Atrial Fibrillation question?

My friend who's 48 has Atial Fibrillation. We are still not overly sure what is causes it. She does have alot of stress in her life. We know for sure her heart never beats regularly. She mention it will be very fast and then very very low. She's has been very dizzy and passed out a few times and loses memory when this happens.
Right now she is away in Florida till April. Her blood pressure is really crazy very very low. I am scared for her. She's seems to be very active but is aware. She has a big tennis tornament next week and I am afraid she will passed out. Can this happen?? She's going away for a few days to relax before hand. Her doctor said that if she passes out she has to come home. Will she be okay? What other things can cause this condition???

I have Wolfe Parkinson White...a virtually unheard of heart ailment. It causes SVT.
I had a procedure done called a catheter ablation. Where they put a catheter in your heart and burn out the spots that cause the heartbeat irregularities. It is a one day procedure with a recovery time of about a week.
It is also done to help with people who experience atrial fibrillation.
I also passed out which is how I wound up in the hospital. I would tell your friend to be careful. I passed out when I was running half marathons.
I would tell your friend to see an electrophysiologist. They are the doctors that specialize in heartbeat irregularities in healthy people
Hope this helped!

Like the last person, I used to have bouts of SVT's. I didn't have Wolff Parkinson White but was also treated with a catheter ablation. I had a friend who would have episodes where her heart would be so slowly that she would pass out as well. Her doctor put her on some type of meds to help her - I don't know what she was taking though. Maybe she'll need something to bring up her b/p.

Atrial Fib is not deadly, however it is not, obviously, optimal. The biggest issue is the formation of clots since the blood can collect in the atria as a result of their inadequate contracting. Aspirin helps with that, which I'm sure her doctor has told her. Basically, she passes out becaus she is losing some contractile force, and that lowers her b/p.
To answer your questions:
Yes, she can pass out during her tourney, but yes, she will be O.K. in the long run, provided she gets the care she needs when she needs (i.e. when she passes out)
Atrial Fib can happen for a few reasons, some people just get it as they age and the cells in the heart (all of which, by the way, have the ability to send an eletrical signal) just kind of 'lose it', and go a little crazy.
If she has A-Fib with RVR, or WPW, as the lady above described, that brings a whole different problem into play, which is potentially far more serious.
If that happens then all those, or too many, of the eletrical impulses that are allowing her atria to quiver make it down to her ventricles and in that case her heart rate speeds up considerably, and can potentially cause ventricular dysrhythmias and possibly death. Basically, in that case a few things can happen:
Her heart goes so fast it can't fill with blood, therefore it does not pump blood, which can cause shock, damage to the vital organs, and even death
or
The extra signals will cause the ventricles to go into a different rhythm all their own, which can cause the same problems, as they will no longer pump blood.

Stress, to the furthest of my knowledge, does not cause A-Fib, although it can irritate it.