Can manesium or indeed anything be taken in terms of non prescribed medicines be taken to reduce the incidents of AF?
My issue is that I have a naturally low resting heart rate in the low 40s and about twice a week for around 24 hours the heart beat becomes irregular (doesn’t increase the pulse rate noticably). I have just been prescibed PIP Flecinade and have used it on three occasions on each of those the episodes ended between one and four hours after taking the 150mg dose.
Many people find that magnesium supplements have helped theirAF burden as have life style changes and diet.
Alcohol would trigger it every time so I have not dtunk at all for probably nine months now.
I’ve always been a bit cynical about supplements but prior to a recent ablation I started to take Magnesium Taurate having been influenced by one of Dr Sanjay Gupta’s videos. I have to say I believe there was a reduction in ectopics and palpitations and I have kept taking them since. I don’t know whether they reduce the chances of having an episode of AF but certainly worth trying......
Flapjack 
I am not a fan of supplements either but decided to give Bio Care Magnesium Taurate a try on the recommendation of Dr Gupta ...
biocare.co.uk/magnesium-tau...
I can't prove they have had an effect but since taking them my ectopics ceased, the pains in my legs reduced and I have slept much better.
I take Mg Taurate, 125mg morning and evening. I've been taking it for at least two years now and can definitely say that my ectopics have almost ceased, and PAF incidents have both reduced in frequency and duration. I also carry Flecainide as PIP and take 100mg when I do go into AF which usually pops me back into NSR in an hour. I would certainly recommend you try the Mg Taurate for a few weeks and see how you feel, it's very difficult to get sufficient Mg from food. I agree it's not cheap, but the benefit for me is worth the cost.
I religiously take magnesium, I take blooms magnesium in a powder form I find it absorbs better for me. My friend who had a heart attack was told by her cardiologist to always take magnesium. I do feel it does help.
Don’t take tablets, just rub magnesium oil on your skin every evening.
I have had a naturally slow pulse all my life, I am 71, used to be very sporty (cycling) and my PAF which started 4 years ago turned into permanent AF 8 months ago. I’m very lucky it doesn’t interfere with normal life. My EP reckons all my mountain excursion exertions caused damage around where the arteries join the heart which is where the bonus electrical pulses often originate.
Magnesium is something which I was recommended to use years ago (before PAF) to perhaps rebalance my heartbeat but I didn’t bother till this year. It is the yin to calcium’s tan.
It’s impossible to have too much magnesium because the body expels it, but taking it in tablet form (rather than in green veg) is a mistake at least for me because it upsets the bowels.
So I very simply spray Magnesium Oil on my legs (actually it doesn’t matter where but there should be hair follicles to allow the oil to be absorbed). The skin passes the oil straight into the blood vessels and it’s used wherever it’s needed. Excess doesn’t matter. The skin tingles a bit.
It’s the same as bathing in Epsom Salts.
The effect is wonderful.
I sleep much better. I feel great. My heart beats the same though, as far as I can tell ... never mind. But oil is the way to go. Much cheaper, safer and more effective than tablets. Sleep is very important and I guess that many AF sufferers don’t get enough.
Crikey..... I’ve just looked at that Bio-Care web page for the Mg Taurate. Outrageous cost. What a rip off!!
£10 of Mg oil (which unfortunately is made outside the Uk where I live) lasts about 6 months!!!
And I have no commercial interest in promoting oil.
I spent awhile reading reviews on Amazon about magnesium after reading about it on here. Magnesium oil popped up and when I read reviews on that people were discussing making their own.
Buying magnesium flakes and dissolving it half and half with boiled water.
I bought a large thick plastic pouch of flakes off Amazon for 7.50 and tried it, it certainly came out very oily. It takes liquid soap to get it off my hands after using it. A week later I saw the same size pouch but different brand in my local Home Bargains chain shop for 2.99!!!
I bought some and now have enough to last me and my husband for ages for very little cost.
I also noticed people were using it for leg cramps, I was suffering from awful feet and leg cramps especially after days out when walking further than usual. I load myself up with the oil for a few days before days out and holidays and it has really helped me with this.
