

I don't know the answer to the question you asked but I have the same thing happen.  It's to the point I am getting phobic about eating...vomiting is to be avoided at all costs.  

[TBYCL]

How old are you? And do you mean you get afib from vomiting?