Habits that change your rhythm.

Alcohol is one of the most consistent and modifiable triggers for atrial fibrillation. Even moderate drinking promotes AFib, and reducing or stopping is one of the highest-yield lifestyle changes our patients can make.

Caffeine is much less of an AFib trigger than its reputation suggests. Other stimulants — energy drinks, pre-workouts, decongestants, certain ADHD medications, and recreational stimulants — are a different story.

Regular moderate exercise is one of the best things you can do for your heart. Very high-volume endurance training is a separate story — it can lower resting heart rates dramatically and raise the risk of atrial fibrillation in middle age. The dose matters.

Regular moderate exercise lowers the risk of atrial fibrillation and improves outcomes once it develops. Extreme endurance training is a separate story. Most patients should be doing more, not less.

Apple Watches, Kardia devices, Fitbits, and continuous patch monitors have changed how we manage AFib. They are excellent at catching episodes — but they also raise real questions about over-detection and anxiety.

Loading up on salt and fluids expands your blood volume — the simplest, most effective first step for the lightheadedness, racing heart, and fainting that come on when you stand. It is the foundation of treatment for POTS and many forms of orthostatic intolerance.

What everyday life with a defibrillator is really like — what a shock feels like and what to do, driving rules, and the emotional side. A quick orientation; your printable ICD handbook has the full detail.

Can you have an MRI with a heart device? For most modern devices, yes — with the right precautions. Here's how MRI-conditional devices work and what to arrange beforehand.

Practical day-to-day for the rhythm patient who is pregnant, planning a pregnancy, or recently delivered — preconception planning, common questions during pregnancy, labor and delivery logistics, breastfeeding and medication safety, and contraception for women on anticoagulants or antiarrhythmics.

What the days and weeks after a catheter ablation actually look like — groin care, getting back to activity, and why your heart may still skip or race during the 'blanking period' without meaning the procedure failed.

Your implanted device quietly checks itself and sends reports to our office — often while you sleep. Here's what it transmits, what it can and can't do, and why keeping the monitor connected matters.

Obstructive sleep apnea is one of the strongest under-recognized drivers of atrial fibrillation. Diagnosing and treating it — usually with CPAP — meaningfully reduces AFib recurrence and improves outcomes after ablation.

Stress doesn't cause arrhythmias by itself, but it changes how your heart behaves day to day — more palpitations, more awareness of normal beats, and more triggering events. Managing it is one of the most underused tools we have.

Airport security, flying, and trips abroad with a heart device — what's safe, what to carry, and how to keep your remote monitor working on the road.

Excess body weight directly promotes atrial fibrillation. Sustained, modest weight loss reduces AFib burden, improves ablation success, and sometimes reverses the rhythm entirely.