Am following with interest! I always used to buy a good Magnesium supplement when I was in USA( frequent work trips) but in recent years have relied on a UK Organic Multivitamin, which is great but probably not nearly enough Magnesium for recently diagnosed AFib ( after 20 years of telling my EP that something g was not right.....😨)very interested to try the Magnesium Oil, where do you source yours please? Many thanks
There are many on Amazon. I’ve tried them all. They’re all good The one in the white bottle with blue writing -sorry not at home now - measured in America imperial quantities, is my favourite, because it’s the least ‘oily’ I.e. sticky. But basically you can’t go wrong with any of them.
Hi Alessa69 I use Ancient Mineral oil. I get mine from Amazon. It's a bit expensive but cost effective as it lasts for ages. I spray three sprays on each arm every morning. I think it's worth mentioning that people with kidney function problems should try the oil instead of taking it orally or check with their doctor as it can have an adverse effect on kidneys.
I use magnesium "oil" from the Epsom Salts company. It feels oily but in fact most oils are just magnesium in solution in water. I do feel better for whatever reason, placebo or not . If it works I'm not too concerned.
The amount of magnesium must have an influence , where I used to live ( farm ) magnesium was distilled from the water and was used by the magnesium refinery in Geelong because of its quantity / quality . The shire used to spray it on the roads as it made a waterproof barrier on gravel.
Getting back to the point , I only developed AFIB after leaving the farm and not using the underground water that was so rich in magnesium.
This is all in hind sight didnt realize what a boon it was at the time.
I now take Magnesium Chelate 500mg x 2 which equals 200mg magnesium element.
A shortage of magnesium is seen a a possible contributor to afib.
According to several books on Amazon, taking it can solve all your problem!
However if you are not short of manesium ,then taking it will not improve anything. I understand there is a lot of discuss ion as to how you tell you are short of magnesium, but as it is not poisonous I decided just to try it and see.
I tried magnesium glycinat tablets and also Ultrapure zechstein magnesioum spray ((from Amazon £9 a bottle lasts ages).
Neither stopped my afib so far as I could tell.
However the spray did appear to help me sleep, so I have carried on using it.( I am a poor sleeper)I
Nothing ventured nothing gained
Thanks folks
Low magnesium levels can undoubtedly cause a rapid or irregular heart rate and can be caused by kidney problems. The only way of knowing whether you have a magnesium deficiency is by having a blood test.
High magnesium levels can cause a slow heart rate and arrhythmias and if very high can induce cardiac arrest.
I know a lot of forum members have experienced improvements in their symptoms through taking magnesium supplements and it seems unlikely that this is purely due to placebo effect.
However I think you should be cautious with how much you take as overdose can be fatal particularly against a background of chronic kidney disease. In my case I try and have a diet high in magnesium.
Let us know how you get on.
I'm sure you are well aware that over the counter medications can have adverse side effects as severe as some prescription only medications! Vitamin and mineral supplements need to be used with extreme caution as well
I take magnesium and have done since Afib started. I do though buy pure magnesium salts by the tub 5kg, I put that in the bath every night and it certainly seems to help and gives a relaxed good night's sleep.
I'm using magnesium glycinate from Bulk Powders. I find them efficient and very good value. I can definitely see an improvement - less AF, better sleep. I'm purposely starting on a lowish dose.
I tried magnesium taurate, but gave up when rashes appeared on my legs. There is some concern that this substance may get only partially absorbed by the body anyway. I now eat a lot of bananas, and also nuts, usually 20 almonds and 20 pecan nuts each day. I worked out how much magnesium I was getting from these items plus everything else in my diet, and there was no evidence of a shortage of magnesium intake. I did not notice any effect on AFib when I started eating the numbers of nuts specified above, but I am sure there is good food value in these products.
I like to add magnesium to my diet by consuming more beans, legumes, cashews, almonds and dark chocolate.
My EP cardio recommends at least 400 mg.
I think it is 320 mg for women and 400 mg per day for men. A medium banana has 32 mg Mg while 28 g dark chocolate has 65 mg, cashews 83 mg and almonds 76 mg.
Sorry I am going by what the cardiologist said.
