Angina and af - help please!

[Lizty]

Had my ablation three years ago now, and have had occasional small relatively insignificant bouts of af since. I have to be careful not to get dehydrated as that is a definite trigger. This hot weather doesn't help! I woke in the early hours of this morning with a strange pain on the left side of my chest and an uneasy feeling. It didn't take long to realise I was in afib…. probably the most unpleasant bout I have ever endured. Two glasses of water and a beta blocker later, the chest pain was still there and I was panicking a bit. Lay on my stomach, which often helps, and after about 45 minutes I was back in sinus rhythm and the pain had subsided. I often used to get a little sensation in my chest/jaw with af, but this was much worse. Am off to doctor today, as think it might be angina..... has anyone else had angina with af and what did you do?

[BobD Volunteer]

Some people do get chest pain with AF for sure . Some even so bad as to need morphine. Generally was say any chest pain particularly if it extends into the jaw needs investigating even by A and E if really bad.

[Lizty in reply to BobD]

Thanks Bob for speedy reply. Funnily enough, I used to get mild jaw discomfort with af, but not chest pain. This time it was the other way around but also feeling really unwell. Can't say it was bad enough to need morphine!.. just a bit like indigestion after a large meal, but without having had a large meal! Guess need to get the plumbing checked out now before returning to deal with the electrics!! Will feed back......

[ShimmeringLillyMae]

Hi Litzy, I get terrible chest pain when I'm in afib and I was literally just diagnosed with micro vascular angina a week ago, I dont know what the answer is except that the cardiologist started me on Ranexa and that seems to make my HR go up quite a bit, I looked up side effects of that medication and it says heart arrhythmias. Seems the medication for angina and Afib dont work well together. 😞

[Lizty in reply to ShimmeringLillyMae]

Thanks Lilly..... the pain was unpleasant but not terrible for me.... and I am really sorry to hear you are suffering so much. Guess you need to experiment with the medication for a bit....

[Lizty]

Today the doctor told me off for not calling an ambulance on Thursday night and has referred me to the rapid chest pain clinic next week and prescribed an angina spray. She said the pain was strain on my heart...…hmm... Further online research implies it might not be true angina... so I shall see what happens next week. Last night I took a beta blocker before going to bed. Whilst we have this muggy weather I think I will be going to bed with a pint of water and a beta blocker each night! Actually a hint for the hot.... I bought a couple of lunchbox ice slabs last year and take one to bed with me in the heat. Wrapped in a light cloth it is wonderful at helping to keep cool!

[Hidden]

You might be able to reduce your heart activity (Afib) by what I have learned:

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After 9 years of trying different foods and logging EVERYTHING I ate, I found sugar (and to a lesser degree, salt – i.e. dehydration) was triggering my Afib. Doctors don't want to hear this - there is no money in telling patients to eat less sugar. Each person has a different sugar threshold - and it changes as you get older, so you need to count every gram of sugar you eat every day (including natural sugars in fruits, etc.). My tolerance level was 190 grams of sugar per day 8 years ago, 85 grams a year and a half ago, and 60 grams today, so AFIB episodes are more frequent and last longer. If you keep your intake of sugar below your threshold level your AFIB will not happen again (easier said than done of course). It's not the food - it's the sugar (or salt - see below) IN the food that's causing your problems. Try it and you will see - should only take you 1 or 2 months of trial-and-error to find your threshold level. And for the record - ALL sugars are treated the same (honey, refined, agave, natural sugars in fruits, etc.). I successfully triggered AFIB by eating a bunch of plums and peaches one day just to test it out. In addition, I have noticed that moderate exercise (7-mile bike ride or 5-mile hike in the park) often puts my Afib heart back in to normal rhythm a couple hours later. Don’t know why – perhaps you burn off the excess sugars in your blood/muscles or sweat out excess salt??

Also, in addition to sugar, if you are dehydrated - this will trigger AFIB as well. It seems (but I have no proof of this) that a little uptick of salt in your blood is being treated the same as an uptick of sugar - both cause AFIB episodes. (I’m not a doctor – it may be the sugar in your muscles/organs and not in your blood, don’t know). In any case you have to keep hydrated, and not eat too much salt. The root problem is that our bodies are not processing sugar/salt properly and no doctor knows why, but the AFIB seems to be a symptom of this and not the primary problem, but medicine is not advanced enough to know the core reason that causes AFIB at this time. You can have a healthy heart and still have Afib – something inside us is triggering it when we eat too much sugar or get (even a little) dehydrated. Find out the core reason for this and you will be a millionaire and make the cover of Time Magazine! Good luck! - Rick Hyer

[Lizty in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Rick. Actually I probably don't eat that much sugar... try to keep between 60 and 100 grams, but of course, I would like to reduce it further. Dehydration seems to be my current trigger.... and I rarely drink alcohol nowadays as that definitely seems to be a trigger when I am tired. Guess there is plenty of sugar in that!

[Hidden in reply to Lizty]

Not that much sugar in drinks, but alcohol does make you dehydrated so it's probably that. Also remember there is lots of sugar in carrots, peas, apples, grapes, etc. so don't forget to count those grams of sugar as well. Getting old reeks, doesn't it??

- Rick Hyer.