Interesting that this association between heart and stomach actually has a name:
Heart and Stomach Connection - Sanjay... - Atrial Fibrillati...
Heart and Stomach Connection - Sanjay Gupta
Good piece Jean, thanks for posting.
Interesting read, Jean, thanks!
Thanks Jean,
This pretty much sums up me from about 12 months post AF diagnosis. It also reinforces my ongoing food plan that I follow resulting in no AF since April 2015 .... except that one little gremlin attack in the early hours of 15 Feb 2018 - when sleeping on my left side.
I know we have had a conversation about this - but - I am now coming to the conclusion that it wasn't sleeping on my left side 'per se' that done me over that night but food I'd eaten the previous evening (8 hours earlier) having settled in my gut and as I lay on my left side it shifted or in some way positioned itself in a location that brought on this AF attack.
Now, the interesting feature here is in the last 8 months or so I have been having increased neck (C4 to C6) pain and even more right shoulder pain .. right at the end point of the right shoulder. Both sources of pain have now had the diagnosis of osteoarthritis. In order to get a decent nights sleep (without drugging myself stupid) I have been retraining myself to sleep differently ......... and I am now almost always sleeping on my LEFT SIDE and am doing so without any recurrence of AF. (Mercifully). So far, a reasonable nights sleep without too much intrusion from OA pain and no AF either.
This experience seems to relate to the contents of the article you posted. Thanks again.
John
I came to the same conclusion about sleeping on my left side - most of the time I’m ok and when I am not I think the AF is more likely gut related. I guess we all have to figure out what works for us as individuals.
Thanks for posting! It is amazing and for me makes sense.
My AF suddenly became persistent and troublesome in 2015 after a battle with gastritis (severe stomach pain and inflammation probably caused by a daily aspirin) and 6 months taking Omeprazole. Till then I had AF only very occasionally - a few times a year for only 2 hours at a time.
And then after ablation, Lanzoprazole seems to be routinely prescribed for 6 weeks to stop complications after the TOE. I had a lot of AF episodes for 4 months, which they attributed to the blanking period. But maybe the PPI made it worse.
Now after 2 ablations, Flecainide seems to keep AF at bay, but when I do have it, it usually tends to start after lunch or supper....
Thanks again. Food for thought as they say!
That’s a really helpful link to Dr Gupta’a article. I only found his info on here just after finally going for Ablation last September, after years of mid diagnosis.My EP realised that I had P AF not SVT. Wished that I had found this site & Dr Gupta ages ago, could have saved me years!
Thanks. Good article
Very informative - thanks
This cardiologist has many excellent posts. This sums me up. I asked one of the first cardiologists I saw after being admitted to A&E with a particularly nasty and prolonged attack of PAF whether digestion issues could trigger an attack. He looked at me as if I was stupid and said loudly "No!" Well it does for me. Trial and error over the years has taught me to eat little and often rather than a 3 course blow out. Keeping a note of which foods trigger AF/PAF is also useful. Thanks for this post. Keep well.