I was getting 10,000 plus palpitations per day and after seriously considering offing myself because I couldn't live with that terror any longer, I researched natural remedies. Took about 2 months to kick in and work, but I now get only a few palps a day and most days, none at all. These amino acids saved my life. Cardiologist said, oh, I guess the meds we gave you cured you. But I never took them because they made me feel horrible. I take magnesium, L-Carnitine, L-Arginine, CoQ and Taurine. I buy NOW brand of everything except the Magnesium and CoQ. I researched for months and it was well worth it for me. I also started juicing, sipping potassium K-Lyte during the day (1 Tablet in a HUGE glass of water) and taking regular vitamins including high doses of vitamin B (all of them). I still get palpitations, but not nearly the way I used to and if I reduce my doses or miss a few days, they come back again, so I know that is what is working for me.
I have started taking magnesium citrate which is one of the three recommended by Sanjay Gupta. 100 tablets cost £6.99; each tablet is 100mg. He recommends 225mg per day so I plan to take 2 and a half per day (250mg seems close enough). I couldn’t find any taurate; is this better than citrate?
EP cardio reports that there is a range of normal for your electrolytes, but even if in the normal each person's body is different and some people need the higher range of the norm and some need the lower range of the norm and do ok. If your on a diuretic its important that you magnesium and potassium be watched very carefully because they can affect your heart and possibly put you in AF.
Hi, I too use the spray bought from Amazon lasts ages, I started using
it for restless leg syndrome and do think it helps. A banana a day is
also a good idea. I read somewhere that most folks dont get enough
magnesium. I spray about 3 sprays each leg which definately seems to
help.
I take 400mg or Mg Glycinate (200 am, 200 pm) and drink a 5.5 oz can of Low Sodium V-8 for potassium, daily. It's virtually eliminated palpitations and also leg cramps. I believe it's also reduce the number of AF episodes.
I have paroxysmal AF too and eventually (by going privately) was prescribed flecainide which I take as a PIP very successfully. I had an episode earlier this afternoon, checked with my Kardia (147 and AF) , and took 2x50mg pills. Everything was back to normal in half an hour. I have been taking magnesium off and on for a month or so and can't really say whether it has made a great deal of difference. We might compare notes as we go along. My natural heart rate is quite low but not as low as yours. Is it naturally that low or are you taking regular beta-blockers which I was told to stop taking after just a few days as just 1.25 of bisoprolol took my heart rate down to the 40s and I felt tired all the time!
Naturally low Sandi
Could I ask about Kardia please? Tried to download App, but think that I may have wring one, it’s in Portuguese?( Latin American site comes up) Checked on Apple App Store.....Am now confused, good info welcome!
You have to buy the Kardia which is a small device and I think it comes with the instructions on how to download the app. I must admit my husband arranged getting both the new smart phone and the Kardia and did the download but I can get him to tell you more when he is around if you still need help.
Yes please! My EP also mentioned Alive Kor...?
Hi Alessa69
Alivecor is the company that make Kardia I think. And also the old name for the Kardia.
Try this link
My husband has just left but I think that Oyster below has provided the link so good luck with it all. Presume you have a smart phone already - if not it is a whole new world and quite exciting!
I’ve been using the magnesium spray oil for over year now and I really like it. I don’t know if it’s helped my heart but it definitely helps me sleep.
Where do you gt the spray oil please?- I've just been taking pills and have a good deal of magnesium in my diet anyway.
Sorry I didn’t see this. I get it on amazon. It’s called Sunfood Superfoods. Pure and potent magnesium
I never have anything to do with Amazon on principle but have been taking a magnesium supplement - not sure if it works but it doesn't do any harm! I only have the odd episode of paroxysmal AF which never last long so not too much of a problem but thanks for your reply. I may see if the local health food shop does a spray form but the tablets are ok and my husband takes them too as they are supposed to help with prostate problems!
Which magnesium spray oil do you use please?
I get it on amazon. It’s called Sunfood Superfoods. Pure and potent magnesium
Thank you 💖
I just looked it up and I started taking it in August 2017. Gives me a feeling of general well-being.
I have always known benefits of Magnesium, it’s just that I stopped travelling to USA , where I used to buy a very good brand, switched to a different organic Multi vit over here, which probably does not contain enough Magnesium, hence am keen to try out the oil, both for me (AFib) and beloved ( different , complex heart issues) Cheers!
Flecainide as PIP
Contraindications for Magnesium supplements.
Slow heart rate (in 50s)
how many different heart rate reducing tabs are there
